St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church

Infobox_nrhp | name =St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church
nrhp_type =

---

caption = St Albertus facade
location= Detroit, Michigan
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 21
lat_seconds = 36
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 83
long_minutes = 2
long_seconds = 31
long_direction = W
locmapin = Michigan
area =
built =1885
architect= Henry Engelbert
architecture= Other
added = January 18, 1978
governing_body = Private
refnum=78001522cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church is a church located at 4231 St. Aubin Street in Detroit, Michigan.

History

The rise of Detroit brought a number of 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 Polish immigrants were primarily from the Prussian-controlled sections of the partitioned Poland, and naturally settled in and near the German-speaking sections of Detroit. [http://www.stalbertus.org/history.htm A Brief History of St. Albertus] ] Many of these Poles first attended St. Joseph's, which was at the time a German-speaking church. However, the Polish congregants were dissatisfied, and agitated for a Polish church. [http://detroit1701.org/SweetestHeart.htm Sweetest Heart of Mary Catholic Church ] from Detroit1701.org]

In 1870, aided by Father Simon Wieczorek, the Poles took steps to organize their own parish. They organized the St. Stanislaus Kostka Society and, with the blessing of the current bishop, began to collect funds to build of a church. In 1871, St. Albertus Parish was organized with three hundred or so Polish families. [http://www.sweetestheartofmary.org/syn.htm Eduard Adam Skendzel] , Sweetest Heart of Mary history page] That same year, the parish purchased a plot of land, 100 feet wide and 270 feet deep, on the western side of St. Aubin Avenue and what is now East Canfield Street. They hired architect John Wiesenhoffèr, and construction of a frame church began in 1872.

The church was dedicated to St. Wojciech; early pastors borrowed the erroneous Latin equivalent Adalbertus, which is St. Albertus or St. Albert in English. The establishment of St. Albertus led to an influx of Poles into the immediate neighborhood in order to be close to the church. This influx resulted in Detroit's first Polish neighborhood, known among Detroiters as "Poletown."

The church went through four pastors until, in 1882, the charismatic Father Dominic Hippolytus Kolasiñski became pastor of St. Albertus. Appealing to his parishoner's national pride, he urged the construction of a larger church. The parish contracted architect Henry Engelbert to design a church to seat 2500 people, and the Spitzely Brothers of Detroit to build it for a cost was $61,000. Construction began in 1883, and the church was dedicated on July 4, 1885. At the time, the St. Albertus was the largest Catholic chirch in Michigan, and was the first in the city of Detroit to feature steam heat and electrical lighting.

Unfortunately, Father Kolasiñski was a very controversial priest, and in November of 1885 the parish became factionalized; Father Kolasiñski was suspended as a result. Kolasiñski initially refused to leave his post, appealing his suspension to the bishop. However, pressure was brought to bear, and Kolasiñski eventually left Detroit for a pastorate in the Dakota Territory.

Kolasiñski's followers, however, remained estranged from the other St. Albertus congregants, and established their own church school. When a new bishop of Detroit was appointed in 1888, Father Kolasiñski returned to the Detroit and began the Parish of the Sweetest Heart of Mary outside the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church. Although subsequent years in the parish have been less tumultuous, St. Albertus is teh mother church of more than 30 Polish Catholic churches, including Sweetest Heart of Mary, St. Josaphat, and St. Stanislaus.

A rectory building was constructed near the church in 1891. A school was built immediately behind the church in 1917, replacing two earlier school buildings. The parish was closed in 1990. In 1991, a group of parishioners formed The Polish American Historic Site Association (PAHSA) to maintain and preserve this St. Albertus. [http://www.stalbertus.org/assoc.htm The Polish American Historic Site Association] ] The church still hosts monthly masses in Polish and English, and is open for tours and weddings. [http://www.stalbertus.org/faqs.htm Frequently Asked Questions] from St. Albertus]

The son of Prussian Polish immigrants, Rev. John A. Lemke, born in Detroit in February 10, 1866, was the first native born Roman Catholic Priest to be ordained on America. Treppa, Alan R. [http://www.stalbertus.org/revLemke.pdf Rev. John A. Lemke: America's First Native Born Roman Catholic Priest] ."St. Albertus.org". Retrieved on July 25, 2008.] He was Baptised at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church (1843), at the corner of St. Antoine and Croghan (Monroe), on February 18, 1866, attended St. Albertus for his primary education, and studied at Detroit College which is now the University of Detroit Mercy where he received a Bachelor's degree in 1884; then, after attending St. Mary's in Baltimore, he completed his theological studies at St. Francis Seminary in Monroe, Michigan, and he was ordained by the Bishop John Samuel Foley in 1889. His added confirmation name was Aloysius.

Description

St. Albertus is a brick building 200 feet long and 70 feet wide, with a spire originally 280 feet tall. The original spire of was shortened after being damaged in a windstorm on Good Friday of 1913.

Contrasting with the plain brick of the exterior, the interior of St. Albertus has an ornalte medieval flair [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/detroit/d9.htm St. Albertus Catholic Church] from the National Park Service] . The altars, baptismal font, and the wainscot is made of patterned terra-cotta. THe ceiling is ornately painted. Sixty-three pieces of painted plaster sculpture are within the church, and the windows are decorated with Medieval style stained glass.

ee also

*Archdiocese of Detroit

References

Further reading

*Cite book| author=Godzak, Roman|title= Archdiocese of Detroit (Images of America)|year=2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|id=ISBN 0738507972
*Cite book| author=Godzak, Roman|title= Catholic Churches of Detroit (Images of America)|year=2004|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|id=ISBN 0738532355
*Cite book| author=Godzak, Roman|title= Make Straight the Path: A 300 Year Pilgrimage Archdiocese of Detroit|year=2000|publisher=Editions du Signe|id=ISBN 2746801450
*Cite book| author=Tentler, Leslie Woodcock with forward by Edmund Cardinal Szoka
title= Seasons of Grace: A History of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit|year=1992|publisher=Wayne State University Press|id=ISBN 0814321062
*Cite book|author=Tutag, Nola Huse with Lucy Hamilton|title=Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=1988|id=ISBN 0-8143-1875-4