Corpus Christi 2015

MOTHER OF DIVINE MERCY PARISH
flyer  |  website

Thursday, June 4, Feast of Corpus Christi (Calendar for the 1962 Missal)
12 Noon English Mass at St. Josaphat Church, preceded by church tour at 11:15 a.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 3 p.m., Meditation by Br. Esteban, Divine Mercy Chaplet
6 p.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Joseph Church with Meditation by Br. Esteban
7 p.m. Tridentine High Mass for Corpus Christi and Outdoor Procession at St. Joseph Church

First Friday, June 5
12 Noon Mass at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church, preceded by church tour at 11:15 a.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 3 p.m., Meditation by Br. Esteban, Divine Mercy Chaplet
6 p.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Josaphat Church, Meditation by Br. Esteban
7 p.m. Tridentine High Mass at St. Josaphat Church

First Saturday, June 6
10 a.m. Latin Novus Ordo Mass at St. Joseph Church, preceded by church tour at 9:15 a.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until Noon, Meditation by Br. Esteban, Rosary
4 p.m. Mass at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 6 p.m., Meditation by Br. Esteban, Rosary

Sunday, June 7
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
9:30 a.m. Tridentine High Mass, celebrated by Fr. Ben Luedtke, for the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi at St. Josaphat Church
10 a.m. Mass at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church with Schola Cantorum and St. Joseph Cappella
11:15 a.m. Outdoor Procession on grounds of Sweetest Heart of Mary (No Noon Mass at St. Joseph)
12 Noon Mother of Divine Mercy Parish Picnic and Celebration of Pastor Fr. Gregory Tokarski’s 20th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ on grounds of Sweetest Heart 

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ST. MATTHEW
website

Sunday, June 7
10:00 a.m. Mass with Detroit Mass Mob, Archdiocesan Chorus of Detroit, Motor City Brass Quartet and St. Matthew Choir. Brass quartet prelude before Mass.

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SS. PETER & PAUL (west side)
flyer  |  website

Sunday, June 7
10:30 a.m. Mass, in Polish and English, followed by Eucharistic Procession. No Mass at 9:00am and Noon

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OLD ST. MARY'S
flyer  |  website

Sunday, June 7
12 Noon Mass followed by outdoor Eucharistic Procession through Greektown and includes stop at nearby Holy Family Church

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BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHEDRAL
flyer

Sunday, June 7
2 p.m. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Vigneron followed by outdoor Eucharistic Procession through neighborhood

Church Directory

After nearly five years we have finally covered every Roman Catholic Church in Detroit and a few in the suburbs. Below is a directory of all of the posts. Now that we have completed our initial goal, we will expand to: 

• Cover historic, culturally-significant suburban churches
• Continue coverage of important events in the Central Region
• Visit chapels in the city
• Revisit certain Detroit churches
• Cover Eastern Rite churches in the area
• Cover history of some closed parishes

Churches in Detroit:
Assumption Grotto #1 + Assumption Grotto #2
Blessed Sacrament Cathedral #1 +Blessed Sacrament Cathedral #2
Christ the King
Church of the Madonna  (St. Moses the Black Parish)
Gesu
Holy Cross Hungarian #1 + Holy Cross Hungarian #2
Holy Family #1 + Holy Family #2
Most Holy Redeemer #1 + Most Holy Redeemer #2
Most Holy Trinity
Nativity of Our Lord
Old St. Mary's
Our Lady Queen of Angels  (Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish)
Our Lady Queen of Heaven
Our Lady of the Rosary
Precious Blood (St. Peter Claver Parish)
Presentation (Presentation/Our Lady of Victory Parish)
Sacred Heart
St. Aloysius #1 + St. Aloysius #2
SS. Andrew & Benedict
Ste. Anne #1, Ste. Anne #2, Ste. Anne #3
St. Catherine of Siena (St. Augustine–St. Monica Parish)
St. Charles Borromeo
St. Christopher
St. Cecilia (St. Charles Lwanga Parish)
St. Cunegunda
St. Elizabeth
St. Francis D'Assisi
St. Gabriel
St. Gerard (Corpus Christi Parish)
St. Hedwig
St. Hyacinth #1 + St. Hyacinth #2
St. Josaphat #1 + St. Josaphat #2
St. Joseph
St. Jude
St. Mary's of Redford
St. Matthew
St. Peter Claver Annex  (formerly St. Francis de Sales)
SS. Peter & Paul (Jesuit)
SS. Peter & Paul (west side)
St. Philomena
St. Raymond (St. Raymond - Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish)
St. Scholastica
St. Stephen–Mary, Mother of the Church (Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish)
St. Suzanne (St. Suzanne–Our Lady Gate of Heaven Parish)
St. Thomas Aquinas
Sweetest Heart of Mary (Mother of Divine Mercy Parish)
Transfiguration (St. John Paul II Parish)

Surburban churches:
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Windsor)
Christ the Good Shepherd (Lincoln Park)
Church of the Divine Child (Dearborn)
Church of the Holy Family (Novi)
Church of the Transfiguration (Southfield)
Holy Cross (Our Lady on the River Parish, Marine City)
Holy Name (Birmingham)
Immaculate Conception (Ira Township)
Immaculate Conception (Lapeer)
National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica (Royal Oak)
Old St. Patrick (Ann Arbor)
Our Lady of the Lakes (Waterford)
Our Lady of La Salette (Berkley)
Our Lady of Loretto (Redford Twp.)
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Our Lady of the Scapular Parish, Wyandotte)
Our Lady of Sorrows (Farmington)
Our Lady Queen of Apostles (Hamtramck)
Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (Beverly Hills)
Sacred Heart (Dearborn)
Sacred Heart (Grosse Ile)
St. Albert the Great (Dearborn Heights)
St. Aloysius (Romulus)
St. Alphonsus (Dearborn)
St. Ambrose (Grosse Pointe Park)
St. Anne (Warren)
St. Anselm (Dearborn Heights)
St. Anthony (Temperance)
St. Augustine (Richmond)
St. Barbara (Dearborn)
St. Charles Borromeo (Newport)
St. Clare of Montefalco (Grosse Pointe Park)
St. Clement (Centerline)
St. Colette (Livonia)
SS. Cyril & Methodius (Sterling Heights)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Taylor)
St. Fabian (Farmington Hills)
St. Florian #1 + St. Florian #2 (Hamtramck)
St. Francis Xavier (St. André Bessette Parish, Ecorse)
St. Gerald (Farmington)
St. Irene (St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish, Dundee)
St. James (Ferndale)
St. John the Baptist (Dearborn Heights)
St. John the Baptist (Monroe)
St. John the Baptist (Ypsilanti)
St. John Bosco (St. John XXIII Parish, Redford Twp.)
St. Joseph (Erie)
St. Joseph (St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish, Ida)
St. Joseph (Divine Grace Parish, Maybee)
St. Joseph (St. Vincent Pallotti Parish, Wyandotte)
St. Joseph (St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Dearborn)
St. Joseph the Worker (Lake Orion)
St. Ladislaus (St. John Paul II Parish, Hamtramck)
St. Lawrence (Utica)
St. Mary (Royal Oak)
St. Mary (St. Clair)
St. Mary (Wayne)
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Monroe)
St. Mary, Our Lady of the Annunciation (Rockwood)
St. Mary Magdalen (Melvindale)
St. Matthew (Flint)
St. Michael the Archangel (Livonia)
St. Michael the Archangel (Monroe)
St. Patrick (Divine Grace Parish, Carleton)
St. Patrick (St. Vincent Pallotti Parish, Wyandotte)
St. Paul on the Lake (Grosse Pointe Farms)
St. Paul Albanian (Rochester Hills)
St. Pius X (Southgate)
St. Peter (Mt. Clemens)
St. Priscilla (Livonia)
St. Raphael (St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Garden City)
St. Regis (Bloomfield Hills)
St. Robert Bellarmine (St. John XXIII Parish, Redford Twp.)
St. Sabina (Dearborn Heights)
St. Sebastian (Dearborn Heights)
St. Stephen (New Boston)
St. Theodore (St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy Parish, Westland)
St. Thomas the Apostle (Ann Arbor)
St. Veronica (Eastpointe)
St. Vincent de Paul (St. Damien of Molokai Parish, Pontiac)

Formally suppressed (resigned to profane use) since posting:
All Saints
Annunciation (Good Shepherd Parish)
Holy Family (Inkster)
Our Lady of Grace (Dearborn Heights)
St. Bartholomew  (St. Bartholomew–St. Rita Parish)
St. Leo (St. Charles Lwanga Parish)
St. Mel (Dearborn Heights)
Sacred Heart (St. Padre Pio Parish, Roseville)

Churches that no longer have regularly-scheduled Mass but have not been formally suppressed:
St. Louis the King #1 + St. Louis the King #2
St. Patrick (midtown Detroit)

Historic parishes (closed before posting):
St. John Cantius

Chapels & shrines:
Divine Mercy Center (Clinton Township)
Felician Motherhouse  (Livonia)
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Southfield)
Manresa Retreat House (Bloomfield Hills)
Mariannhill Mission Society  (Dearborn Heights)
Miles Christi Family Center (South Lyon)
Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament (Farmington Hills)
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Sacred Heart Chapel at Marygrove College
Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Riverview)
St. Albertus #1 + St. Albertus #2
St. Bonaventure Monastery
St. John's (Plymouth)
St. Joseph Chapel & IHM Shrine (Pontiac)
St. Mary Mercy Hospital Chapel (Livonia)
St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Most Blessed Sacrament Parish was established in 1905 in what was, at the time, the northern edge of Detroit. The building was designed by Cleveland-based architect Henry A. Walsh according to the Norman Gothic style. Financial problems delayed construction until 1913 and it continued slowly. The exterior was built out of Ohio sandstone and Indiana limestone.

 

The original organ was donated by Frederick Fisher in 1925. The interior of the church was not finished until 1930 and the first Mass was held on Thanksgiving of that year. The exterior would not be finished for decades.

 

The Diocese of Detroit was elevated to an archdiocese in 1937. Most Blessed Sacrament replaced St. Patrick, seat of the diocese since 1877, as the cathedral.

Walsh was unable to finish the project so Detroit architect George Diehl oversaw the completion. The towers and spire were not finished until 1951, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the city's founding.

Much of the statuary was created by local, prominent sculptor Corrado Parducci.

Pope St. John Paul II visited the U.S. in 1987 and Cardinal Archbishop Edmund Szoka convinced him to come to Detroit. The pope addressed a group at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral on September 18 of that year and stayed overnight at the archbishop's residence next door. See video below with Cathedral section starting at 2:21.

The cathedral was renovated in 2001 by local architect Gunnar Birkerts. Changes included a plaza on the north side of the building, a reconfigured sanctuary, new light fixtures, as well as a new cathedra, baptismal font and organ. At that time, the tabernacle was moved to the south transept and a chapel built around it.

The cathedra used by Pope St. John Paul II, along with other artifacts, on display in a breezeway along the south side.

 

A large plaque in the sacristy shows the vesting prayers traditionally said by clergy in preparation for Mass. Each prayer corresponds to a particular vestment (amice, alb, cincture, maniple, stole and chasuble).

As we covered in a previous post, there is a tradition of hanging a cardinal's galero from the cathedral ceiling after his death. Galeros from Cardinal Mooney and Cardinal Dearden hang above each transept. This tradition has fallen from practice and was not done following the death of Cardinal Szoka.

  

A bust of the retired Cardinal Archbishop Adam Maida in the narthex; St. Anne and Child Mary.

The large, ornate rose window above the choir loft; detail of a window in the lower-level of the nave

 

Large, colorful windows line the clerestory. Each features a gospel reference in the middle of the window and images of saints in the bottom.

Inscriptions in the sides of the columns along the side aisles.

The Cathedral is located at 9844 Woodward, just south of Highland Park and near the geographic center of Detroit.

Daily Mass is held at 8:00am in the chapel on Mondays and Thursday-Saturday. Sunday Mass is at 11:00am while confessions are heard on Saturdays at 2:30pm.

Rev. Gregory Deters is Associate Pastor and Msgr. Michael LeFevre is the current rector. However, LeFevre will soon move to St. John Fisher in Auburn Hills and replaced by Rev. J.J. Mech, presently at St. Anastasia in Troy.

For more photos: Flickr & AOD Film Services
For more about JP2's visit: The Michigan Catholic
For more info about the parish: bulletin archive & parish website

Upcoming events: May 14–17

Thursday, May 14, 7:00pm
ASCENSION OF THE LORD (TRIDENTINE MASS)
St. Josaphat Church
parish website

Saturday, May 16, 11:00am–7:00pm
PARISH FESTIVAL
Christ the King Church
Raffle, games, chicken dinner, bake sale, music, and more
parish website

Saturday, May 16, 1:00pm
"BLUE MASS" FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
St. Christopher Church
Mass celebrated by Bishop Hanchon in recognition of National Police Week
light reception afterwards
JPG flyer

Saturday, May 16, 7:30pm
CANTATA FOR A NEW PENTECOST
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
The Archdiocesan Chorus of Detroit, Sacred Heart choir, and St. Gabriel Youth ensemble
PDF flyer

Sunday, May 17, 10:30am
TRAVELING CATHOLIC'S MASS MOB
St. Raymond–OurLady of Good Counsel
Polish dinner to follow
PDF flyer