Monday, February 07, 2011

SS. Andrew and Benedict

Saints Andrew and Benedict are a pair of Slovakian Benedictine saints. Svorad-Andrew hailed from Poland and Beňadik (Slovak spelling) likely was Slovak. Both died in the 1030's. They are the namesake for a small, but pretty church on Beatrice street on Detroit's very southwest side. (Southwest of Delray, nearly in River Rouge or Ecorse.)

As you may have guessed, SS Andrew and Benedict church was historically a Slovak community. It was founded in 1924 to serve the Slovak Community. Today there are some Slovaks, but the parish prides itself on it's diverse community, and the Church features images of Saints of African/Black descent. I called the church a Frankenstein church, because it had elements from different now closed Detroit parishes, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (closed 2008) and St. John Cantius (closed 2007) being the two that I specifically remember. The community was welcoming, and one of the ladies told me from whence certain pieces came. The community remains active and has Mass everyday besides Saturday.

SS Andrew and Benedict is a small Romanesque church. The sanctuary and walls behind the side altars are a very pretty rose color, and there are nice painted features elsewhere.
Here is the Sanctuary. The Our Lady of Mt Carmel and the Infant of Prague came from OLMC Detroit. I think the reredos was also from there.


Detail of the painted wall and the image of the Holy Ghost as dove on the ceiling.


The Mary Altar. You can see on the left an image of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese-born Canossian saint. On the Right is St. Martin De Porres, the Peruvian-born son of a former slave and Third Order Dominican saint.



This angel was originally in St. John Cantius. See this one in its original location here. (FYI:Music autoplay on site)


There are plenty more photos. Start browsing here.

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6 comments:

Jen D said...

Nice post and photos.

St John Cantius church was beautiful! Why did it close?

Unknown said...

The usual reason I'm sure. No people, no money. Here is more on the Parish: http://detroit1701.org/St.%20John%20Cantius.html It looks like it has been torn down, but I could be in the wrong place on Google street view.

Andy said...

No, it has not been torn down. The address on Google where you can see it is 839 Anson St. Detroit, MI.

Unknown said...

Andy, you are the man. I wonder if the address on the 1701 site was a business address. Or perhaps the street name changed.

It's kind of cool that it is surrounded by the waste water treatment plant, but also kind of sad.

It looks like they were gutting it when the Google camera car drove by. That is definitely an altar in the back of the truck.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=839+Anson+St.+Detroit,+MI.&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=839+Anson+St,+Detroit,+Wayne,+Michigan+48209&gl=us&ll=42.289318,-83.122502&spn=0.001242,0.00284&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=42.289312,-83.122385&panoid=LDIWW4PTZEwE6IZ5-Xh1pw&cbp=12,330.62,,0,-6.07

wilderness of pain said...

Are there any photos of OLMC Detroit
circa 1980s 90s.

Does anyone remeber the priest Fr Bart Ferraro?

wilderness of pain said...

Are there any photos of OLMC Detroit
circa 1980s 90s.

Does anyone remeber the priest Fr Bart Ferraro?