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Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church
National Register
Historic Photo from NRHP Filing
1. Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church 2. Detroit, Michigan 3. Kevin Murphy 4. 1975 5. Kevin Murphy 6. west and north facades 7. #1 93 JAN 31 1978 SEP 12 1977 Wayne Co PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER
National Register of Historic Places Filing
State SignificanceReligionArchitectureEthnic History1800-1899, 1900-
Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church achieves significance as a pivotal parish in the development of both the Polish Community of Detroit and the city’s Catholic Diocese. The structure is also noteworthy as one of Detroit’s more striking remaining examples of Late Gothic Revival church architecture. The history of Sweetest Heart of Mary is deeply rooted in the development of Detroit’s early Polish communities. Most of the first Polish immigration to this area during the mid-nineteenth century came from Prussian-occupied north Poland. Bilingual because of the German occupation, these immigrants tended to gravitate towards German parishes such as St. Joseph’s located on Detroit’s near east side. However, when the Polish parishioners learned that they were to be restricted to a localized section of the new St. Joseph’s Church, approximately 300 families decided to start a church of their own. The construction of their house of worship, St. Albertus, coincided with the arrival in 1882 of Father Dominick Kolasinski, a dynamic Krakow priest who contributed significantly to the development of both St. Albertus and Sweetest Heart of Mary. St. Albertus, also nominated to the National Register, was completed in 1885 at a cost which exceeded original estimates by approximately $20,000. This cost overrun helped to inflame factional feuding between the northern Kazub Poles and more recent immigrants from Galicia in southern Poland. Kolasinski found himself caught in the middle. Father Kolasinski was dismissed from St. Albertus by Detroit Bishop Borgess following charges of embezzlement and sexual promiscuity which were filed by a group of disgruntled Kazub parishioners. When supporters of Kolasinski tried to prevent a new priest from entering St. Albertus, riots broke out, and animosities subsided only after Father Kolasinski left Detroit in April of 1886 for a new parish in North Dakota. The Diocese then tried to suppress Polish nationalism by promoting Americanization and encouraging Polish involvement in the larger German parish of St. Joseph’s. Nonetheless, Father Kolasinski’s supporters seceded and formed their own church. When Kolasinski returned to Detroit permanently in December of 1888, he became pastor of the new parish, Sweetest Heart of Mary. The first Sweetest Heart building, now the school, was erected on the Russell-Canfield site in 1889. This building originally housed a school, a rectory, and a chapel with a seating capacity of 1000. It was designed by Spier and Rohns of Detroit and was constructed so that it could easily be connected to the new church. The main church building, with a seating capacity of 2,400, was completed in 1893 at a cost of $125,000. Contractors included Rogers, Smith, and McDonald, stonework, and Leonard Price, brickwork. During the late 1890s, a major financial crisis was averted after many parishioners took out second mortgages on their homes in order to accumulate sufficient funds to save the church. Exhausted by this financial crisis and by the series of hearings which eventually cleared him of the changes responsible for his dismissal in 1885, Father Kolasinski died in 1898. During the troubled years of the 1890s, the Sweetest Heart of Mary parish acquired an 1894 Austin organ. Now, the oldest electrified organ in the state, it is also one of the nation’s few remaining instruments of this vintage. Detroit was a major organ manufacturing center during the 1890s, and Sweetest Heart received the second organ built by the newly organized Austin Organ Company. The firm, now located in Connecticut, is currently the largest producer of custom-built wind organs in America. Once the heart of a thriving, self-sufficient Polish community, Sweetest Heart of Mary is presently located in the middle of an urban renewal area. Although its congregation has dwindled to approximately 200, new housing in the area may attract more parishioners, and the Polish-American Congress is currently developing programs to draw young people of Polish origin back into the neighborhood.
Physical Description
Sweetest Heart of Mary is a typical cruciform plan church built of red brick with stone trim and a patterned slate roof. The main west facade is distinguished by a stone base topped by a quatrefoil frieze over the main portal and twin buttressed towers surmounted by octagonal spires. A smaller spire marks the intersection of the nave with the transept. Several motifs unify the composition of the edifice: alternating patterns of pinnacles and decorated gables define the bases of the main spires; the gable ornamentation, consisting primarily of blind serrated lancets, is repeated on the four larger gables which mark the ends of the nave and transept; the pointed gable shape is echoed not only on the spires and the roof, but also on the side buttressing and above all of the portals; lancet windows fenestrate the towers, the gables, and the main three-portal facade; and circles dominate the tracery of the tower windows and the smaller windows of the north and south facades. A six-pointed star highlights the tracery of the window above the main west portal. Awarded prizes at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the transept windows feature lancet tracery topped by a stone transom. Gables, pinnacled buttresses, and angled side entrances provide the nave facades with a multiplicity of line and form. The interior is characteristic of the hall church design, with high vaulted ceilings and slightly lower vaulted side aisles. The ceiling is supported by columns faced with plaster colonettes and topped by gold leaf Corinthian capitals. Between the ribs of the vaulting are paintings in a Byzantine style. The sanctuary, which was enlarged and repainted in the early twentieth century, contains a large marble altar with a nine foot statue of the Virgin Mary. The stained glass windows reflect the circle and six-pointed star motifs of the exterior tracery. To the immediate north of the church proper are three related buildings, the 1889 school, and the Sisters’ Convent and rectory, constructed around 1900. The most noteworthy of the three is the school, a three story rectangular brick building with a pedimented Ionic portico on the central projecting bay and an ornamental box cornice. The third story is defined by a stringcourse and windows decorated with round arch architraves and keystones. The roof is hipped and the central bay is distinguished by a gabled dormer. The convent is also a three story rectangular brick building; the central section has a truncated hipped roof while the side blocks have gabled roofs and eyebrow dormers. The rectory, a two story brick building, features ornamental brickwork on the quoins and window trim. The roof is both hipped and gabled, and the main west facade possesses a columned porch and a gabled dormer. The entire complex is landscaped with small trees and bushes and is protected by a stone and wrought iron fence.
Architect/Builder
Spier and Rohns
NRHP Ref# 78001523 • Data from National Park Service • Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0
Historical Photos
(3)1. Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church 2. Detroit, Michigan 3. Kevin Murphy 4. 1975 5. Kevin Murphy 6. west and north facades 7. #1 93 JAN 31 1978 SEP 12 1977 Wayne Co PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER
Public Domain (Michigan Filing)
From Wikipedia
The Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church is located at 4440 Russell Street (at East Canfield Street) in Detroit, Michigan, in the Forest Park neighborhood on the city's central East side. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It, along with St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church, 0.4 miles east on East Canfield Street, and St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church, 0.3 miles west at East Canfield Street and Chrysler Drive, served the large Polish community through most of the twentieth century. In a diocesan reorganization instituted by Archbishop Allen Vigneron in 2013, Sweetest Heart of Mary joined with St. Josephat to form Mother of Divine Mercy Parish.The rise of Detroit brought in many Polish immigrants into the city in the 19th century; by the mid-1850s, the number of Polish families who had settled in the city was significant. These émigrés from Poland first attended St. Joseph's parish, which was at the time a German-speaking church. However, the Polish congregants were dissatisfied, and agitated for a Polish church. In 1871, three hundred or so Polish families organized St. Albertus Parish and built a frame church at St. Aubin and Canfield Avenue. In 1882, the charismatic Father Dominic Hippolytus Kolasinski (pl) became pastor of St. Albertus. Kolasinski organized the parish to construct the present St. Albertus Church, which was dedicated in 1885. In November 1885, the parish became factionalized and Kolasinski was reassigned. When Reverend John Foley became the new Bishop of Detroit in 1888, Kolasinski returned to the city and began the Parish of the Sweetest Heart of Mary outside the jurisdiction of the Detroit Diocese. Shortly afterward, the congregation added the school structure on Canfield, which still stands behind the church.Kolasinski negotiated to bring his flock, numbering nearly 4,000 families, into the fold of the Catholic Church. The Panic of 1893 hit the parish hard. Parish members secured a loan in order to keep the building. Eventually, Rome directed the bishop of Detroit to make peace with Kolasinski, and the congregation of the Sweetest Heart of Mary was officially received into the Diocese of Detroit on February 18, 1894.Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church Kolasinski died in 1898. He was temporarily succeeded by the Kashubian priest Rev. Jan Romuald Byzewski OFM, previously pastor of Detroit's Saint Francis of Assisi Parish. When Father Byzewski rejoined the Franciscan Order in 1899, he was succeeded by the assistant, Rev. Joseph Folta, who served as pastor until 1919. Father Folta built a second school, constructed a permanent rectory, and built an ornamental fence about the church. Folta was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Casimir Plagens, who served at Sweetest Heart from 1919 until 1935, and later became Bishop of Marquette and then Bishop of Grand Rapids. Plagens added embellishments to the church interior and built a permanent convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph, who staffed the parish school.During Father Plagens's tenure, the parish flourished. The church school was filled with almost 1,500 pupils, and the church was the social as well as spiritual center of the community. Over time, with shifting demographics, membership waned. This trend accelerated through the tenures of the next three pastors: Monsignor Michael Grupa (1935 to 1949), Rev. Adam Koprowski (1949 to 1959), and Rev. Boguslaus Poznański (1959 to 1976). During the 1960s and early 1970s the congregation numbers fell.In 1976, Rev. Bohdan Kosicki joined Sweetest Heart, began a building restoration, and implemented a plan which revived church membership. He reached out and established ties to earlier parishioners, raising funds for the restoration. Sweetest Heart of Mary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It received state historic designation in 1974, and city of Detroit designation in 1981. A state of Michigan historical marker was also erected in 1981. The stained glass windows and organ were restored, and much of the main altar was renovated. In addition, the convent and fencing were restored, the second school building was demolished, and the historic old school building was stabilized. Kosicki's work was carried on through the tenure of Rev. Alphons Gorecki, who served from 1981 through 2002. Other work included refurbishing the interior, repairing plasterwork and statues, and upgrading electrical wiring.From 2002 until early 2010, Fr. Mark A. Borkowski was pastor and continued the restoration and revival of Sweetest Heart of Mary. During this period the Annual Pierogi Festival greatly expanded to become the largest religious festival in the City of Detroit. July 1, 2011, Fr. Darrell Roman became the new administrator in addition to being administrator for the other two churches in the cluster, St. Joseph and St. Josaphat.The church sanctuary A stained glass window depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic In 1890, construction began on "what would become the largest Catholic Church in Michigan." Spier and Rohns designed the present structure. Kolasinski had formed the parish and raised the building funds for the rapidly growing parish. The cornerstone-laying ceremony was held on June 5, 1892, and on December 24, 1893, after construction costs of over $125,000, the church was officially dedicated. More than 10,000 people attended the dedication ceremony.Sweetest Heart of Mary is one of the largest Gothic Revival churches in the Midwest, and perhaps the most impressive. The church is constructed of red brick in a cruciform shape with a cross gabled roof. The facade on Russell boasts a rusticated stone lower level with a triple portal, a pointed arch structure, and a stone balustrade atop everything. Two towers flank the entrance, topped with identical spires, which are capped with buttresses and detailed with crosses.The church includes several impressive stained glass windows created by Detroit Stained Glass Works, the successor to the well known firm of Friederichs and Staffin. The major transept window illustrates the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's workshop. Eight windows lining the nave portray Christ, Mary, and several saints; this set of windows won a major prize at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.There are three related buildings—a large rectory, a convent that could house several dozen religious sisters, and a large school building—which make up a local historic district.The 1893 Austin pipe organ Opus No. 2 (2 manuals and 20 ranks) is the oldest Austin Organ still in service, and the oldest surviving electro-pneumatic in the state of Michigan.• Archdiocese of Detroit• Architecture of metropolitan Detroit• Godzak, Roman (2000). Archdiocese of Detroit (Images of America). Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-0797-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)• Godzak, Roman (2004). Catholic Churches of Detroit (Images of America). Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3235-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)• Godzak, Roman (2000). Make Straight the Path: A 300 Year Pilgrimage Archdiocese of Detroit. Editions du Signe. ISBN 2-7468-0145-0.• Orson, Lawrence, (1981) Polish Detroit and the Kolasinski Affair Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 268 pages. ISBN 0-8143-1671-9; ISBN 978-0-8143-1671-9.• Serafino, Frank, (1983) West of Warsaw. Avenue Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-910977-00-5 ISBN 0-910977-00-3.• Skendzel, Eduard Adam Kolasinski in the Evening News, 1881-1899 ASIN: B000722P40.• Tentler, Leslie Woodcock with foreword by Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka (1992). Seasons of Grace: A History of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2106-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)• Tutag, Nola Huse with Lucy Hamilton (1988). Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit. Wayne State University Press. p. 150. ISBN 0-8143-1875-4.Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church (Detroit, Michigan).• Detroit: The History and Future of the Motor City, Religious Buildings, Sweetest Heart of Mary.• Mother of Divine Mercy Parish websiteShrine • National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal OakFormer • Catholicism portal• Michigan portal
Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0
Building Details
- Architect
- Spier and Rohns
- Year Built
- 1893
- Address
- 4440 Russell St. and Canfield
- Style
- late Gothic Revival
- Building Type
- church
- National Register
- Listed
- Ref# 78001523
