Wednesday, June 18, 2014

St. Moses the Black (formerly Church of the Madonna)


Church of the Madonna was established in 1924. An addition was built in front of the church at a later, unknown date. 

An outdoor chapel stands nearby. Its not clear if Mass or other services are held here.


In 1968, pastor Fr. William Cunningham and Eleanor Josaitis co-founded Focus: HOPE to provide the needy with career training and food assistance. Fr. Cunningham passed away in 1997 and Josaitis maintained leadership until her death in 2011.
 

The church is fairly small — a capacity of maybe 200.

Icons of the apostles line the edges of the ceiling.

Icons of the evangelists are in the center of the ceiling.

In 2012, Church of the Madonna clustered with Blessed Sacrament Cathedral (est. 1905)St. Benedict (est. 1915), and St. Gregory the Great (est. 1923). Last year, three of the churches, excluding the cathedral, merged to form St. Moses the Black Parish. Of the three sites, only the former Church of the Madonna remains active. The other two sites are available for weddings and other private events but do not hold weekly Mass.

 

A baptismal font is located in the vestibule along with an icon of the parish's patron.

The sanctuary features a window depicting Pentecost and a crucifix hanging behind the altar.
 

The tabernacle is located at the edge of the sanctuary, near the sacristy.
 

Msgr. Michael LeFevre is the current pastor in addition to his roles as Vicar for the Genesis Vicariate, administrator of Our Lady of the Rosary, and rector of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. Sunday Mass is at 9:00am and 11:00am. Daily Mass is held Tuesdays at 7:30am, Wednesdays at 9:00am, and Thursdays at 6:00pm. The church is located at 1125 Oakman Blvd., just west of the Lodge Expressway, and across from Focus: HOPE.




For more info: AOD.orgparish websiteAOD Film Services
Another blog post: Detroit Pilgrim

9 comments:

Unknown said...

How ridiculous. To change the name of a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin to some obscure saint just to curry favor for Blacks!

The Madonna inspired Fr. Cunningham to found FocusHOPE which has done more for Blacks in Detroit then either the NAACP or the Urban League.

This cheap move also suggests a misogynist movement within the church to further de-emphasize the feminine as evidenced by giving Joseph a more maternal role as well as May 1 as a feast day. The Black church eliminates Mary and all other women in typical Protestant fashion with the exception of Mother's Day.

When I first saw this alleged saint I could see that this was a play for those who argue that the key figures in the Bible were Black as if the Holy See was in theological agreement with Rastafarians and Hebrew-Israelite factions. Was Catholicism admitting Moses was black? Or did it hope those fans of the late Isaac Hayes was being canonized and rewarded with a parish church?

As a new Catholic who grew up in Madonna's parish my protests were disregarded with a smugged smile. Soon my family home was burglerized for the first time. So much for the patron saint of thieves.

I will never set foot in this building but I will continue to pray in its Marygrove thpugh I know its days are numbered.

Unknown said...

How ridiculous. To change the name of a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin to some obscure saint just to curry favor for Blacks!

The Madonna inspired Fr. Cunningham to found FocusHOPE which has done more for Blacks in Detroit then either the NAACP or the Urban League.

This cheap move also suggests a misogynist movement within the church to further de-emphasize the feminine as evidenced by giving Joseph a more maternal role as well as May 1 as a feast day. The Black church eliminates Mary and all other women in typical Protestant fashion with the exception of Mother's Day.

When I first saw this alleged saint I could see that this was a play for those who argue that the key figures in the Bible were Black as if the Holy See was in theological agreement with Rastafarians and Hebrew-Israelite factions. Was Catholicism admitting Moses was black? Or did it hope those fans of the late Isaac Hayes was being canonized and rewarded with a parish church?

As a new Catholic who grew up in Madonna's parish my protests were disregarded with a smugged smile. Soon my family home was burglerized for the first time. So much for the patron saint of thieves.

I will never set foot in this building but I will continue to pray in its Marygrove thpugh I know its days are numbered.

unclesmrgol said...

St. Moses the Black was an Abyssinian slave who became a thief and robber. Later in life, he renounced his former life of thievery and violence and became a monk in the deserts of Egypt. He's a good person to emulate, for he was, after rebirth in Jesus, a conciliator. He wasn't the Moses of the Old Testament but took his name.

While I realize that renaming a church is , when two parishes merge, the solution is often to either take the two Saints and put them together into a new name, in order to prevent the politics of primacy which often result. We humans seem to order everything, and so if the Parish of Saint X merges with the Parish of St. Y and takes on the name of St. Y, those former parishioners of St. X will feel second class. The solution is MUCH more complicated with the Saint is the Blessed Virgin, and so such a solution is obviously infeasible and so a new Saint's name must be chosen.

St. Moses the Ethiopian has a day on the Catholic Church's calendar (Aug 28) and so is wholly fitted to have a parish named after him.

Black Catholics are part and parcel of our Church.

As for Joseph, he submitted to the Lord's will much earlier than, say, Paul. Joseph didn't need much coercion, as he was a sensitive guy, as evidenced by his initial desire to privately divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. A really strong willed person would have opted for a public divorce with all of the abuse that would be heaped upon the woman. As a guy, I do try to emulate as much as I can Saint Joseph. With regard to Saint Moses, he's worthy of emulation too.

Monica said...

I have read both comments. As a Black Catholic and former member of St. Gregory the Great Parish, I share some of Mr. Josephsson's views. I did not agree with the merge or the name change. St. Gregory had dedicated middle-aged members and services reflected the ethnicity of its members. This is not so for The Madonna. Due to the relationship of Father Cunningham in the community, he and the Madonna forever have a place in Detroit's history. I found Msgr. Michael LeFevre to be highly insensitive in the years before St. Gregory closed. We were not given options. Somehow St. Cecilia and St. Leo were able to continue by rotating services.
I do not attend St. Moses the Black. Neither do many of the other parishioners I know. I pass by my empty church home often. I see the active outreach program from the rectory, the successful use of the school building and the athletic program from the gym and wonder why choose to abandon St. Gregory?
Unclesmrgol thank you for explaining the merge and the history of St. Moses the Black. In my opinion the formation of parish xy was not a success.

obligedtohelp said...

In an age when African American's are moving full steam into the middle class, it is advantageous to have the blessing and leadership of a true African anchorite and abbot. Self-denial is the only message, a strong message to reach those lost in the worship of materialism, middle class living, and ultimately the creation over the creator. We need help. How do we wake up daily and say we will let Our Lord govern our day and stay connected to Him. We are overwhelmed with the needs of our bodies--sex, money, connection, technology. We must have St. Moses example. He stands in right relationship between heaven and earth. In Sketis, in the Wadis south of Alexandria, he always got the water for the other monks because he was large and strong. But as he got older he would pray that God would help him with this task. Clouds would gather around him and rain into his water pots. God gives us everything thing we need. God made us all different so we are obliged to help each other. This is God's plan (1937) St. Moses stands in this unique place between Heaven and Earth. We desperately need him.
Judith

unclesmrgol said...

Monica,

I'm sad to hear that St. Moses' church is wounded in your estimation. Parishes often are driven by the eccentricities of their pastor or a dictatorial parish council and it sounds like you do not feel welcome there. Hopefully you have found a nearby parish that suits your needs better.

Every Saint has in their history a story whose good parts are worthy of emulation; some have bad parts certainly unworthy of emulation. I certainly would not want to have emulated St. Moses' early life, just as I would not have wanted to emulate St. Augustine during his childhood and early adult life, which was, to put it mildly, a bit of a strain on his mother, St. Monica. But Monica (whom I would assume is your namesake) never gave up on Augustine, and in the end he saw the Light.

I would suggest, if you have stopped attending, that you occasionally test the waters at St. Moses by attending a Mass there, to see where that church is going. Remember, St. Monica didn't give up on hoping for renewal, and you should not either. There are many callings in the Church, and the one of engaged and involved parishioner is a big one. That said, I fully understand your feelings, having seen those kinds of parishes in my journey.

Best wishes.

unclesmrgol said...

Judith,

St. Moses is certainly in heaven. He does not stand in between. We can ask anyone to pray for us, both among the living and the dead -- for all are part of the Communion of Saints, as Revelations 5:8 shows. They are not gods, but they, like the angels (lesser beings), can intercede with God for us and for any who are afflicted. As God has told us, repetitive prayer for what we seek is important -- see Luke 18: "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

So we can ask Mary, or St. Moses, or any of the Saints -- and we can even ask our fellows here on Earth to do so. Such prayer is effictive, as God tells us. And who are the elect? Those who are in Heaven with Him certainly are, and we hope to be.

The choice of St. Moses may be totally a racial choice, as you appear to posit, but that is a reason neither to embrace nor despise him. He is first and foremost a Christian, and Christianity transcends race -- a thing a prior poster, and possibly yourself, have forgotten.

I know Jesus walked the earth as a human, died as a human, and is at the right hand of the Father. But I often think that if he walked the earth today, he would appear before each of us as a person we despise because of things totally unrelated to goodness. Such is the message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Harvey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I wholeheartedly concur.