The History of the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Part 2

Continued from The History of the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Part I

As in any matter, as indeed it was in the establishment of the new parish, the beginnings were exceedingly difficult. For raising the Lord’s Temple, schools, apartments for the reverend sister teachers and the pastor, and at the same time for the land on which they had to erect these buildings, a huge sum of money was needed. The difficulties were so great that, in this district, city law prohibited the construction of any public building from wood. All buildings had to be of brick. The question was, how and from where could adequate funds be collected for all this. Even wise Solomon wouldn’t know how to obtain money from an empty pocket.

So, what to do? The parish books show that on the 17th of July 1911, Father Dziuk went from home to home, appealing to the generous hearts of his countrymen. In spite of the generosity of his noble compatriots, the amount collected was too little to begin such a large project. There lived at this time a certain benefactor of Detroit's Polonia on the eastern side of the city by the name of Tomasz Mółkowski, to whom God did not begrudge things of this world, because he supported every charitable purpose materially and morally. Knowing the generosity of Mr. Tomasz Mółkowski, Father Konstanty Dziuk succeeded in a request for a secured loan from the bank. He did not fail in this, because Tomasz Mółkowski did it willingly.

Already having a loan, the Reverend Pastor Dziuk together with the board, began with the purchase of land. First purchased were 13 lots on Lovett Street, somewhat distant from Warren, and since the lots on Warren were so exorbitant if the parish had to immediately purchase it, so a few of the parishioners personally bought eight additional lots on Warren Street, which later they resold to the parish at the same price or even more cheaply. The total for the 21 lots was $16,139.55.

Father Konstanty Dziuk, meanwhile, rented a house which served as a rectory at Mr. Piotr Maciejowski's at the corner of 28th and Devereaux Streets, where he lived until the building of a permanent rectory at that place. For almost 18 months, he celebrated Holy Mass at the Church of Saint Francis. At that time, the building edifice combined with brick on three stories, in which the church was located on the first story, the school and apartments for the sisters who taught at Felicyanek Assembly on the second and third stories at a cost of $33,850.00.

Construction of this building was started in 1912, and on the 26th of June of this same year, the Reverend Bishop Edward Kelly in a numerous group of clergy and faithful consecrated the cornerstone and one bell. While on Candlemas Day, the 2nd of February 1913, the Reverend Pastor Dziuk celebrated Holy Mass for the first time. No wonder that in the morning this and no other day for the first Holy Mass because the Reverend Pastor together with the parish council chose the Immaculate Virgin as the patron of the parish, under the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The 2nd of February 1913 should remain in the memory of the parishioners for a long time. Finally the dream of raising of a new parish in the place convenient for them had come true. At the start, the Reverend Pastor himself worked near the souls entrusted to him. Every Sunday, he celebrated two Holy Masses and liturgies. In the very beginning the parish numbered a few hundred families, and in the church there was seating for 500 people. Since the parish was expanding, and he could not manage the work alone, he was forced to ask the priestly professors in the Polish Seminary in Orchard Lake for an assistant clergyman. Quite so, one of the priests commuted on Saturday to help with listening to Holy Confession, and on Sunday with the celebration of Holy Mass. Soon this help proved to be insufficient, because apart from Saturday and Sunday, he worked all alone in the church, school, and rectory. In 1915, the Reverend Bishop appointed Anastazy Polanowski as the first Curate.

From "Silver Jubilee Souvenir Booklet of the Church of the Assumption 1912-1937", Detroit, Michigan. Translation from Polish to English by Stephen Danko, 2007.

To Be Continued...

The History of the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Part I

The History of the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a history of two epochs. The first epoch begins at the moment the Most Reverend Bishop Jan Foley, who was at that time the Ordinary of the Diocese of Detroit, appoints the organizer of our parish. This happened in July 1911, when a large number of Catholics of Polish descent, not having an appropriate ecclesiastical service in their own language in their neighborhood, were constrained to undertake a difficult road, in good weather and bad, to the nearest church. Not having proper transportation, the fulfillment of religious tradition for these first settlers of the Assumption was indeed a burden and a complete effort of dedication.

The year 1911 was the time when the city of Detroit began to expand, as they say, “like mushrooms after a rain”. Because of an abundance of work, thousands of people, in hopes of better work conditions and a betterment of their material existence, arrived in Detroit in order to settle here. Among the newcomers was a significant number of our countrymen, from the mines of Pennsylvania, from the Eastern factories and the Western farms. There is a tradition among us Poles, that before a Pole settles somewhere, he first looks for a church and school where he can hear the Word of God in a language he can understand, and where his children can learn the language of their ancestors. Because of this our Polish district in Detroit was overcrowded with Poles from other states, and the Polish churches were not able to serve this new mass of people.

Seeing this lack of Polish churches and schools and the impossibilities of service, the Most Reverend Bishop Jan Foley established a new Polish parish. The neighboring parishes of Saint Casimir, the oldest Polish parish on the west side of the city of Detroit, as well as the parish of Saint Francis, were nearly three miles away from them. So, it's no wonder the Poles living in the middle of this district had quite a distance to go to the Church of St. Francis or to the church of St. Casimir. To make the services of God easier for these people, the Most Reverend Bishop Jan Foley appointed Father Konstanty Dziuk as the founder and first pastor of the new Polish parish, with orders to choose a suitable place in this district.

Father Konstanty Dziuk, as we say, "rolled up his sleeves" and got to work. He chose the corner of Lovett and Warren Streets. At that time, Lovett Street was simply a path of mud up to one's knees, barely passable from Warren to Herbert Streets, although it was already significantly populated. While going from home to home in order to show the proposal of the new parish, he found many sympathetic and favorably disposed people who immediately showed their desire for this collaboration. He surrounded himself then with hardworking people, who every minute were ready to help the new pastor in order to achieve the intended goal. His first official act was the election of a parish board, the composition of which included the following men: Franciszek Wondołkowski, Ludwik Czuchra, Bronisław Waszewski, Franciszek Płotka, Józef Oberman, Antoni Bolak and Franciszek Brzyski. Besides this parish board there were also other people sympathetic and helpful to the organizer priest in all possible ways, and who went about the uprising of Assumption Parish, and among them were Piotr Maciejewski, Augustyn Latosiewicz, Józef Lesinski, Augustyn Mallon and others.

Maksymilian Pujdowski, Ludwik Czuchra, Franciszek Płotka, Józef Oberman, Antoni Bolak. Some members of the first church committee.

From "Silver Jubilee Souvenir Booklet of the Church of the Assumption 1912-1937", Detroit, Michigan. Translation from Polish to English by Stephen Danko, 2007.

To Be Continued...