Holy Family, Inkster (closed)

Holy Family Parish was established in 1945 with Fr. Charles J. Diehl, a Spiritan priest, as founding pastor.

A church was soon built on Annapolis St., on the southern edge of Inkster, and across the from southeastern corner of Westland.

Like many churches built at the time, Holy Family was designed in a mid-century modern style.

Two more parishes were eventually established in Inkster. St. Norbert was consecrated in 1951 and St. Kevin in 1957. These two parishes merged in 1990 to form SS. Kevin and Norbert Parish. That parish then closed in 2004.

The former St. Norbert Church and School still stand off of Inkster Rd., south of Cherry Hill.

Tall, narrow, rectangular windows covered the ball wall of Holy Family Church.

A side altar to the Blessed Virgin Mary; St. Martin de Porres stands nearby.

A side altar to St. Joseph surrounded by smaller statues of the Holy Family; the baptismal font stood next to the altar.

In 2011, during the Together in Faith process, it was stated that "Holy Family is aware that its facilities are in need of a new roof, of repairs to the foundation, parking lot and boiler.  They have no funds for these repairs."

For the last few years, priests of St. Mary Parish in Wayne ministered at Holy Family. Even though they had only one weekly Mass, the parish maintained an active food pantry and community outreach.

On May 9, 2018, Archbishop Vigneron issued a decree, according to Canon Law, that closed Holy Family Parish. The decree was displayed in the vestibule, warning that the church was scheduled to close and why it was closing.

One of the reason's that the Archbishop cited for the closure is that population within the parish territory has dropped by 50% in the last 16 years. St. Mary Parish in Wayne will take over the territory, assets, and responsibilities of Holy Family Family Parish. 

Bishop Walter Hurley, retired Bishop of Grand Rapids, celebrated the last Mass on June 3, 2018. Parish operations officially ceased on June 11, 2018.

For more info: Facebook & Together in Faith
More photos of Holy Family: AOD Film Services
More about St. Norbert: St. Norbert alumni

Holy Family (Novi)

Novi grew rapidly during the 1970s and, in September of 1974, nearly 200 gathered for the first Mass at Orchard Hills School, their temporary church. Holy Family Parish was established two months later, on November 12, 1974, with Fr. Kevin O'Brien as founding pastor. John Cardinal Dearden dedicated the church on November 5, 1977.

Holy Family used to be typical for suburban churches built at the time: sterile and geometric architecture with modern furnishings, chairs instead of pews, etc.

The church before renovations - source

The church underwent massive renovations throughout the entire building in 2016 and 2017.

New flooring, both carpet and tile, was added and new pews were installed. The preexisting baptismal font is one of few objects remaining.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron rededicated the church at the end of January.

This afternoon I was pleased to be able to celebrate the rededication of the Church of the Holy Family in Novi. Thank you for your warm hospitality! pic.twitter.com/V58gFXbdfn

— Archbishop Vigneron (@DetArchbishop) January 28, 2018

A large crucifix hangs over the altar. A refurbished tabernacle was added to the sanctuary along with accent lights that reflect liturgical seasons.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary is depicted in a reclaimed, rose window above the main entrance.

Two antique, stained-glass windows depicting the Holy Family are in the sanctuary. They are likely reclaimed from the same church as the rose window. At left is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple and the Nativity of Our Lord on the right.

 

A niche for Our Lady of Guadalupe, near the sacristy, is indicative of the Hispanic population at the parish. A San Damiano crucifix hangs near the front door—this crucifix seems to be the same one that used to be suspended over the altar.

 

A chapel is located next to the main entrance. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is available here on 10am-7pm on Mondays and Tuesdays as well as 10am-Noon, Wednesday-Friday.

Fr. Robert LaCroix is Pastor—assisted by Fr. James Houbeck, Associate Pastor, and Deacon Robert Ervin, permanent deacon.

 

Fr. Houbeck previously ministered at the parish as a transitional deacon before he was ordained to the priesthood on October 7, 2017, by Archbishop Vigneron. He needed an extra semester to finish his studies so he was ordained after the annual ordinations in the spring.

Then-Deacon James Houbeck processed into Holy Family Church
before his ordination to the priesthood. - Source

Saturday Vigil is at 4:30pm and 6:30pm (Spanish) preceded by Reconciliation at 2:00pm. Sunday Masses at at 8:30am, 10:30am, and 12:30pm. Daily, morning Mass is at 9:00am Monday-Friday. Evening Mass is at 7:00pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.

For more info: parish website
Other blog posts: Discovering Detroit Catholic Churches + The Joyful Celibate
More about the renovation: parish update June 2016, Renkus-Heinz, Constantine George Pappas Architecture,
The Michigan Catholic articles on the ordination of Fr. Houbeck: 10/5/17 + 10/17/17

Return to Holy Family

 

In the early 1900s, immigrants from Sicily and southern Italy settled in Detroit. They began to worship at a chapel within Sts. Peter & Paul but, in 1907, Father Giovanni Boschi arrived from Italy and sought to establish an Italian-American parish. On December 7 of that year, Fr. Boschi and 30 laymen formed a committee to begin the process of starting a new parish, at the same time they also formed the Fraternal Order of San Giuseppe.

In 1908, Bishop Foley gave permission to form the new parish of La Chiesa Della Sacra Famiglia or the Church of the Holy Family. A church was designed by architects Edward  A. Schilling. Construction began the next year on an Italian Baroque-style church, two blocks northeast of the parent parish. At that time, the street in front of the church was Hastings, long before I-375 was paved.


The brick exterior was originally painted gray but now is beige with white trim. The facade was modeled after two Italian churches: Santa Susanna in Rome and San Marco in Florence. 

Santa Susanna, Rome (source)

San Marco, Florence (source)

The small church stands just southeast of Greektown, nestled between the Blue Cross-Blue Shield offices and I-375. Over the main entrance, a segmented pediment frames a limestone medallion. The building is capped by a triangular pediment and a rounded-arched belfry.

 

A bust of Madonna della Lacrime or, literally, Madonna of the Tears, in the vestibule. A side altar to the Blessed Virgin.

The church includes five altars, four of which depict the Blessed Virgin Mary with symbols of Sicilian towns.

An Immaculate Heart of Mary statue is seated with Child Jesus.

All windows are original to the building; the nave windows show several popular, Italian saints. The clerestory windows show scenes from the life of Christ.

In the clerestory, each window is flanked by an angel on one side and a saint on the other.

Compared to nearby churches, Holy Family is very small and reflects the size of the Italian migration to Detroit. The 1910 Census enumerated just over 6,000 residents with Italy or Sicily as their country of birth. That same year, there were more than eight times as many immigrants born in Germany.

As you might expect, the Holy Family is depicted on the top of the high altar.

Holy Family was added to the Michigan Registry of Historic Sites in 1989 and a plaque was mounted the next year. More than a century after its founding, Holy Family is still heavily identified as Italian. Its one of only two AOD parishes with regularly-scheduled Mass in Italian. The pastor, Fr. Giuseppe Licciardi, is a native of Sicily. Sunday Mass is at 9:30am (Latin) and 11:30am (Italian).

A book about the parish: Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition
For more info: AOD.org, parish website, & Detroit1701.org
For more photos: Flickr & AOD Film Services
Previous blog post: December 2010