St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr Parish — Golden Hills

Organized from St. Hedwig in 1898 — established 1899 in the diocesan notice — first Mass 25 March 1900, 415 North Brookfield Street — personal parish for the Latin Mass community from 8 September 2015

Founding — three dates in sequence: St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, was founded as a mission of nearby St. Hedwig for the Polish population moving into the Golden Hills area of northwest South Bend, the subdivision of homes built by the Studebakers and Olivers for their immigrant workers; the neighborhood was also called the village of St. Stanislaus, and Swastek names its district Poznan. The dates attached to the founding differ by stage. Alerding’s St. Hedwig history states that in 1898 Czyzewski bought the lots for and organized St. Stanislaus, as he had St. Casimir’s two years before, and Czyzewski administered the new congregation from St. Hedwig until it had its own pastor. The diocesan notice of September 2015 states that the parish was established in 1899. The first Mass in St. Stanislaus church was celebrated on 25 March 1900, the date from which Bishop Rhoades preached the parish’s history at its 125th anniversary on 25 March 2025, describing a founding in 1900.

Church, rectory and school: Polish immigrants built the church at 415 North Brookfield Street. From the beginning the church basement served as the school. A rectory followed quickly, in 1902, and a school building in 1905; by 1905 the school had more than 500 students. The church was enlarged over the years, with a new apse and sacristy, and in a later modernization an elevator and bathrooms were added. The grounds at one time held the church, a school and a convent.

Decline: In the 1960s attendance fell as Polish families moved out of western South Bend to newer towns, and the decline continued through the century’s end: the school closed, the neighborhood changed and the Sisters left the convent, none of those closings dated in the parish profiles. By the turn of the twenty-first century the parish had slowed greatly. In 2001 its pastor was shared with Holy Cross Parish, the Mass schedule was minimized and there was no resident pastor, and the parish stood, in its pastor’s later account, on the brink of closure.

A personal parish: On 8 September 2015 Bishop Rhoades changed St. Stanislaus from a territorial parish, whose members live within its boundaries, to a personal parish, whose membership is by registration, to serve the St. Mother Theodore Guerin Latin Community and the South Bend Latin Mass community, with Mass also offered in English. The parish became an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, with Msgr. John C. Fritz, F.S.S.P., appointed pastor; Today’s Catholic described it in 2017 as the only parish in the Michiana area offering the Traditional Latin Mass, with all sacraments in their traditional form, a resident pastor again, returning devotions and a weekly homeschool co-operative of 45 students.

Present state: The parish marked 125 years from its first Mass on 25 March 2025, Bishop Rhoades celebrating a solemn Mass and consecrating a new altar stone with a relic of St. Stanislaus. Its pastor reported attendance rising, 24 baptisms in the preceding year and weddings increasing. The parish remains at 415 North Brookfield Street, an active personal parish under the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, celebrating Mass in Latin according to the liturgical books of 1962.

Sources:

1. H. J. Alerding, The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857–1907, St. Hedwig history, as transcribed for the St. Joseph County genealogical pages — Czyzewski’s purchase of lots and organization of St. Stanislaus in 1898.
2. Today’s Catholic, diocesan notices, 16 September 2015 — the parish established in 1899, made a personal parish on 8 September, at 415 North Brookfield Street, to serve the Latin community with Mass in English, and Msgr. John C. Fritz of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter appointed pastor.
3. Today’s Catholic, “In My Diocese: St. Stanislaus and St. Casimir,” 31 January 2017 — foundation as a mission of St. Hedwig for the Golden Hills Polish population, first Mass 25 March 1900, the enlargement, apse, sacristy and modernization, the school closing and Sisters’ departure, the shared pastor of 2001 and brink of closure, and the personal-parish change of 8 September 2015.
4. Today’s Catholic, “St. Stanislaus Community Marks 125-Year Anniversary,” 1 April 2025 — Bishop Rhoades’s homily from a founding in 1900, the village of St. Stanislaus and Golden Hills names, the basement school, rectory in 1902 and school in 1905 with over 500 students, the 1960s decline, the personal-parish decision ten years before, and present growth in baptisms and attendance.
5. Rev. Joseph Swastek, “The Poles in South Bend to 1914” — St. Stanislaus dedicated in 1900 and its district named Poznan among the four Polish parishes.