St. Michael the Archangel Church

St. Michael the Archangel is a Roman Catholic church located at 3114 Scranton Road in the historic Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The church is named in honor of St. Michael the Archangel and was completed in 1892.

The congregation was founded in 1881 as a mission of Ohio City, Cleveland's St. Mary's On-The-Flats to serve a growing German immigrant population on Cleveland's west side. The original church and school building was constructed in 1883 but burned on June 29, 1881. The current church which had its cornerstone laid in 1889 was completed five years ahead of schedule in 1892.

The church is considered a good example of High Victorian Gothic architecture with its two towers of unequal height and three archways. An architecturally notable school adjacent to the church began construction in 1906 and was completed in 1907. For many years the church was one of the most costly and artistically notable churches in the Cleveland Diocese.

The church reached its peak size in the 1950 at which time only 25% of the parishioners were of German descent. The first Spanish mass was said in 1971 for the growing number of Hispanic parishioners. The congregation now is mostly Latin American. The church now offers Masses in both English and Spanish. An annual Good Friday Procession ends at St. Michael's. The parish has become a center of Hispanic culture in Cleveland [cite web |url=http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SMC1/ |title=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History - St. Michael Church|publisher=Case Western Reserve University |accessdate=2008-08-17] [cite web |url=http://www.cleveland.catholicnet.com/parish/stmichael-44113/ |title=St. Michael's Parish Website |accessdate=2008-08-17] [cite web|url=http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SMO |title=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History - St. Mary's On-The-Flats |publisher=Case Western Reserve University|accessdate=2008-08-17] [cite web|url=http://dioceseofcleveland.org/hispanicministry/what%27s_happening.htm |title=Hispanic Ministry - What's Happening |publisher= Diocese of Cleveland |accessdate=2008-08-17] .

References

External links

* [http://www.cleveland.catholicnet.com/parish/stmichael-44113/ Official site St. Michael the Archangel]
* [http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/hispanicministry/images/archiv5.jpgLiturgical Dancers carefully dress the altar at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Cleveland for the Eucharistic celebration]
* [http://www.cleveland.catholicnet.com/parish/stmichael-44113/ St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Cleveland, Ohio Website]
* [http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/ The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland]