St. Josaphat Church reopening Sept. 13

After nearly 10 months of waiting, St. Josaphat Church will officially reopen the weekend of September 13-14.

Saturday, September 13, 5:30pm: English Vigil Mass celebrated by Bishop Reiss
Sunday, September 14, 9:30am: Tridentine (Latin) Mass

A reception in the parish hall will follow both Masses.

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Mother of Divine Mercy Parish will adjust their Mass schedule thereafter.

Sweetest Heart of Mary
Saturday, 4pm
Sunday, 10am
Friday, Noon (Sacred Heart devotion after)

St. Josaphat
Saturday, 5:30pm
Sunday, 9:30am Tridentine
Monday, 7pm Tridentine (Perpetual Help devotion after)
Thursday, Noon

St. Joseph
Sunday, 11:30am
Wednesday, 12:10pm (St. Joseph novena after)

***Supposedly St. Joseph will retain First Friday Tridentine Mass, at 7:00pm, but that is yet to be confirmed.***

Requiem Aeternam Dona ei, Domine.

Et perpetua lux luceat ei. Requescat in Pace. Amen

Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka has passed away at the age of 86. He served as the Archbishop of Detroit from 1981 to 1990, then later oversaw the Vatican government under Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI until his retirement in 2006.

See the press release from the Archdiocese here.

Kindly pray for his repose.

Saint Joseph Cappella CD

One of our favorites here at Detroit Church Blog, St. Joseph's Church, has a marvelous choir who has released a new CD of Latin motets, and it was featured by the New Liturgical Movement.  How exciting!

The CD is available at the parish churches, online, and at Mateja's and Fuch's.

St. Christopher Church

St. Christopher Church is located on the west side of the city, near Warren Avenue and Southfield Freeway. The parish was established in 1941 and the current edifice dated as 1965.

Like many newer churches, the interior of St. Christopher is shaped much like an amphitheater.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary stand in niches at either side of the church.

The church's namesake stands to the right of the main altar along with the Infant of Prague.

A guardian angel and child stand in the vestibule.

Bands of geometric, pastel windows line the walls of the nave and clerestory.

More symbolic, realistic windows are found near the baptismal font.

The choir loft windows show a depiction of the namesake saint and read "On whatever day thou shalt behold the face of St. Christopher, surely on that day thou shall not die an evil death." Since St. Christopher is also the patron of travelers, different modes of transport are shown: boat, airplane, bicycle, etc. 


Last year, St. Christopher merged with St. Thomas Aquinas and Fr. Jaime Hinojos has served as pastor since then.

Daily Mass is celebrated on Tuesdays at 7:00pm (Spanish) and Wednesdays at 8:30am (English). Tuesdays also bring Exposition and Reconciliation at 6:00pm.

Saturday Vigil Mass (English) is at 4:00pm preceded by 3:00pm confessions. Currently, Sunday Masses are only celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas. 

For more info: parish website, bulletin archive, & Facebook
Another blog post: Detroit Pilgrim

Gesu Parish

The original Gesu Church in 1922. source

Gesu Parish was established in 1922 and an addition was built the next year. The parish continued to grow and Masses were held in the basement of the school 1925–1935. The current church was finished in 1935 for the cost of $300,000, $5.2 million in today's value, and follows a Spanish Mission style of architecture.

Gesu is also one of few parishes in the city that still operates a parish K-8 school. Fr. Robert Scullin, SJ, is the current pastor.

Symbols of the four evangelists decorate the exterior walls while icons of the Blessed Mother hang above doorways.


Daily Mass is held every weekday at 5:30pm and Saturday Vigil Mass is at 5:00pm. Sunday Mass is at 8:00am and 10:30am.

An elaborate motif decorates the ceiling.

A large baldacchin hangs above the altar; the Holy Family is pictured in a sanctuary window.

At some point, the sanctuary was extended and pews rearranged. The tabernacle is located in between the main altar and rear chapel (where high altar used to be).

In the rear of the nave, two large plaques honor the parish's World War II veterans.

A social area was built at the east side of the church and a partition separates it from the rest of the church.  Stations of the Cross line this wall.

Gesu is located in northwest Detroit, near McNichols and Livernois, immediately north of University of Detroit-Mercy.

For more info: parish website, bulletin archive
More photos: AOD Film Services, Flickr