About St. Hyacinth · Milwaukee, Wisconsin
St. Hyacinth is a historic Roman Catholic parish on Milwaukee's near South Side, founded in 1883 by Polish Franciscan Monsignor Jacek "Hyacinth" Gulski as the city's third Polish Catholic church (split off from the overcrowded mother parish of St. Stanislaus). Since 2020 the parish has been linked with nearby St. Anthony under a single pastoral team led by the Missionary Fraternity of Mary (FMM), and today it is an overwhelmingly Latino (especially Mexican) congregation whose Masses are celebrated primarily in Spanish, with one weekly Mass in English. The 1883 Henry Messmer–designed cream-city-brick church at 1414 W. Becher Street is a designated Milwaukee County Landmark and still anchors the neighborhood that grew up around it.
- Established
- 1883
- Patron
- St. Hyacinth (Hyacinth of Poland), the 12th–13th-century Dominican priest and missionary canonized in 1594
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Fabian Rodas FMM (Parochial Administrator)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Why belong here
St. Hyacinth is a beautifully rooted, multigenerational Catholic family where Spanish- and English-speaking parishioners worship side by side in a designated Milwaukee County Landmark church that Polish immigrants literally built with their own hands and that today's Hispanic community has lovingly preserved. With three Sunday Masses (mostly in Spanish, plus an 11:30 AM English Mass), a weekly Friday evening Holy Hour and confessions in Spanish, a full religious-education program for First Communion and Confirmation, and priests from the Missionary Fraternity of Mary dedicated specifically to these South Side neighborhoods, it offers a deeply devotional, immigrant-rooted spirituality that still feels like the center of the parish's surrounding blocks.
Mass times at St. Hyacinth
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 6:00 PM (English and Spanish)
Adoration times
- Friday 6:00 PM — Holy Hour in Spanish (Hora Santa en Español), combined with confessions
History of St. Hyacinth Parish
Founded in 1883 by Polish Franciscan Msgr. Jacek "Hyacinth" Gulski as the third Polish Catholic church in Milwaukee, St. Hyacinth was carved out of the overcrowded South Side mother parish of St. Stanislaus. Within a quarter-century Fr. Gulski's parish had grown so quickly that it spun off three new Polish congregations — St. Vincent de Paul (1888), Ss. Cyril and Methodius (1893), and St. Adalbert (1908) — each within walking distance. The 1883 cream-city-brick church, designed by Swiss-born Milwaukee architect Henry Messmer with limestone and sandstone detailing and a copper-domed, Polish-influenced spire, has remained the parish's spiritual home for more than 140 years.
- Founded 1883 by Msgr. Jacek "Hyacinth" Gulski, a Polish Franciscan who had fled the German Kulturkampf
- Split off from St. Stanislaus, Milwaukee's first Polish parish
- Architect: Henry Messmer; builder: John Bentley and Son; masonry: August Talbert
- Cornerstone laid June 2, 1882; church consecrated April 1, 1883
- Birthplace of parishes St. Vincent de Paul (1888), Ss. Cyril and Methodius (1893), and St. Adalbert (1908)
Architecture & Landmark Status
The Messmer-designed church is 136 feet long by 62 feet wide and is built of locally fired cream-city brick on a limestone foundation with sandstone trim. Its tall bell tower is crowned by a copper-covered, Polish-influenced domical spire and a smaller cupola that floods the sanctuary with daylight through a skylight. The interior retains original 19th-century art, including ceiling murals by Chicago-based Swiss-Italian frescoist Louis Rusca, stained-glass windows, and Stations of the Cross inscribed in Polish. The Milwaukee County Historical Society designated St. Hyacinth a County Landmark on November 14, 2022, and the parish has pursued a National Register of Historic Places listing.
- Renaissance/Italianate style with Gothic forms and a Polish spire
- Cream City brick, limestone foundation, sandstone detailing
- Ceiling murals by Louis Rusca; Polish-language Stations of the Cross
- Milwaukee County Landmark (designated November 14, 2022)
- Listed on / nominated to the National Register of Historic Places
Clergy & Parish Staff
St. Hyacinth is pastored as a bi-parish with nearby St. Anthony by a team of priests from the Missionary Fraternity of Mary (FMM), supported by three deacons, a religious-education director, a business administrator, and parish councils. The parish is also currently hosting two American seminarians learning Spanish and serving in these South Side communities.
- Parochial Administrator: Rev. Fr. Fabian Rodas FMM (Guatemalan)
- Parochial Vicars: Rev. Fr. Jaime Charuc FMM; Rev. Fr. Milton Herrera FMM
- Deacons: Rev. Mr. Carlos Cornejo; Rev. Mr. Rogelio Macias; Rev. Mr. Henry Reyes
- Director of Religious Education: Sr. Carmelita de Anda
- Bi-Parish Business Administrator: Ms. Martha Andrade
- Religious Education Assistants: Mrs. Alma Lezama; Conchita Sandoval
- Pastoral affiliation: Missionary Fraternity of Mary (FMM)
Faith Formation & Religious Education
The bi-parish Centro de Educación Religiosa (Religious Education Center) is hosted at the St. Hyacinth campus (1414 W. Becher St.) and offers classes for First Communion and Confirmation in Spanish. Registration is available at the St. Hyacinth catechetical office and at the St. Anthony parish office on the days listed below. Direct inquiries to Sr. Carmelita de Anda at [email protected] or 414-640-1869.
- First Communion and Confirmation preparation in Spanish
- Registration at St. Hyacinth office: Mon 9–11 AM; Tue/Wed/Thu 5–7 PM; Fri 2–4 PM
- Registration at St. Anthony office: Wed 11 AM–5 PM; Fri 9 AM–5 PM
- Class location: 1414 W. Becher St. (St. Hyacinth / San Jacinto)
- Phone: 414-219-0011
Sacraments & Devotions
Beyond Sunday and weekday Masses, St. Hyacinth schedules confessions and a Spanish-language Holy Hour on Friday evenings at 6 PM, a longstanding Hora Santa that is one of the parish's signature devotional moments. The sanctuary also displays devotional shrines reflecting the makeup of today's congregation, including a Peruvian shrine and banner, a vibrant Día de los Muertos altar, and an icon of St. Juan Diego kneeling before Our Lady of Guadalupe installed in the tympanum in 2019.
- Reconciliation: Friday 6:00 PM (English & Spanish)
- Hora Santa / Holy Hour: Friday 6:00 PM in Spanish
- Our Lady of Guadalupe / St. Juan Diego devotion (icon added 2019)
- Peruvian shrine and banner
- Día de los Muertos altar
From Polish Roots to a Latino Parish
For more than a century St. Hyacinth was a Polish-American neighborhood anchor, but over recent decades the surrounding South Side has become home to Mexican, Ecuadoran, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Colombian families — and Masses today are predominantly in Spanish. The 2022 County Landmark ceremony was framed by then-pastor Rev. Hugo Londoño as a moment to thank the Polish founders and to encourage the Hispanic community that now cares for the building, calling both communities "rooted in their Catholic faith" and lovers of "the beauty of sacred art."
- Founded for Polish immigrants; transitioned to a predominantly Latino congregation
- Hispanic parishioners call the parish 'San Jacinto'
- County Landmark designation framed as bridge between Polish founders and Hispanic present
- Devotions reflect new multicultural identity (Guadalupe, Peruvian shrine, Día de los Muertos)
Visiting & Contact
St. Hyacinth's church and offices sit at 1414 W. Becher Street on Milwaukee's near South Side. The bi-parish business office operates from 1711 S. 9th Street (St. Anthony campus) and is open Monday–Friday 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, closed for lunch from 12:00–1:00 PM. Mass times and bulletins are posted on the stanthony-sthyacinth.org website and the parish Facebook page.
- Church address: 1414 W. Becher Street, Milwaukee, WI 53215
- Office: 1711 S. 9th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53204
- Phone: 414-645-1455; Fax: 414-645-1456; Cell: 414-374-2344
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–5 PM (closed 12–1 PM)
- Website: stanthony-sthyacinth.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/stanthonysthyacinth
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Msgr. Jacek "Hyacinth" Gulski1883–1909
Founding pastor; Polish Franciscan who fled the Kulturkampf; led the parish for 26 years and from it birthed St. Vincent de Paul (1888), Ss. Cyril and Methodius (1893), and St. Adalbert (1908); ended his tenure as a Monsignor.
- Rev. Hugo Londoño
Native of Yolombo, Colombia; pastor at the time St. Hyacinth was designated a Milwaukee County Landmark in November 2022.