Two disclaimers
First: These churches have been combined into one parish by the diocese. Why is this? They are adjacent properties and one church would have plenty of capacity to handle the Catholics in the surrounding neighborhood. Because they are one parish, they get one blog post.
Second: These photos were taken with my old camera. Some are incredibly blurry, some are edited, and some could not even be included. This is why there are a very limited number of interior photos.
Saint Hedwig is a Polish saint, and this church is the first established of four polish churches in South Bend. It was established in 1877 and the current church was built in 1883. It is a Romanesque style church with several defining features, such as rounded window tops, small thin windows, and thick walls. The first church was a small wooden church that was destroyed in a tornado two years before the construction of the church. The Polish in the neighborhoods of South Bend had their own stores, services, and schools; in fact, Saint Hedwig had it's own Catholic high school built in 1923. It was later renamed South Bend Catholic High School and later after that, Saint Joseph High School which still operates today, albeit several miles away from Saint Hedwig and having gone through three campuses.
The parish was one of the most vibrant parishes in the diocese until the 1950's, as it even held the record, and may still, for the most vocations from a single parish. The neighborhood unfortunately reflects the decay of the latter part of the twentieth century. A quarter mile to the west stands several blocks of what once was a downtown area. The central downtown of the city is east, but the stores to west sit mostly abandoned and falling apart. A particular example is an old fire station a few blocks to the west. Once falling apart, it was purchased and renovations begun. Soon after it was abandoned again and the fresh wood joined the crumbling bricks in its decaying oblivion. The rusting steeple next to the intact steeple portrays the situation of the parish; the decaying trying to be hidden by the used. The church has been trying desperately to stay active and remain open while demolishing that which is doesn't need. The high school, elementary school, convent have all been demolished simply because there is no need. Now the church sits with a decaying steeple, trying not to succumb to the same fate at its schools.
The church has been renovated three times, Once in the 1960's, once in the 80's, and finally in 1998 it was renovated for the last time. The exterior has been spared, but the interior has fared very poorly and looks little of how it did, back when it was a vibrant beacon of Catholicism. The parish offices are to the left in the old rectory.
This photo was taken from the exact same spot as the above photo. The building in the foreground was Saint Patrick's school and also sits abandoned. Saint Patrick was the Irish church of South Bend. As much discrimination as the Irish faced in their homeland, they learned little and treated those around them in a very similar way. At Saint Columbanus Church in Chicago, the blacks were prevented from owning homes in that neighborhood. The parishioners of that church were mainly responsible for the law, and once it was overturned, they left the neighborhood and the parish behind to avoid any contact with the blacks. In this particular church, a fence was erected between the churches and many poles including children were threatened not to cross past the fence, or else. The fence lasted until the memory of those still living. Even until the merging of the two churches, there was still animosity between parishioners and even clergy. The slow asphyxiation of both churches physically and spiritually emphasizes the point that when Christ's love does not live within us, what is around us meets the same fate.
The narthex of the church and the baptismal font. The font is very obviously not the original font of the church. and the narthex has been very obviously renovated. What is most frustrating is the archway; it is not rounded. It is only a small detail, but the church is Romanesque and the renovations should follow that trend. It only shows that the powers that be wanted to make the church into the style they had in mind, rather than what was already there. Take the baptismal font for example: the church already had a functioning font, but this was constructed simply because it was new at the time. This may seem harsh, but the interior only points to more evidence of the type of renovation dubbed appropriately as a "wreckovation"
A World War II memorial. This was constructed as a memorial to those who died after the second world war, and highlights the church's final glory days: the fifties. The war had saved a local company, Studebaker, from bankruptcy in the depression as the company produced vehicles for the war effort. The factory was and still sits on a direct rail line between Chicago and New York and at it's peak employed over 25,000 people and had a capacity for 16,000 cars per day. After the war ended and commercial vehicle production began, the company started to slip and production began to slow until December 1963, when several thousand employees, some parishioners of this church, returned from lunch to find each and every one of them were given a pink slip and informed that the company was ceasing production in America. The sprawling campus was abandoned overnight. The effect on the city was devastating and the parish decline mirrored that of the city.
The church's exterior is Romanesque, but the interior is Baroque. An extravagant and majestic style to model a church in, Baroque has been simply defined as extravagant chaos and control. Allow me to explain: everywhere in Baroque churches there is decoration, art, color, or something to catch the eye. This can seem like chaos, but it is always symmetrical, has a purpose, leads the eye to the altar, the center of the church, or all of the above. It's controlled chaos in its design. Saint Hedwig's reflects this having stories of Jesus's life everywhere, on the ceiling and in the stained glass windows. This may seem chaotic, but they organized either by Gospel or chronologically.
Unfortunately I took a blurry photo of the stained glass, and this was all that survived. The stained glass style is very unique and in its style. Normally there is a decorative border that surrounds the entire scene, but these windows allow the scene to take place fully, allowing for many details to be added that are normally excluded or better room for details to be expounded upon. For example when Jesus calms the sea the waves, the apostles, and the stormy sky are easily seen. Because of this unique feature I originally thought that these windows were not German, but three hints point otherwise. The first is the demographics of the church. The German immigrants of South Bend had Saint Joseph church across the river, but on this side they attended nearby Saint Patrick's. It would make sense for the parishioners to obtain the skill and contact of their German counterparts in obtaining the windows. The second hint is Saints Peter and Paul church in Huntington. The stained glass from that church is from Germany, and it employs the same tactic of scene display. The final hint is in the window itself, particularly the upper rounded portion. This photo does not capture it, but they are some of the most intricately detailed windows. To give context for the level of detail is a Saint Paul's in Chicago which has a similar level of detail. That window is below. See the detail on the chalice and the rays coming from it? That can only be high quality German craftsmanship.
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The choir loft is another example of renovation gone wrong. The painting of Saint Cecelia is nice, but flanking her used to be an organ in the loft. During a renovation it was removed and sold. In addition, the balcony has been extended forward and the glass walls of the narthex were added. Earlier, I mentioned how Baroque styling is almost chaos in its detailing. The balcony and glass are anything but detailed; even the clock has been lazily hung from the very edge of the railing.
The greatest travesty of the church was the sanctuary, If you are thinking, 'that doesn't really look baroque,' you would be correct. The altar and frustratingly uncentered tabernacle are minimalistic stone. For a moment forgive the artistic nightmare of altar and observe the rest of the sanctuary. There is a gorgeous altar cloth, (That does not fit!) and two very decorated altar candles that do not match in style. The other furniture could be found in a sixties recreation hall and seem to be from that era. Lastly the fan just sitting lazily in a random spot seems to serve no purpose. The crucifix is very nice, but definitely not original. An era appropriate crucifix would be very wide in the wood itself, realistically colored and painted, detailed in the wounds of Christ, and have a pronounced halo. This cross is the exact opposite; not necessarily a bad choice, but definitely modern. It would work very well in a modern church.
The apse featured some amazing paintings on the ceiling and stained glass. leave it to me to botch it up with a blurry photo. The painting is of the Communion of Saints and it's corresponding hierarchy. You have the Father and Son crowning Our Lady and the Holy Spirit in the center above Her. Fun fact, in churches built before Vatican II you can almost always find the Holy Spirit above the altar. Why is this? Because in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the Roman Canon, (Eucharistic Prayer I, just in Latin) instructs the priest to look up at the Epiclesis, or the calling down of the Holy Spirit. Priests' still sometimes do this at these words. "On the day before he was to suffer he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples," Emphases added by me. Another level of chaos and control are the Marian paintings. In the paintings of the dome She is being crowned. Then to the left is a depiction of Pentacost, and the right is of the Assumption. It's chaotic with the paintings everywhere, but it's controlled as they are of the same person and chronological.
The original interior. Probably the best example of chaos, the altar is blanketed in flowers, candles, statues, arches, and decoration. However it's all controlled and symmetrical. The same goes for the communion rail, pews, artistic decoration on the walls, and best of all the pulpit. Unfortunately, everything in this photo was either altered or removed in the 1960's. A great artistical loss if you ask me.
Photo credit: South Bend Tribune
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This is Saint Patrick's church, the second oldest parish in the city of South Bend. Founded in 1858 it is one of the oldest institutions of the city. The railroad, the main industrial link and necessary artery for any industrial growth had arrived only seven years earlier. The first building was a stone structure that could seat 300 and resembled a pagoda. (An odd choice of architecture since the congregation was German and Irish and also had, and never would, see anywhere Oriental.) The next and current church is gothic revival and makes use of a yellow brick and red trim to achieve a striking combination.
The most notable feature about this church is the marble furnishings, including the altar. Although Saint Hedwig's has been treated poorly with its interior furnishings, Saint Patrick has fared much better. In fact, before the establishment of a Latin Mass parish on this side of the diocese, this church was used for the extraordinary liturgies. The church was also consecrated in 1920, hence the consecration candles lining the walls of the church and seen to the far right. The candles mark the spot where the bishop marked the walls with holy oil. The sanctuary is also marked with imaged of saints in the stained glass, and doctors of the church on the walls.
One unfortunate trademark of modern churches are paint schemes that do not reflect the original styling of the church or clash with the original furnishings, Saint Patrick's was spared this trend. The deep green used matches the stereotype of the Irish and green. Not only that but the gold curling vines on the ceiling, in the apse, by the side shrines, and around the windows. The only difference in the paint scheme would be the beige walls. The church being from the Victorian era would have been on a tight budget. Paint at the time was cheap if it was dark, as lighter colors were rarer and therefore more expensive. Likely the church would have been very dark in it's construction and the beige was likely added in the 2004 renovation.
Photo credit: Tripadvisor
One of the highlights of the church was the massive and ornate rose window. When the church was still dimly lit, it was probably such a difference compared to the gritty industrial factories where the immigrant families would work. The inscription in the center is of the person who paid for the window. It's an interesting choice as normally windows have the name of the person who paid for them at the bottom. But since there technically is no bottom of the window, they opted to put it in the center; a smart move.
A lesser quality photo of Saint Patrick and the ubiquitous three leaf clover. Everyone has heard the story of Saint Patrick using the three leaf clover to teach the dogma of the trinity to the pagan Druids. Because of this well known story, the clover is used frequently in Irish Catholic architecture. It can even be seen not only in the hand of the saint, but also in the border surrounding it. Even the shape of the window has three points.
The baptismal font likely resides under the small tower to the left. Normally Catholic churches of the 20th century or older have three entrance portals. This is based on a passage from revelation about the temple of the Lord having so many entrances. This church however has only a small window underneath the left tower. The room with the font was likely in that spot. For some reason the Irish love to build churches with asymmetrical towers. It's a money saving measure as you only need bells in one tower, and the other as baptismal font tower adds a nice touch.
One interesting feature is the use and purpose of the owl. Churches are notorious for having birds building nests in steeples, windows, nooks, and crannies. For this reason churches used to put statues of owls in place to scare off the birds from settling there. The bricks used on this church are very distinctive and may look familiar. If so, they are known as the brother's bricks and they are used to construct most of the buildings on Notre Dame's campus. During the spring thaw of 1843, the brothers at the school discovered clay on the banks of the Saint Joseph River. Seeing a chance to make some quick money to cover rising costs of the university, the brother's sold the bricks at cheap prices and in bulk. What the brothers didn't know was that the bricks were some of the best quality ever made. "Apart from its distinctive color that expresses the high manganese content in the marl, the brothers’ brick is smooth, soft and so porous that water sprayed on a wall of it will often be absorbed before it can drip to the ground. Bricklaying requires a watered-down mortar so pressure from the load won’t crack straight through the block. Smack two of them together, they thud." The bricks were so popular that buildings, homes, and sidewalks were built with the bricks, and once the homes and factories were torn down, many of them were salvaged and reused by the ever expanding university, even into the 21st century.
Quote Source: https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/what-notre-dame-is-made-of/
The age of the church makes it perfect for the heyday of the "Brother's bricks" in it's construct. It may have been hard to obtain such a large quantity for the church, but the logo on the stone gives a hint. The cross with the anchor is the Holy Cross logo. The church was built by the brothers of the Holy Cross and the school was even staffed by its brothers for many years.
Behind the church was the school which operated until 1974. It originally was an all boys school, much like Notre Dame. The school was rebuilt in 1961 to make an all modern campus. The irony is that it closed less than 15 years later and currently sits rotting and abandoned. In 1950 the school was made coeducational to try and save enrollment losses but with the manufacturing collapse of the rust belt, specifically South Bend very little could be done to save the neighborhood
When the neighborhoods were thriving, they were largely Catholic. In fact, South Bend had the largest population of Flemish outside of Finland. Because of this South Bend is one of the most Catholic cities in the Midwest. Some of the churches have closed but Saint Patrick is in a two mile proximity to the churches of Saint Hedwig, Saint Stephen (Hungarian church, now closed and demolished although the school stands as an independent business with the statue of Saint Stephen still in place.) Sacred Heart, (A Flemish church that still stands as "Carry the Word Church") Saint Augustine's, (The city's first African American church that still operates) and, Saint Stanislaus. (The green steeple to the right. Saint Stanislaus is the FSSP church on this side of the diocese) Saint Adalbert is to the left, between the steeple of Hedwig and the left steeple of Saint Patrick.
Industrial South Bend is to the left. Between the steeples and on the horizon is a large ethanol plant on the outskirts of town. To the northwest of South Bend is the international airport of the city. Coupled with the regional baseball team and Notre Dame, the city is trying hard to make a comeback. Progress is slow going as the city still has one of the worst reputations in the state, but progress is being made nonetheless. The west side has been made into an ethnic community that is being revitalized and gentrified. The north side with Notre Dame is constantly expanded and once crummy neighborhoods are also being gentrified. The plant and airport continue to provide desperately needed jobs, thus there is a chance that the city may once again thrive and these churches may expand again into the 21st century.
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