St. Matthew Church, Flint

St. Matthew Parish was established on October 8, 1911, in downtown Flint. Fr. Mortimer Sullivan, a priest of the Order of St. Augustine, was the founding pastor. Construction of the current church was began in 1919 and was finished the following year. The Detroit firm of VanLeyen, Shilling & Keough designed the church in a Romanesque style. At the same time, the parish built a K-12 school directly behind the church.


The parish school closed in 1970 and the building was later home to a series of Montessori and charter schools. The school building was eventually demolished in the summer of 2008 and a parking stands at the site.


Augustinians ministered at the parish for nine decades until they left Flint in June, 2016.  The emblem of the Order of St. Augustine is found throughout the church and on the front of the rectory.
 

Not surprisingly, depictions of St. Matthew, St. Augustine, St. Monica, and st. Rita are found throughout the church.


St. Augustine and St. Rita, an Augustinian nun, stand in niches at the back of the church. 

The parish recently redid the flooring throughout the church, including hand-cut mosaics.


St. Matthew, surrounded my angels, stands in the apse above the altar. John 1:29 is inscribed around the edge of the apse. Medallions of the four evangelists surround the altar.


St. Jerome and St. Charles Borromeo in one set of windows. St. Paul and St. Stephen in another set of windows.


The traditional side altars to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, respectively.


A side altar to St. Augustine and St. Monica; another altar to St. Thérèse.



The south transept windows depict the Holy Family, the Nativity of Our Lord, and the Annunciation, respectively.


The north transept windows depict the Multiplication of Loaves, Jesus Blessing Children, and the wealthy young man (Matthew 19).


Angels are depicted standing in balconies along the clerestory.


Two large murals show scenes from the life of Blessed Virgin Mary. The betrothal of Joseph and Mary; St. Anne and Child Mary.


God the Father is depicted above the front door.


Madonna and Child over a side door.


A Lourdes grotto outside the church; a belltower stands above one corner of the church.


St. Matthew has daily Mass at 12:10pm, M-F. Saturday Vigil Mass is at 4:30pm while Sunday Masses are at 10:30am and 3:00pm. The Sunday afternoon Mass is in the Extraordinary Form.

More info: Flint Catholic + Midwest Augustinians
More photos: Michigan Stained Glass
About the former school: M Live + 1957 yearbook + 1969 yearbook

St. Leo Church (St. Charles Lwanga Parish)

St. Leo Church is located at 4860 15th St., on Grand River and south of I-94. The parish was established in 1889 — an elementary school opened the following year then a high school in 1892. The parish quickly outgrew the original structure and the current church was completed in 1908. 

Vintage postcard of St. Leo's Church, date unknown. source

It appears that the steeples were shortened at some time although I could not find any record of renovation.

An inscription above the main doorway quotes Luke 19:46 — "My house is a house of prayer."

The founding pastor, Fr. Matthew Meathe, wanted a large church without pillars to allow unobstructed views. Parishioner and architect Harry J. Rill designed the current edifice.

In 1983, the parish was scheduled to close but Bishop Gumbleton intervened. He asked to take over as pastor and was appointed. Gumbleton was forced to retire in 2006 when he reached the age of 75 but he continued to deliver homilies at Sunday Mass. To my knowledge, Gumbleton no longer has any involvement at St. Leo's.

The parish continued to face possible closure in recent years but has been spared largely because of their community outreach. St. Leo's has an active soup kitchen that serves much of the surrounding area.

In 2013, St. Leo's merged with St. Cecilia to form the new parish of St. Charles Lwanga. Fr. Theodore Parker currently serves as pastor. Sunday Mass is at Noon; no daily Mass unless announced.

A large crucifix stands in the north transept.

The Blessed Mother stands at the side altar; Pope St. Leo the Great stands in the south transept.

More photos: Flickr, AOD Film Services, Sherlock Photo
News articles about the parish: Reuters & Detroit Free Press

Soup kitchen photos: Flickr
More info:AOD & Facebook

St. Jude Parish

St. Jude Parish celebrated its first Mass on July 13, 1941 with 500 people In attendance. For the first year, the parish worshipped in the auditorium of Denby High School. A combination church and parochial school opened on June 14, 1942. Fr. John Ording was the founding pastor and maintained that role for nearly three decades.

The cornerstone for the current church, located where 7 Mile and Moross Rd. meet, was laid in 1955. St. Jude has two levels: the lower level hosted its first Mass on Easter Sunday of 1956. The upper level held its first Mass in May of 1957.

Vibrant stained-glass windows are found throughout the church and every door is framed with windows.

Large windows with depictions of the gospels are displayed in the lower level of the nave.

 

The clerestory shows images of saints.

I was intrigued by the Stations of the Cross with a crown of thorns around the perimeter of each one.

After Mass, a parishioner kindly approached me, introduced herself and the pastor, then gave me a tour of the church. 

Fr. Shafique Masih has been pastor for nearly a year and previously served as associate pastor.

A plaque memorializes parishioners who died in Vietnam. Another plaque remembers deceased ushers.

Confessionals are located in both transepts but only those in the east transept are still used. 

The altar was extended in 1968. The old sanctuary has since been enclosed and a partition built in front. The front of this partition shows images of noteworthy people: St. Kateri Tekakwitha and Venerable Solanus Casey among others.

A daily Mass chapel now resides where the sanctuary once was.

To the left of this lies another chapel commonly used for group recitation of the rosary.

Several rows of pews were removed from the rear of the nave and a large cross-shaped baptismal font was added.

The Blessed Mother and St. Joseph stand in the west transept.

A large crucifix stands in the east transept.

Sunday Mass is at 10:00am and Saturday Vigil at 4:00pm. Daily Mass is at 8:30am Tuesday–Thursday. First Fridays, as well as Fridays of Lent and Advent, see 8:30am Mass.

For more info: parish website, bulletin archive, or Facebook