Inspired by the example of religious orders living communally, Michigan Area members meet once a month for Saturday Vigil Mass, followed by dinner, at different locations throughout southeast Michigan. Most recently, Michigan Area members gathered on October 19 at historic St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Detroit, followed by dinner in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest existing neighborhood.

While members of the Order of Malta come together for service to the poor and sick, Michigan Area Chair Andy Smith, KM, said it is important to foster community within the Order in other ways.

“The impact of community on a religious order cannot be overstated,” he said. “This is why brothers have chanted together, cloistered nuns have worked together, and religious priests have celebrated Mass together for millennia. Such faith communities are so powerful because they follow the way God intended us – and made us – to live: Not in isolation, but in relationship with our brothers and sisters. Jesus commanded before he went to the cross that we should love one another as he has loved us (John 13:34) and that we should all be one as Jesus was in the Father, and the Father was in him, that we may also be as one with Them (John 17: 21).”

The Michigan Area has long met on First Saturday mornings, but the evening activity offers an additional, more informal way for members to share fellowship, he explained. Michigan Area members meet once a month for Mass, usually on the third Saturday of each month, choosing a different church each time. Dinner at a nearby restaurant follows. There is no formal program and no requirement to RSVP.

The October 19 Mass at St. Aloysius was celebrated by pastor Fr. Mario Amore. “St. Al’s,” as it’s known in Detroit, has an interesting backstory: Originally dedicated as a Presbyterian church in 1861, the property was purchased by Bishop of Detroit Casper Borgess and held its first Catholic Mass in 1873.  In 1930, the building was razed to make way for the present church. Considered an architectural gem, the Italian Renaissance/ French Romanesque-style church was completed in just under four months.  Modeled on the Cathedral of Milan, the church has three levels – main floor, crypt below and balcony above – allowing worshippers on all three levels to see and hear the priest officiating at the main altar.

After Mass, Michigan Area members broke bread together at Nemo’s in the historic Irish neighborhood of Corktown, just outside of downtown Detroit. Corktown was named for the many Irish immigrants who settled there after fleeing the Great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. Nemo’s, the iconic sports bar next to the site of the old Tiger Stadium, has been celebrated for 60 years for having the best burger in Detroit. 

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