Holiday Celebrations

Holidays are still celebrated in a big way at Sweetest Heart of Mary. If you've never participated in a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, "Pasterka" or Shepherds Mass, you're missing out on a big Polish tradition. The traditional Carols (Koledy) are sung in Polish (with English translations) and the infamous bells named St. Joseph, St. Mary, & St. Barbara ring out in the night. The Church is decorated lavishly and the experience is a very moving one. Christmas Eve is also very special at Sweetest Heart of Mary because the very first Mass was said in this church in 1893 on Christmas Eve. So every year is a sort of an anniversary celebration of that special time in the lives of our Polish ancestors in Detroit.

Likewise, Easter is celebrated with great ceremony at Sweetest Heart of Mary. Actors dressed in traditional Polish celebration-type costumes fill the church with pageantry and color. Come experience the wonder of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church... and what better time than a holiday! Pictured below is the Palm Sunday procession. (Photography on this page by Christine Hubbard)

For more information about traditional Polish customs, you can purchase Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab from this web site though Barnes & Noble.