Polish Catholic on Canfield

It's Paczki Day in Detroit...the beginning of Lent... a good day for a familiar American story about my grandmother and her sisters and brothers. Their father came over from Poland in 1910 and found a job, then grandma's oldest sister and brother followed with their mother two years later. Grandma was born here in 1913. They came through Ellis Island, and then took a boat to Detroit, to land finally as parishioners of St. Josaphat, pictured above. The spelling of their last name was changed to something a little less Polish. They lived in a neighborhood with the steeples of two other Polish churches, just as grand, in easy sight and walking distance.

First there was St. Albertus.....at Canfield and Mt. Aubin...the earliest Polish Catholic Church in Detroit.

Then, in 1885, the pastor of St. Albertus, Dominic Hippolytus Kolasinski, became embroiled in scandal, and in 1886 was banished to the Dakota Territory. However, he had a loyal following in Detroit, and in 1888, they brought him back to be pastor of their competing parish without official Roman Catholic sanction. This parish community was the foundation for the church below, Sweetest Heart of Mary, built from 1890 to 1893. In 1894, this 4,000 family parish was officially reconciled with the Diocese of Detroit.

Sweetest Heart of Mary is on Russell at Canfield.

In the meantime, while the Kolachy (followers of Sweetest Heart of Mary) and the Dombruchy (followers of St. Albertus) battled in violent clashs and occasional riots, a third group formed another parish in 1889. With the rapidly growing Polish population of Detroit, there was need for another church, St. Josaphat. It was built at Canfield and Hastings, now the I-75 service drive. If you are from Detroit, you will know St. Josaphat as this church....

Photo from http://www.detroitlatinmass.org/jospht/home1.htm

All three churches have wonderful websites, full of interesting stories, photos of magnificent interiors, mass schedules, and other events. Even if you're not Polish, or Catholic, each church has its own special charm that any visitor could appreciate. St. Albertus Fest always has great music. Sweetest Heart of Mary has a pierogi festival, and St. Josaphat is an incredible setting to hear Mass in its original Latin (also they have a great blog).

So while you're eating any leftover paczki, give a thought (and a prayer if you do that sort of thing) to these churches, the grandmothers of our babcie.