Looking west from St. Albertus Church It all started with Rev. Dominic Kolasinski's dismissal as Pastor of St. Albertus Church. This photo shows just how close to St. Albertus the Sweetest Heart of Mary Church is (2 blocks west). The white building with the horizontal windows in the distance (on the left of this photo) is the Detroit Medical Center complex. It did not exist when SH of M was built.
SH of M w/ RenCen in the Distance This view of the Sweetest Heart of Mary shows the Renaissance Center in the distance (round tower on the left). The RenCen is now the official World Headquarters of General Motors Corporation. It is right on the Detroit Riverfront and just a few miles south of the church.
Looking North on Russell Street A very permanent slate roof, initially possessing a pronounced colorful design and once crowned by an ornamental wrought iron grating, covers the vast roof area. The ground level external dimensions of the church are: length -202 feet, width of nave - 90 feet, width of transept - 118 feet; height - 88 feet. Sweetest Heart of Mary Church is truly one of cathedral proportions.
Sweetest Heart of Mary Church The spires and facade are the focal point of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. The facade (height of 42 feet) is of Berea stone and blocks. In its upper reaches it is brick work with-stone trimmings. The front has a main entrance which is flanked by two side entrances of lesser proportions. There is also an ornamented entrance from the Canfield side. Above the main portal is a niche which harbors a 6' statue of the Virgin Mary, the patroness of the parish, capped by a pinnacle surmounted with a cross. Behind it is a star-designed facade-window. The gable above it is highly ornamented and is also topped with a cross. The acute angles of the tops of the side windows and of the transept are also crowned with crosses. Pinnacles are used extensively on the spires themselves and all along the exterior of the sides. In the north tower are housed three huge bells: St. Mary - A (above C); St. Joseph - F sharp; and St. Barbara - E flat.
Church Cornerstone The English translation is June 5, 1892.
Historical Marker The Sweetest Heart of Mary Church was recognized as a Michigan Historic Site in 1981.
Inside Sweetest Heart of Mary Church The interior of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church consists of a wide long nave flanked by side naves, a transept area, a sanctuary, and an extensive choir loft. The height of the vaulted ceiling at its highest point is 76'. Two rows of 10" wrought iron columns aid the walls in the support of the roof. The columns have the appearance of real marble, however, in the early 1890s, they were very artistically covered with a hard plastic-like substance to simulate marble. The lighting of the entire interior comes from the uniquely beautiful stained glass windows. In the wall area between these windows are found almost life-like Stations of the Cross. This interior was built to seat 2400 people. Though the original ceiling was painted in indigo and was relieved by a spattering of small gold stars, the entire vaulted ceiling was covered with a complex pattern of burnished gold, painted on canvas, in the times of Bishop Plagens.
Upper Main Alter The focal point of the entire interior is the elaborate main altar. It is of hand-carved "white-wood" and is truly an imposing work. Its intricate carvings make it a gem of handicraft. Few such works exist in this country and one would have to go to Europe to find some thing comparable. It reputedly cost over $5,000 - a huge sum of money in 1893, a time of economic depression. It is painted in ivory with gilt outline accents. The main figure on the main altar, high in central position, is a nine-foot statue of the Virgin Mary, Mary Most Pure, the patroness of the church. Reiterating this same theme are two murals, high in the apse, on either side of the altar. One is a copy of Murillo's Immaculate Conception; the other is a painting of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. The Murillo painting of the Virgin is also executed in glass in the Kolasiñski Memorial Window.
Side Altar This sanctuary area seems to be encroached upon by the two side altars. The one on the north side is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Above her statue are large statues of St. Matthias, St. Matthew, and St. John the Apostle.
The Lower Main Alter Positioned a bit lower on the main altar, starting with the Gospel Side, are the statues of St. James the Great, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. James the Less. Located just above the tabernacle, a result of subsequent remodeling, is a marble tabloid of the Crucifixion. From the height of the tabernacle to the base, this main altar was covered with marble in the late 1930s (in the days of Monsignor Grupa), unfortunately not complying strictly with the original design. In the one in the north transept is an altar dedicated to St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Near it is a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a statue of the Infant of Prague, and a statue of St. Anthony. In the angle of the south transept there is an altar dedicated to St. Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus. In its immediate vicinity is another statue of St. Joseph and one of St. Francis of Assisi.
The Charity of St. Vincent The real color effects in the church come from the magnificent stained glass windows, creations of The Detroit Glass Works. According to news paper accounts of that day, they reputedly won one of the main prizes at the Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. These stained glass windows are spectacular for their exquisite and incomparable tracery and their kaleidoscopic colors. Eight tall such windows, four on each side, light the nave. The lights in these windows glow with red, orange, blue, and gold figures in various designs and patterns, in addition to presenting a pictorial biblical or religious scene. In 1979, the most necessary repairs were done upon these and the other windows in the church at a cost of approximately $23,000; in 1983, the windows on the Canfteld side were made secure against vandalism by the installation of a protective plastic called Lexon at a cost of $37,000.
The Holy Family Two of the most striking features of this magnificent edifice are the two great windows at either end of the transept. Their immense proportions occupy the entire space of the wall at those ends. These mammoth windows are sixty feet high and thirty feet wide, and each contains three circular frames in the uppermost section. They are masterpieces of the art of stained glass and represent the Holy Family in the south transept and the Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in its north counterpart. Again, they are representative of the idealism of the founding pastor. These latter windows cost $2,500 each — indeed, a tremendous sum of money in 1893-1894.
The Kolasinski Window The first window, near the south transept (Holy Family Window), is the Kolasiñski Memorial Window. It is the offering of the founding pastor. Alone of all the eight windows in the nave, this window, with its delightful tracery, consists of a double panel. One panel depicts Hartmann’s the Good Shepherd; the other depicts Murillo’s masterpiece, the Immaculate Conception. This window does have especial significance because it probably embodies the priesthood of Father Kolasinski — his devotion to his God as the Good Shepherd, and his devotion to the Mother of God as the Immaculate Conception.
Organ Window The facade window, or the organ window, has what might be called a politically-inspired motif. In its star-shaped design it features symbols of the Polish nation which Father Kolasiñski, perhaps grieving over the partitioned fate of his native land, used in the hope of uniting his people. He hoped, at the same time, to minimize the sectional regionalism which the Partitions had occasioned and which he found rampant among the immigrant Pioneer Detroit Polanders. In the center of this window is the Madonna with Child. On the left is the Polish eagle, on the right the Knight of Lithuania, and at the base St. Michael, representing White Russia. Together this all symbolizes Greater Poland.
Tiffany Glass Chandelier Since the church was originally illumined by gas fixtures, the fourteen well-proportioned chandeliers of Victorian style are a later addition to the interior of the church. Each chandelier has an octagonal outer ring consisting of forty light bulbs. The base of each one is a large bowl-like fixture which contains four large bulbs in its interior and which is surrounded by eight glass panels. The designs on these glass panels are liturgical motifs of grapes and wheat. The glass used in the fabrication is the famous Tiffany brand. When fully illumined, this glass emits a soft warm glow through the base as well as from the octagonal ring of lights.
Austin Organ The huge pipe organ in the gallery, dedicated on Sunday, February 4. 1894, in a great public concert, was once one of the finest instruments in the city. The year 1977 saw the first phase of its restoration by the White Organ Co. of Lansing, Michigan; the second phase witnessed its complete restoration in 1984. It is a two-manual instrument with a great organ and a swell organ. Being a twenty-rank organ, it comprises pipes sixteen feet in height. The case of this organ is unusually massive, being of solid two-inch oak, with heavy pilasters and moldings. Its finish reflects the beauty of the wood used in its fabrication. It was built by the Austin Organ Co. of Hanford, Conn.
The Pulpit In the manner of many large European churches, the pulpit of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church is veritably in the center of the edifice. It was positioned thus so that the preacher could be heard throughout the entire vast interior in a day when public address systems did not exist. It is anchored to a pillar in the north transept. Its canopy rises some sixteen feet, soaring into an intricate Gothic pinnacle, decorated with many lesser such pinnacles. This reiterates the theme of the many pinnacles atop the high altar and the other lesser altars, and it creates a sense of unity which is intensified by the lofty frontal steeples and the lesser pinnacles found all through the exterior of the church.
Victorian Era Pews The carved ornamental panels at the ends of the pews deserve comment. They are definitely of the Victorian Era. The carefully carved design found on them is in sharp contrast to the austere, almost faceless, panels of today’s seating. Likewise, the uppermost portions of the confessionals have intricately carved Gothic pinnacles. This same kind of beautiful carving is also observed in the cedilla, i.e. the benches in the sanctuary. These creations in wood all manifest the best of the artisan’s craftsmanship. The floors of the vestibule, the main aisle, the side aisle, and the sanctuary were covered with terrazzo at some time after the opening of the church. The rest of the floor area still retains the original wood planking. There are three interesting mosaic patterns which have been set into the floor of the vestibule. Apart from these, there are two other mosaic patterns set into the floor of the sanctuary. Each of these designs is totally different from every other one.
Station of the Cross Each one of the Stations of the Cross is a work of art in itself. Each one measures 9 feet tall and is 4 feet wide. The figures are so lifelike it seems like they could step right off the wall!
Model of Sweetest Heart of Mary This beautiful model of the Sweetest Heart of Mary Church sits in the back of the Church near the vestibule. It was built by Jan Bliznik in the 1930s and donated to the church after his death in 1977. Jan worked on this model for 8 years and laboriously created it from scraps of wood, candy wrappers, and things he had around his house. Truly beautiful!
The Pastors of Sweetest Heart of Mary In the vestibule of the Church, on the south end, there is a corner of wall space devoted to the past and present pastors of the Sweetest Heart of Mary, along with pictures of the present Pope, Cardinal, and Bishop, and a sketch of the Church.
Vestments At the south end of the vestibule, is the Historical Room and the Gift Shop. The Historical Room has displays of vestments (pre-Vatican II) as well as walls full of class pictures from the Sweetest Heart of Mary School.
