St. John the Baptist (Dearborn Heights)

St. John the Baptist Parish was founded by Polish-American laborers in 1926 and a parish school opened a few years later. The current church was built in 1954 in what would become, several years later, the southwestern area of Dearborn Heights, very close to Inkster.


Rev. Edwin Balazy has been pastor of the small parish since 198; the parish school closed in 1995 due to low enrollment. However, the parish subsidizes tuition to help parishioners attend other parochial schools. Children from the parish also attend religious education programs at nearby St. Albert the Great.
   


St. John the Baptist has approximately 200 registered households, many of whom are elderly. Regardless, the small parish raised approximately $119,000 in 2013's Changing Lives Together Campaign.


The Lamb of God shown in a pediment above the sanctuary.


Engraved wood panels in the sanctuary show four seraphim, fleurs-de-lis, crowns, and wheat.


The left altar shows Madonna and Child along with St. Joseph; the tabernacle stands at the right altar.
  

Daily Mass is at 8:15am, Monday–Saturday, preceded by Confessions at 7:45am. Confessions are also heard 3:30pm–4:00pm on Saturdays followed by Vigil Mass is 4:30pm. Sunday Masses are at 9:00am and 11:00am.
  


More info: Archdiocese of Detroit + Changing Lives Together
More photos: AOD Film Services
Another blog post: Discovering Detroit Catholic Churches

St. Sabina (Dearborn Heights)

Dearborn Heights' St. Sabina Parish was established in 1957 and the current church was built in 1982. Next year, the parish will celebrate its 60th anniversary
      

The patroness and namesake of the parish stands in front of the church


A Marian shrine stands in the middle of the parking lot


The belltower stands directly above the main altar.


St. Joseph along with Madonna and Child at a side altar; the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the opposite side
  

Reflecting the date of construction, stained-glass windows near the main doorway show the coat of arms for Pope St. John Paul II (left, top) and then-Archbishop Edmund Szoka (left, bottom).
   

Fr. Raymond Bucon is pastor of St. Sabina Parish as well as chaplain for Dearborn Heights' Police and Fire Departments. Confessions are heard at 4:00pm Saturdays followed by Vigil Mass is at 5:00pm, Sunday Mass is at 8:30am and 11:00am. Tuesdays bring recitation of the Rosary at 6:00pm followed by Mother of Perpetual Help devotion and Mass.
   

More info: parish website + bulletin archive
Another blog post: Discovering Detroit Catholic Churches

St. Ladislaus and St. Florian plan to merge

For the last two years, St. Ladislaus has been preparing for closure. Currently, it is part of St. John Paul II Parish, along with Transfiguration/Our Lady Help of Christians. As reported recently by The Michigan Catholic,  St. Lad's may soon become a chapel of its nearby mother parish of St. Florian.

As chapel, St. Ladislaus would hold a regular Mass schedule and funerals but baptisms, weddings, etc. would be at St. Florian. While the transition is not yet official, St. Florian's latest bulletin lists St. Ladislaus as a chapel.


For more info: St. Florian website + St. Florian bulletin
A 2014 article: The Hamtramck Review

Upcoming events: Sept. 24 & 25

more info: motherofdivinemercy.org/oktoberfest.html

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more about the speaker: cmgbooking.com

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more info: cathedral.aod.org

Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament (Farmington Hills)

Beginning in 1206, St. Dominic, along with Diego de Acedo, preached in the Languedoc region of southern France.  Diego soon died but St. Dominic quickly developed a following. St. Dominic and his followers adopted a rule of life based on that of St. Augustine. In a papal bull dated December 22, 1216, Pope Honorius III confirmed the Order of Preachers (a.k.a. Dominicans) as an order of canons regular. Therefore, this year is the order's 800th anniversary.

Dominican nuns arrived in the U.S. in 1880 and, in 1905, Mother Mary Emmanuel petitioned Bishop John S. Foley to come to Detroit and the bishop accepted without hesitation. Mother Mary Emmanuel and seven nuns temporarily resided in the Murphy Mansion, at Woodward and Kirby in Midtown. Parishioners from Holy Rosary Church (now Our Lady of the Rosary) joined the nuns in Adoration.

Murphy Mansion. Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

The Murphy Mansion was sold in November of 1907 and the Dominicans were forced to move into a small house at 1180 Cass Avenue for the next two years. The house was far too small for the growing community and Mother Mary Emmanuel sought to build a permanent monastery.

   

September 4, 1908, saw the groundbreaking for Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament at 9704 Oakland Avenue. In 1910, the Dominicans moved in when the monastery was still half-finished. The cornerstone of the chapel was laid on June 25, 1911, and Bishop Foley led a fundraising effort. 

   

On March 25, 1912, the Feast of the Annunciation, the chapel was formally dedicated by Grand Rapids Bishop Edward D. Kelly. A few years later, three blocks west, Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament would be built.

Dominicans continued to grow and expand in the United States. On November 21, 1915, seven nuns, including Mother Mary Emmanuel, left Detroit to establish another monastery in Albany, New York.

    

The community had petitioned the Holy See as early as 1923 for the privilege of taking Solemn Vows but for some reason this was not granted until December of 1929. The document granting the permission arrived on Christmas Eve of that year but it was deferred until April 30, 1930 when Bishop Gallagher himself received the Solemn Vows of the Prioress, Mother Mary of the Sacred Heart who, in turn received the Solemn Vows of each of the remaining 21 members of the community.

   

There were more than 50 Dominican nuns in Detroit when Mother Mary Imelda was elected prioress in 1944, the decision to make a new foundation was reached. Mother Mary Imelda herself led the group of 15 foundresses to a new site in Lufkin, Texas where the Monastery of the Infant Jesus, begun in 1945, continues to thrive.

During the 1950s, the monastery's structural condition deteriorated beyond repair. Mother Mary of Jesus Kalt was the Prioress at the time, she asked Cardinal Mooney for advice and permission to move. Cardinal Mooney gave his blessing and encouragement to launch fundraising. Additionally, he donated the land where the monastery now stands at 13 Mile & Middlebelt in Farmington Hills. Cardinal Mooney died in 1958 and was replaced by Archbishop Dearden, who later became a cardinal, and Dearden continued the fundraising efforts. An extern named Sr. Mary Louis de Montfort contacted prominent businessmen, they decided to hire a professional fundraising firm and the “Challenge Campaign” began in early 1964.

   

A groundbreaking ceremony took place on August 16, 1964 but the cornerstone was not laid until June 27, 1965. Twenty one sisters had lived and died on Oakland Avenue; they were buried in the vaults beneath the Detroit monastery and were transferred to Southfield's Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in 1965.

On June 17, 1966, the nuns relocated to the new monastery in Farmington Hills. On July 1, 1966, then the Feast of the Precious Blood, Archbishop John F. Dearden arrived to celebrate Mass and conduct the dedication ceremonies. He was assisted by Fathers Joseph Imisch, Thomas Gumbleton and Walter Schoenherr; all three priests would alter become bishops. The Dominican provincial, Fr. Albert Drexelius, OP, preached the homily. The Detroit monastery was later razed and an elementary school currently stands at the site. In 2006, the centennial of their arrival in Michigan, the nuns published Monastic Milestones, an exhaustive history of the community.

Blessed Mother statue and prayer garden on the monastery's south side

A large crucifix on the façade of the chapel, another on a sanctuary wall

  

The chapel is divided in half. The public sits in the front section nearest the parking lot while the sanctuary separates the public from the cloistered nuns.

Statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph hang on the walls of the nave

   

Windows from the façade (left) as well as sides (right) of the chapel

   

The chapel is open daily from 6:45am-5:00pm, including daily Mass at 7:15am and Vespers at 4:30pm

   

The nuns financially support themselves, in part, by operating a religious gift store

Statues of the Infant of Prague and St. Dominic at the front of the store

For more info: monastery website