Final Mass at Precious Blood Church on October 4th

Precious Blood Church, a part of St. Peter Claver Parish, will host its final Mass on Sunday, October 4, at 10:00am. A meeting for parishioners is scheduled to follow Mass this Sunday to discuss it further. A Mass for Precious Blood School alumni is scheduled for next Sunday, September 27.

The parish office will continue to occupy the nearby rectory until both the rectory and church are sold. St. Peter Claver's "annex" location, the former St. Francis de Sales, will remain open. For several years, Precious Blood Church has been open only May-September since the small parish cannot afford to heat the large building.

Precious Blood church is located at 13305 Grove, near McNichols and the Lodge.

For more info, see the bulletin

St. Peter Claver (formerly Precious Blood)

Precious Blood Parish was established in 1929, near McNichols and Schaefer, in northwest Detroit. The current church was designed by the firm of Maguolo & Quick and built in the early 1950s. The exterior columns are made of granite while walls are composed of sandstone.

An inscription outside the main entrance quotes Genesis 28:17b "this is nothing else but the house of God, the gateway to heaven."


Excerpts from the gospel are found on the walls of the nave.

The tabernacle is located in a chapel on the west side of the church.

Above one doorway is an inscription that translates as "this place is holy" and also shows Cardinal Mooney's coat of arms.

A mural depicting the Holy Trinity adorns the apse.

Bishop Moses Anderson, the first and only African-American bishop in the AOD, was consecrated as bishop in 1983. In addition to his duties of auxiliary bishop, overseeing parishes in the Central Region, he also served as pastor of Precious Blood 1992-2001. He later retired in 2003 when he reached the age of 75 and died January 1, 2013.

In 2005, Precious Blood merged with St. Francis de Sales to form St. Peter Claver Parish. The Precious Blood location is the primary location though the "annex" location at St. Francis de Sales is often used.


Sunday Mass is at 10:00am, Easter-Advent, at the former Precious Blood. During the winter, Mass is held at the much smaller St. Francis de Sales to lower utility expenses.


A prayer group frequently gathers in the church at 11:00am on Saturdays.

Fr. James O'Reilly, SJ, is the current pastor of St. Peter Claver as well as counselor at Loyola High School.

For more photos: Flickr
For more about the parish: parish website & bulletin archive

For more about Bishop Anderson: Detroit Free Press

St. Peter Claver (formerly St. Francis de Sales)

St. Peter Claver Catholic Community, in northwest Detroit, is the result of a 2005 merger between Precious Blood (est. 1929) and St. Francis de Sales (est. 1927).

The current parish maintains both of the worship sites. The primary site being the former Precious Blood Parish, located at 13305 Grove St., near McNichols and Schaefer. However, in effort to reduce utility usage, the former Precious Blood Church is not used during the winter. Many services are held at the "annex," a chapel located at the rear of the original St. Francis de Sales. It appears that the original church, at 10600 Fenkell, is no longer used.

Mass is celebrated on First Fridays at 6:30pm and Sundays at 10:00am. Reconciliation is on Saturdays at 4:00pm.

The windows are fairly plain, clear glass.

The altar canopy and tabernacle seem to be rather old, likely from the original church.

Fr. James O'Reilly, SJ, serves as pastor and also is an instructor at neighboring Loyola High School, one of three Catholic high schools remaining in the city.

Deacon Wyatt L. Jones, Jr., the former administrator of Precious Blood, serves as a permanent deacon.

       

For more info, check the parish website and/or bulletin archive