The edifice was built in a Gothic Revival style and has a towering steeple, flanking spires, and an assortment of stained glass.

The community accepted the invitation and lived in temporary housing until 1866 when they bought 3.5 acres (1 ha) at Grand and Cook Avenues.

[1] The first Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine in the church was blessed on December 7, 1873, during the first public triduum under her name.

Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first African-American Catholic priest, said Mass for the School Sisters of Notre Dame in the convent’s chapel in 1887.

[5] The church experienced a notable theft, of its air conditioning units, in April 2022.