Monk's Castle (St. James Church)

St. James Catholic Church and Cemetery, also known as St. James at Sag Bridge Church is an historic church and cemetery in the Sag Bridge area of the village of Lemont, Illinois. It is situated on a high bluff at the western tip of the glacier-carved Mount Forest Island, overlooking the Calumet Sag Channel and the community of Sag Bridge. It's long been reported to be the site of numerous ghosts, including that of a "Mad Monk" who punishes sinners that dare step foot on the property after dark. The site has been important for centuries as a lookout, including a French fort visited by Father Jacques Marquette on his journeys on the Des Plaines River several times in 1673; it is believed he conducted Catholic Mass at the fort. Just before his death, Father Ploszynski, one of the church's many former caretakers, confided to friends that he would often look out his rectory window at night and be astonished to witness the ground raising and falling, almost as if the earth itself was breathing.  He also spoke of strange figures in black cloaks wandering the graveyard at night, leading many to believe that he was seeing the ghosts of those killed on the property.. or worse: Satanists.  The property has had a history of grave robberies and cult-related desecration over the years.   Reports of monks roaming the area, chanting in Latin and carrying candles were particularly common in the 1970's. Today, most ghost hunters and curiosity seekers report capturing ghostly evidence in the form of strange smells, cold spots, and EVP recordings, though there have been sightings of a phantom horse and the occasional report of a procession of monks effortlessly gliding through the grounds..