Restoration of
Sweetest Heart of Mary:
The History

Sweetest Heart of Mary Church

In its heyday in the 1920s, Sweetest Heart became a veritable pro-cathedral. Joseph Casimir Plagens was its pastor and auxiliary bishop of Detroit. Here transpired many ceremonies of the Detroit Polonia. Here transpired many spirited Christmases to which that neighborhood had been witness in its Golden Age in the first decades of this century. After World War II, the exodus from the neighborhood and its deterioration reached massive proportions. The grade and high schools were closed. Though St. Albertus
Church, under its pastor Father Joseph Matlenga, and St. Josaphat's Church, under its former pastor Father Francis Dolot, survived this sociological onslaught and underwent a period of refurbishing that left them in good physical condition, the "Heart's" church (Sercowo.), in the 1960s and 1970s lay in a state of disrepair on both its exterior and interior.

Father Bohdan Kosicki as Pastor

It was only the arrival of Rev. Bohdan Kosicki as pastor in the summer of 1976 that signalled the renaissance of Sweetest Heart of Mary Parish. He rallied the people, brought back alienated parishioners, and attracted new members. Under his aegis the restoration of the church began. The organ was partially refurbished and placed in working condition at a cost of $11,000. The exquisite, irreplaceable stained glass windows (which won prizes at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago) were restored. An expenditure of $23,000 accounted for over three hundred separate pieces of glass that had to be expertly replaced. In addition, a public address system and a new heating plant were installed.

On the exterior, the steeples, rising 217 feet into the sky, were repaired and shored up. Though slightly twisted by violent winds at the turn of the century, the timbers were found to be solid and in good shape. However, the central fleche (spire), which surmounted the intersection of the main nave and the transept and which weighed some thirteen tons, swayed visibly in strong
winds. It was found to be rotting and in danger of falling, and so it had to be removed. At the same time, the roof was repaired considerably and almost all the flashing was replaced.

As a reasonable implementation of Vatican II, a new Altar of Sacrifice was designed and crafted by Father Kosicki who is a sculptor of no mean renown in these parts. His intent was to design a Gothic altar to harmonize with the
Gothic interior of the church. The carved frontal part of beautiful red oak came from the basement of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral where it lay discarded. Other pieces of oak came from pew-ends found in Sweetest Heart of Mary
Church. The result was a beautiful table worthy of the architecture of this magnificent church. It and the huge wooden cross with the caned corpus, which is another of Father Kosicki's creations and which stands uniquely in the parish cemetery in North Detroit, are his legacy to "'Heart's.''

Apart from the church itself, Father Kosicki and his people rehabilitated the convent andmade it habitable. The parish's second school was demolished at a cost of $40,000 and the area it occupied was converted into a parking lot.
However, the first parish building, facing Canfield Avenue and built by Father Kolasiñski in 1889, was preserved. The hope is that this historic structure some day may be refurbished for use as a parish hall. In addition, the classic
fence encircling the parish property was restored.

Father Kosicki was very historically-minded. He was very aware of the historic import of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church in the history of the Detroit Polonia.
Father Kosicki and the parish council saw to it that the church was declared an historical monument by the State of Michigan. A plaque, secured to the lower part of the facade of the church, attests to this declaration. It reads
as follows:

"During the late nineteenth century
many Polish immigrants fleeing oppres-
sion came to Detroit. In 1886. a group of
them organized a school that was the
beginning of Sweetest Heart of Mary
Parish. On December 8. 1888. Rev.
Dominic H. Kolasiñski, former pastor
and builder of St. Albertus Church.
became their pastor without episcopal
approval. Under his leadership, con-
struction of the late Victorian Gothic
church began in July, 1890. On February
18, 1894, the parish officially became
part of the Diocese of Detroit. The
church's windows, made by the Detroit
Glass Works, won prizes at the 1893
Chicago Colombian Exposition. Its
organ is one of the oldest Austin organs
in existence. Its 217-foot spires house
three large bells named St. Mary, St.
Joseph, and St. Barbara."

Father Alphonse Gorecki as Pastor

After a pastorate of five years, Father Kosicki left the parish on May 31, 1981. He was succeeded by Father Alphonse Gorecki who has continued, even more intensively, the restoration of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. The people rallied about him and most generously have restored especially the interior of this architecturally magnificent temple of God and shrine of Detroit's immigrant history. First, because of vandalism, the treasured windows on the Canfield side were made more secure by a protective plastic called Lexon, at a cost of $37,000. Then Phase I of the interior restoration began. Scaffolding was installed and in March of 1983, the Lee Wilmouth Co. began to repair the falling plaster and to clean and restore the original gold tapestry and canvas
which covered the groined vaulting of the ceiling. Other repairs were made (e.g. the difficult replacement of intricate Corinthian capitals on two of the pillars by an artist who specializes in this work). The quasi-marble pillars and their capitals were washed and cleaned, and the walls were painted. All this cost $58,000.

Internal Beautification

Phase II involved other restoration work in the interior of the sanctuary. The Stations of the Cross were completely restored. The large crucifix and the beautiful ornate pulpit were refurbished. The transept altars, the side altars,
and the main altar were all restored with ivory paint and gilt-edging. All the statues were repainted. The murals in the apse, Murillo's Immaculate Conception and the Visitation, were completely redone as were the choir murals of St. Cecilia and King David the Psalmist. The vestibule-wall murals, executed in recent times by Dennis Orlowski, were cleaned. The beautiful main-altar candleholders were cleaned and polished. The sanctuary furniture was stripped and cleaned and restored. All of this Phase II
work cost $34,200, and was generously sponsored by individuals and families who will be memorialized by bronze plaques identifying
each project and donor. A word about Roman Kuzmowicz who came
to the United States four years ago is in order. He is the young Polish artist responsible for the interior restoration of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. Born in Tuchola, a city near Gdañsk (Danzig), he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw where his father Teofil was a professor. His mother, Zofla lwicka Kuzmowicz, is also a professional artist. Roman watched his parents restore some sixty churches in Poland, which included sculpturing, frescoes,
mosaics, gold-leafing, painting. etc.

The Electrification Project

Phase III, the electrification project, has involved the almost complete rewiring of the church with the latest of materials and technology. Parishioner Joseph Kado, a graduate electronics engineer and expert, has generously devoted hundreds of hours supervising the task. All the rare Tiffany chandeliers have been rewired and refurbished. (The rewiring of the capitals and the Stations still remains to be done.)

The restoration and rewiring of the organ, begun by Father Kosicki, was completed by Father Gorecki and by the organist Bernard Topolewski. The latter came to "Heart's'' after eighteen years at the ill-fated Immaculate Con-
ception Parish in Poletown. All the ranks of the organ, giving various orchestrated sounds, are now in operation. This historic Austin II organ,
the only one now in existence, is presently in tiptop condition. It was built in Hartford, Connecticut in 1893-1894. As their contribution to the restoration of the church, the organist and his wife have donated a 21-pipe set of Maas-Rowe chimes which have a variation of tones in their 1¼ octave range. In addition, the organist and Henry Francala (who maintains the heating plant of the parish in optimum condition) with the help of experts have rewired the electronically-controlled three huge bells. The bells themselves rock when tolled (and not merely the hammer-tongue) giving the same sound effect as if they were pulled manually by ropes.

The exterior restoration, involving especially the tuck-pointing and completion of the roof repair, has still to be done. However, a beginning has already been made in this direction. The statue of the Virgin Mary found in a niche in the facade, above the main portal, has been lowered and restored. Interestingly, from ground level it appears small but in reality it is nearly six feet
tall. It will be returned to its former position and placed behind a clear protective plastic.

(This text was written by Eduard Adam Skendzel in 1985. Since that time, restoration work has continued but the detailing of those projects will be added to this site at a later time.)