Michael's Parish by German immigrants
1874 - Consecration of the first church
1888 - Petition to build our present church
Hiring of Alphonse Druiding as architect
Laying of foundation by volunteer parishioners
Laying of the cornerstone
Re-mortgaging of parishioner's homes
and farms to finance the church
1890 - On St. Michael's feast day, Bishop McQuaid
dedicated the new church.
1903 - Pipe organ built by J.W. Steere & Son, Springfield, MA. It was paid for by the children as a gift to Fr. Hargather,
the pastor. It has 36 stops comprised of 42 ranks of over
2000 pipes. It was rebuilt in the 1950's and refurbished
in 2003. Michael's Treasures
The stained glass windows were created in Innsbruck, Austria
at Tiroler Glasmaleriei. They depict Bible stories of angelic intervention. On the south wall are Old Testament stories, ending with the
Three Kings. On the north wall are New Testament stories
ending with the Last Judgement. At 223 feet, the bell tower is the tallest church steeple in
Rochester. It has a clock with four faces that was restored
in 2003. There are 13 bells, the largest weighing 4800 pounds. The smallest bell weighs 127 pounds. The bells were fully
refurbished in 2006. All are playable from a keyboard. Five
bells can be rung by rope pullers. They were christened and
each bell was named by Bishop McQuaid. Each bell was assigned
a different function - tolling for funerals, fires, etc.. The bells were cast by The McShane Bell Foundry of Baltimore,
Maryland. The processional cross is from Germany. It was refurbished in
1986. The pulpit is beautifully hand carved. The baptismal font is decorated with illustrations of the Seven
Sacraments, the four Evangelists and is topped by St. John the
Baptist as he baptized Jesus. The font was restored in 2003. The church features soaring Gothic arches with angels and saints
painted on the ceiling. Many hand carved statues of saints and
angels are displayed throughout the church. The interior is not mere
architecture, but truly the house of God constructed with a kind
of mystical vision. Michael's was featured in the WXXI
documentary, "Houses of Worship". The church is a stunning
edifice of major architectural proportions - Rochester's
Gothic Cathedral.
