anniversary of service to Polish-Americans and the Catholic Church at a special June 22 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron.
In his homily, the archbishop talked about the past and the future of the
schools, and told the congregation “to use the thought of Pope John Paul to help the Orchard Lake Schools appreciate that their contribution is to witness to Christ by spreading the Polish culture and the Catholic faith.”
“What I would have people take away from today is a rededication to the mission of sharing a way of life that’s been handed on to them, and they’re going to hand on to the next generation – a way of life that’s about family, about the dignity of the person, and about living one’s vocation to Christ,” Archbishop Vigneron said after the Mass
Nearly 500 current and former students, faculty, administrators and friends of the schools attended the Mass in the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake on the campus. Many also attended a banquet on campus following the Mass.
“I don’t see the 125th as just a look back, but as a launching point to go forward,” said Fr. Timothy Whelan, the Orchard Lake Schools’ chancellor.
“There are so many positive things, so many great things going on here on this campus, including some significant recent gifts that bespeak the support of people for what we’re doing,” he said.
The Orchard Lake Schools have adapted to changes in the Church and the world over the years, he added.
“Our Polish Mission promotes Polish tradition, Polish culture and Polish heritage, and is helping a lot of people understand their Polish culture better,” he said.
The mission’s genealogy department is attracting a great deal of interest from people wanting to trace their ancestry, he continued.
Fr. Whelan said St. Mary’s Preparatory, the all-boys high school, has gained an international reputation, with 50 students coming from China for the coming school year.
And SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, which has turned out more than 3,000 priests over the years, “continues to produce Polish priests to serve throughout the United States,” he said.
“We’re building on the past, but definitely pushing out into the future, and we’re doing this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” Fr. Whelan added.
The Orchard Lake Schools had their origin in the work of Fr. Leopold Moczygemba, who pioneered Polish Catholic pastoral ministry in the United States. He secured Pope Leo XIII’s approval for the founding of a new seminary to train priests to serve the Polish diaspora in America.
Fr. Moczygemba came to doubt he would be able to bring the project to fruition, and in 1884 he turned that letter bearing the papal endorsement plus money he had raised (variously put at $4,000-$8,000) over to Fr. Joseph Dabrowski.
Fr. Dabrowski had come to Detroit in 1882 with the Felician Sisters, whom he served as chaplain. The sisters built their new motherhouse on St. Aubin Street near Detroit’s first Polish Parish, St. Albertus.
The cornerstone for the new seminary was laid June 22, 1885 in the same neighborhood.
The institution relocated to Orchard Lake in 1909, when the campus of the former Michigan Military Academy became available.
