As part of its 250th-anniversary celebration, the historic Assumption Church at the foot of Huron Church Rd. in Windsor will temporarily reopen.
There will be an outdoor mass at the church Sunday at 11am. The doors to the historic building will then reopen between 12pm and 5pm.
Tuesday marks the feast day of Our Lady of Assumption, so the doors will open again from 9am to 6pm. There will be a prayer group in the afternoon, and at 6pm, University of Windsor History Professor Dr Guillaume Teasdale will present a lecture on the history of Assumption Church and the role it played in the development of the region.
The roots of Assumption date back to 1728 when Father Armand De La Richardie came from Quebec to establish "The Mission of Our Lady of the Assumption among the Hurons of Detroit". In 1765, French families petitioned for a Catholic parish of their own. Instead of building a second church, the Mission of the Assumption became Our Lady of the Assumption Parish.
The parish was established in 1767, and the current building was erected in 1842.
On October 1, Assumption Parish will celebrate its founding day with a mass with Bishop Fabbro and Bishop Dabrowski at the Caboto Club.
The church closed its doors in November 2014, after the Roman Catholic Diocese of London decided it would be too expensive to repair the building. Masonry, roof and load bearing wall repairs would have cost $15-million, according to estimates at the time.
A series of donations and grants from both the public and the City of Windsor fell through, and the parish moved to Holy Name of Mary Church.