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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church

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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Complex
Location13770 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, Michigan  United States
Built1881
ArchitectPeter Dederichs Et al.
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival, Renaissance
NRHP reference No.91001020[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 5, 1991
Designated MSHSJuly 19, 1990[2]

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church is a church located at 13770 Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is currently known as the Assumption Grotto Church. The church was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1990[2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[1]

Description

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Complex consists of multiple structures: the church, a convent, a rectory, a cemetery, and the grotto, along with a utilitarian boiler house.[3][2]

The church is a basilica-plan Neo-Gothic, structure, faced with limestone.[3] The interior of the church includes altars and communion rails of Italian marble and stained glass windows illustrating scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary and the saints.[4]

The rectory and convent are constructed of red brick, and the modest boiler house is located next to the convent. A cemetery containing a variety of monuments spanning from the early 19th century to the present is behind the church.[2] A large statue of Our Lady of Lourdes stands on the grounds facing Gratiot.[4]

Near the rear of the cemetery is the grotto.[2] The shrine is constructed from imported limestone.[5] Boulders placed around the shrine (as well as in the cemetery) were carted in by farmers from all parts of Michigan.[5] Some of the stones and many of the limestone pieces are carved with names and dedications.[5] In the front of the Grotto a fountain is inscribed with the words, "Glory to the One Triune God, Now and Forever."[5]

History

Side elevation of church

When German immigrants first came to Detroit in 1830, they arrived in the middle of a cholera epidemic.[3] Avoiding the city, they traveled north along Gratiot, settling in an area where a handful of French Roman Catholics already lived.[2] The Germans established a small selltement named Connor's Creek[4] and built a log church at the site where this church now stands.[3] They called the building Kirchen Wald (Church in the Woods), and Redemptionist missionaries offered Roman Catholic services in the structure.[3] The name was later changed to "Chapel of the Assumption" and later "St. Mary's in the Woods" before being designated the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church."[2]

In 1847, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church was designated a parish—only the second in what is now Detroit.[3] In 1852, the first full-time pastor, Father Amandus Vandendriessche, was assigned to the church. He began building a permanent brick structure, which was completed by the end of 1852 and sat 500.[3][4] In 1876, Vandendriessche visited France, and was so impressed by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes that he had a replica of the grotto, designed by Peter Dederichs,[2] created at the church.[3] The grotto was completed in 1881.[3] On April 30, 1882, Pope Leo XIII signed a proclamation granting partial and plenary indulgences for anyone who visited the Grotto and prayed for the propagation of the faith.[5]

As Detroit grew in the early 20th century, so did the parish. When the 1852 church burned, construction began on a third church in 1907.[2] A rectory was added to the complex in 1917 - 1918 and a matching convent building was constructed in the early 1920s.[2] However, the population continued to grow, and to meet the needs of the larger congregation, the current, larger church was built in 1928-1929.[3] It was designed by the Detroit architectural firm of Aloys Frank Herman,[6] and dedicated on September 22, 1929.[3]

The parish today

As a result of the fame of the shrine, the Church of the Assumption began to be known as Assumption Grotto.[5] Mass is held every day, and most days a Tridentine Latin Mass is also held.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Complex from the state of Michigan
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Complex from the city of Detroit
  4. ^ a b c d Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church Complex from Detroit1701.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f Assumption Grotto Catholic Church history page Cite error: The named reference "agch" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Grotto) Parish from the Archdiocese of Detroit
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