DETROIT -- Most birthday parties don't bring 1,500 attendees.

Then again, most birthday parties aren't for 125 years of existence.

But at St. Francis D'Assisi Church in Detroit, the people packing the pews and lining the back walls were there for two special reasons: the church's 125th anniversary, and the seventh Detroit "Mass Mob."

"This is bridging generations (between) people who have been here a long time, and younger people who may be renewing an interest in the Catholic faith," said Andrew Chmielewski, chairman of the church's anniversary Mass committee.



Peter Moros and Jane Rusin, both co-chairs of the anniversary committee, said they are grateful for the hard work of the church to bring the memorable occasion to fruition.

"I came to (St. Francis D'Assisi) in 2000 or 2001," said Rusin. "I was searching for a church and the parishioners didn't even know me, but they welcomed me."

Moros married his wife -- who received all of her sacraments here -- in this same church in 1967: "We stayed as parishioners ever since. Our children were baptized here."

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron presided over the Mass, having planned to come originally for St. Francis' anniversary Mass, and wished a warm welcome to the newcomers at the church. It was also the first Mass Mob celebrated by the archbishop.

"It is the Holy Spirit who brought us here -- longtime parishioners, new parishioners, those who have come back home, those who are perhaps here for the first time," Archbishop Vigneron said. "The Holy Spirit has brought us here in order to do something very, very particular."

This congregation was not composed of tourists, said the archbishop, nor "isolated prayers," but rather, as a "body, as a community, to be joined with Christ as he thanks his Father for 125 years of graces and gifts that have been poured out into this community."

Mass Mob organizers AnnaMarie Barnes, Thom Mann and Jeff Stawasz told The Michigan Catholic they were amazed at how the phenomenon has taken off in Detroit since its first appearance at St. Hyacinth Church in April.

The Detroit Mass Mobs, inspired by the Buffalo Mass Mobs in New York, have drawn hundreds of people -- sometimes thousands -- to each of the seven churches the movement has visited so far.

The mobs, made up of families of diverse ethnicities, people of all ages and sometimes coming from long distances, are a welcome sight for these Detroit churches, which have struggled with decreasing congregation numbers in recent years.



"We all found each other through the grace of God," said Stawasz, explaining that the organizers initially connected through social media and the shared desire to bring Mass Mobs to Detroit.

And Fr. Ravi Marneni, PIME, pastor of St. Francis D'Assisi-St. Hedwig Parish, was quite happy to see the filled pews, too.

"I am thankful for all the blessings of this day -- the parishioners for their dedication, the priests who served here in the past, the nuns who served in the school, and especially to the archbishop today," he said. "We hope to continue for many more years."