The beginnings of St. Mary Nativity Catholic Church date to the last decades of the nineteenth century. At that time the Croatian people who settled in Joliet came from Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Dalmatia. In those early days, the Croatian people worshipped at St. John the Baptist Church. After the founding of St. Joseph Parish in 1891, the Croatian and Slovenian families of Joliet worshipped together. As the number of Croatian families grew, so did their desire to preserve their native language and customs to form their own parish. After some time and negotiations, in 1906 Fr. George Violich arrived from Dalmatia, a region of Croatia, to be pastor of the newly founded parish of St. Mary Nativity, serving the parish until his death on December 26, 1939.