page_title: Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Sweetest Heart of Mary Catholic Church (Detroit, MI) - nave, Saint Dominic
context_page_description: The Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church is located at 4440 Russell Street in Detroit, Michigan, in the Forest Park neighborhood on the city's central East side. The Gothic Revival cathedral styled church is the largest of the Roman Catholic churches in the City of Detroit. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It, along with St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church, 0.4 miles east on East Canfield Street, and St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church, 0.3 miles west at East Canfield Street and Chrysler Drive, served the large Polish community through most of the twentieth century. In a diocesan reorganization instituted by Archbishop Allen Vigneron in 2013, Sweetest Heart of Mary joined with St. Josephat to form Mother of Divine Mercy Parish.
context_section_description: In 1890, construction began on "what would become the largest Catholic Church in Michigan." Spier and Rohns designed the present structure. Kolasinski had formed the parish and raised the building funds for the rapidly growing parish. The cornerstone-laying ceremony was held on June 5, 1892, and on December 24, 1893, after construction costs of over $125,000, the church was officially dedicated. More than 10,000 people attended the dedication ceremony.
  Sweetest Heart of Mary is one of the largest Gothic Revival churches in the Midwest, and perhaps the most impressive. The church is constructed of red brick in a cruciform shape  with a cross gabled roof. The facade on Russell boasts a rusticated stone lower level with a triple portal, a pointed arch structure, and a stone balustrade atop everything. Two towers flank the entrance, topped with identical spires, which are capped with buttresses and detailed with crosses.
  The church includes several impressive stained glass windows created by Detroit Stained Glass Works, the successor to the well known firm of Friederichs and Staffin. The major transept window illustrates the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's workshop. Eight windows lining the nave portray Christ, Mary, and several saints; this set of windows won a major prize at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
  There are three related building—a large rectory, a convent that could house several dozen religious sisters, and a large school building—which make up a local historic district.
  The 1893 Austin pipe organ Opus No. 2 (2 manuals and 20 ranks) is the oldest Austin Organ still in service, and the oldest surviving electro-pneumatic in the state of Michigan.
caption: A stained glass window depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic
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