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St. Joseph Oratory

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St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church
Facade of St. Joseph's
St. Joseph Oratory is located in Michigan
St. Joseph Oratory
LocationDetroit, Michigan
ArchitectFrancis G. Himpler; Donaldson and Meier
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival; German Hall Church
NRHP reference No.72000670, 91002013[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 08, 1972, January 28, 1992

Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1855, is a historic German Catholic parish with a landmark church located at 1828 Jay Street in the Eastern Market-Lafayette Park neighborhood just outside of downtown Detroit. Its building is on the National Register of Historic Places and deemed 'of national importance', and noted for its stained glass.[2]

Significance

The German-inspired Gothic structure had its cornerstone laid in 1870 and was dedicated in 1873, making it one of the oldest extant churches in Detroit. Francis G. Himpler, a Munich-born New York architect, designed the building which is considered one of the Midwest's best displays of Victorian gothic architecture, especially so because the structure is effectively unaltered. The building is distinguished by its stained glass, notable in its intricate designs and wide usage. Also of note is the woodwork, statuary, and original stone high altar in the interior. Located at 1828 Jay Street, the church is still in full operation today, with two Masses every Sunday and Daily Mass on certain weekdays.

Traditional worship

200 foot spire of St. Joseph Detroit is a landmark.

St. Joseph Parish has kept up traditional worship throughout its history, maintaining the Latin language, alongside vernacular German and English, in its Novus Ordo Masses after the Second Vatican Council. In Fall 2007, after a 37 year absence, the parish reinstated the Latin Tridentine Mass which was effectively replaced, but never banned, when the Catholic Church created the Novus Ordo Mass in 1969. St. Joseph joins nearby St. Josaphat Parish and Assumption Grotto Parish as one of the few midwestern parishes offering the old Mass. St. Joseph offers it on the fourth Sunday of every month and on some feast days. St. Joseph also maintains German language Masses on the fourth Sunday of every month, being a historically German parish.

The parish is known for its musical heritage, offering orchestral Masses composed by the likes of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and lesser known composers on certain Sundays and Holy Days, and maintaining traditional choir and organ music. The St. Joseph tracker organ is a powerful instrument in a fine acoustical space. Originally built by J. H. & C. S. Odell for the present Church structure in 1873, the organ was successfully restored and expanded for the celebration of the parish centennial in 1973 by the organ builder William M. Worden. It currently contains twenty-nine stops. For greater general participation during the Latin Mass, St. Joseph Parish is one of the very few parishes probably in the entire United States to have available for use, even by the entire congregation, the Gregorian Missal published by the monks of Solesmes. The traditional Adoremus Hymnal published by Ignatius Press is also used at both the Latin and English Masses. Contemporary worship hymns are not used by the St. Joseph Music Ministry.

While not unique in being respective of tradition and creating solemnity in this manner, St. Joseph Parish lies outside the mainstream of contemporary American Catholic worship.

The parish today

Parish rectory house next door to the church.

St. Joseph's Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972; the buildings in the surrounding complex were added in 1992. St. Joseph is clustered with two neighboring Polish-heritage parishes, St. Josaphat and Sweetest Heart of Mary, both on nearby Canfield Street, and both also on the National Register. Due to tight archdiocesan finances, a priest shortage, and metro Detroit sprawl which has dispersed Catholics, one pastor services these three parishes, with some help from other archdiocesan priests. They coordinate their Mass schedules such that daily Mass is at various churches throughout the week.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15.
  2. ^ Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press.

References and further reading

  • Godzak, Roman (2000). Archdiocese of Detroit (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738507972.
  • Godzak, Roman (2004). Catholic Churches of Detroit (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738532355.
  • Godzak, Roman (2000). Make Straight the Path: A 300 Year Pilgrimage Archdiocese of Detroit. Editions du Signe. ISBN 2746801450.
  • Muller, Herman Joseph (1976). The University of Detroit 1877-1977: A Centennial History. University of Detroit. ASIN B0006CVJ4S.
  • Tentler, Leslie Woodcock with forward by Edmund Cardinal Szoka (1992). Seasons of Grace: A History of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814321062.
  • Tutag, Nola Huse with Lucy Hamilton (1988). Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1875-4.
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