Last Mass, A Tribute to St. John Cantius Church
105 Years of Faithful Service
The last mass at St. John Cantius Church in the Delray neighborhood of Detroit was held on October 28,2007.

After serving the declining area for 105 years, the church has closed its doors, never to reopen again. Its decorative elements will be given to other churches.

Time will tell how long it will take for pillagers to break their way into the beautiful interior, or if it will be set ablaze as predicted by a local firefighter. 

One can not tell the story of Old Delray without also including the story of it's Polish population. Although Delray was predominately Hungarian, the Polish immigrant population played an integral role in the history of Delray. For the most part, the Poles lived in the northern fringes of the Delray boundry and in the adjoining community of Carbon Works, but their lives and influnce were intertwined within the whole Delray community. Both of my maternal grandparents were Polish immigrants, and both of my paternal grandparents were Hungarian immigrants, so I was raised deeply enriched by both ethnic cultures. They called Delray home, as did both of my parents. My roots go deep in this marvelous place called Old Delray.

Church worship and activeties played an important part of the lives of this immigrant population. For the Catholic Polish population their religious lives centered around one magnificent church, St. John Cantius in Delray. This great church provided more then just the spiritual nourishment of it's parishinors, it also had a school attached to the church to provide a parochial school education for many generations of Delray youth, including my mother and her brothers. This church was founded in 1902, and my Polish grandparents came to Delray in 1910 which almost makes them almost founding members of this church. They were faithfull parishinors for the the next 50 years. My roots run deep in the history of the St. John Cantius Polish Catholic church.

As remembered by: James (Mick) Walters
When you get the DVD, a little old lady in there a lot is Mrs. Irene Pilch.  She and her family was associated with St. John Cantius for over 60 years.  Her parents and grandparents are founding fathers of the church.  Her family owned the meat market and party store on Pulaski street by Pulaski Bar.  They also owned a hall that was closed by the time we moved to Delray but in the 20"s thru. the 40"s was a big time place called the "Orange Blossom"  I sometimes attend St. Pius church in Southgate and there was a priest there but since retired from Delray, that grew up on Vanderbilt street and attended Holy Cross. His name is Father Albert Sandor.  They celebrated his 75th birthday last year and he retired.  Another priest from Delray, Father Eugene Wojtowicz, is at St. Hugh in Southgate and he is retiring this year (2009), probably about 70 to 75 in age.

I wish to thank a former resident of Delray by the name of James (Mick) Walters for providing me with a DVD copy of the last mass celebrated at St. John Cantius. As I watched I became overwhelmed with a flood of emotion and could not help from becoming teary eyed. This DVD brought closure to me. It allowed me to say goodbye and turn the page on this important chapter in my life. I don't understand how or why, but watching this DVD was therapeutic and put me at peace with the pain of it's closing.

The Delray of my youth exist no more.

I hope watching this DVD will do for you as it did for me.

for instructions on the best way to view this DVD.

 

 

This entire site Copyrighted 2009 and Forever by R. S. Bujaki