Most Holy Redeemer Parish has a rich tradition and history that spans more than 120 years as an enduring testament to the Catholic faithful in southwest Detroit. Through the years, thousands of families have claimed this magnificent church as their spiritual home. Here, generations have been baptized, received their First Communion, learned of God's forgiveness in Confession, and been married. Over the decades, countless Holy Redeemer parishioners were called by God to serve as religious men and women and priests.

Founded by the Redemptorist Order in 1880, Most Holy Redeemer has evolved through the decades. From its start on a vacant comer sandlot in a "suburb" of a burgeoning city, to its height as the largest and most thriving parish in the heart of a great metropolis, Most Holy Redeemer has been an enduring presence for the Catholic community in Detroit.

Through many decades of change, Most Holy Redeemer has depended on the strength of its leadership and the dedication of its faithful to see the parish through some difficult and challenging times. From the beginning, the parish has embraced and celebrated a diversity of language and cultures uncommon to many churches. It was once estimated that 26 different languages were spoken within the parish boundaries.

At one time, Most Holy Redeemer was considered the largest Catholic parish in North America and probably the largest English-speaking parish in the entire world. Holy Redeemer Parish once included more than 4,000 active families with 2,000 children enrolled in the schools. There were 15 Masses offered on Sundays in order to accommodate the needs of the nearly 9,000 people who worshiped there each week.
On Tuesdays, devotions to Our Mother of Perpetual Help began at 6 a.m. and ran continuously throughout the day with special streetcars added to the transit schedule just to get the people to and from Holy Redeemer Church. Records indicate that between 18,000 and 19,000 people participated in these devotions on a weekly basis.

Through the years, both a grade school and high school were added to the expanding Holy Redeemer campus. In 1882, the IHM Sisters were called on to run the school, so desperately needed in the growing neighborhood. The Brothers of Mary later joined them and assisted in the education of Holy Redeemers bright young students until the 1940s.

Most Holy Redeemer was once predominantly Irish, the eldest daughter of Most Holy Trinity Parish, whose members began to move from Detroit's "Corktown" at the turn of the last century. This close-knit community of people began to secure jobs and purchase homes on Detroit's western outskirts. Then Germans and Poles, Hungarians and Maltese, Lebanese and Jordanians followed in the wake of the Irish. All were discovering in Most Holy Redeemer a very special place to educate their children, practice their faith and stake their claims to the American Dream.

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Today, Most Holy Redeemer boasts the largest and most thriving Hispanic ministry in the entire Archdiocese of Detroit. The parish has grown by one thousand families over the past four years, rising

to just over 3,000 families. An average of more than 5,000 people attend the six weekend Masses, almost 80 percent of them at the three Spanish-language Masses.

The grade school's enrollment holds steady at 275 children and features a wonderful representation of the parish and neighborhood's racial and ethnic diversity. Children from Hispanic, European, Arabic, Asian and African American families as well as Latinos, come together to learn, pray and forge friendships. Our students and their families reflect the rich cultural heritage of the city and neighborhood that surrounds the school. Holy Redeemer Grade School students continue to earn honors, particularly in citywide artistic, science and poetry contests.

The Saturday Religious Education Program was revitalized with the recruitment of bilingual catechists (or bilingual "teams" with an "abuelalabuelo" or grandparent in each classroom) in 1999, and now serves 450 children-a further indication of the parish's growth in recent years.

To meet the increasing needs of our many young families, Vistas Nuevas, a unit of the League of Catholic Women, organized a Headstart Preschool Program, which is housed in the grade school building. This preschool program serves an additional 170 children from September to June.

Holy Redeemer High School was reorganized as a regional Catholic high school under the sponsorship of the Basilian Fathers in 1999, and boasts both a general and college prep curriculum. More than 90 percent of Holy Redeemer High School alumni choose to attend either college or technical studies programs after graduation. Partnerships with the Ford Motor Company have greatly enriched our physical science, drafting and computer course offerings for the more than 200 students in our high school.

Most Holy Redeemer's impressive architecture dominates the neighborhood from the comer of West Vernor and Junction. The varied architectural styles of the ten parish buildings reflect the parish's ability to cherish the best of the past as it remains open to the future. From the Roman basilica style of the church and the Victorian lines of the 1901 Grade School building, to the massive lines of the 1910 Edwardian Auditorium, the art deco style of the convent and gymnasium, and the modern lines of the High School, the structures that make up the Holy Redeemer campus blend together as a testimony to our storied past and our pride in it. In 2002, the entire parish grounds were listed as part of the West Vernor/Junction Historic District, recognized in the National Register of Historic Places.

The local community and the Southwest Detroit Business Association consider the parish a true "anchor" for the busy commercial area along West Vernor, and the parish regularly appears as a prominent feature on City and County planning maps. The parish grounds are prime sites for viewing the annual Cinco de Mayo parade, and each year the gymnasium serves as a staging area for lively entertainment during the "Shop Your Block" promotion hosted by neighborhood merchants. Most Holy Redeemer serves not only as a center for worship, but as a local hub of social activity and community events.,. as well.

We continue to write our history at Holy Redeemer. At the dawn of this new millennium, Most Holy Redeemer is more than a powerhouse, which mirrors the strength and fortitude of its neighborhood. It continues to be a welcoming "home" for recently arrived immigrants as it was more than a century ago.
Our faith-filled parishioners continue to make history as new families take the place of those who have left their mark on our parish community.