THE HEART OF FRENCH DETROIT

Founded July 26, 1701, Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church was one of the first structures ever built in Detroit. Those who followed Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac to settle on the banks of the Detroit River started work on their log church only two days after they arrived.


Ste. Anne's current church, built in 1886, is nestled between the Detroit River and the Ambassador Bridge. Though it is the eighth structure to carry that name, and these days a Mass is said in Spanish, this church remains the heart of old French Detroit.


The second oldest Catholic parish in the United States, Detroit's first settlers were baptized married and buried in this parish, and Ste. Anne de Detroit is keeper of the longest continuous church records in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ste._Anne_de_Detroit_Catholic_Church

I found this information on the Ste. Anne de Detroit website, a treasure of Detroit history.  http://www.ste-anne.org/history.html

Vivian
http://amzn.to/zVsVDZ

MY FAVORITE MOVIE?

I puzzled for a couple of days over the "favorite movie" box on my Blogger profile. Thinking of the hundreds of films my husband and I watched on Netflix over the years, nothing stood out in my mind. In fact, there were times when halfway through a movie I realized we'd seen it before––not exactly memorable films. I wanted to dismiss the favorite movie question as frivolous.

Then it came to me. A movie series that I never passed up, a family saga that compels me to to keep watching whenever I discover it on TV, even at one in the morning, even though I own the DVD boxed set.

My all time favorite movie is, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. I know...so violent, and I hate violent movies. Yet I can watch The Godfather series over and over. I love the earthy quality of the characters, their Italian names, their hearty meals with red wine, their celebration of marriage and children as a serious matter, but it's their strong family ties that keep me watching. And in spite of whatever evil the Corleones might do, how far adrift they go, they are anchored by the Catholic Church. The Church is their only lifeline to goodness, and they know it.

I wasn't channeling Mario Puzo as I wrote The Last Lord of Paradise series. It is nothing like The Godfather. Yet I realize now these two stories have many of the same underlying ideas––food and drink, marriage and children are the future, and generations of families all anchored by their Catholic faith.

Thank you Blogger.

Vivian :) 

 http://amzn.to/zVsVDZ