About this event
St. Paul Albanian Catholic Church in Rochester Hills holds its annual Feast Day celebration for St. Mother Teresa on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Mother Teresa was born in Skopje in 1910 to Albanian parents and canonized in 2016. For Albanian Catholics in metro Detroit, her feast is one of the most important days on the parish calendar, and St. Paul — described as the largest Albanian Catholic parish outside the homeland — is where families gather to mark it.
This page tells you what is confirmed, what is not, and how to plan the afternoon without guessing.
The Essentials
- Date: Saturday, September 5, 2026
- Time: 6:00 PM Feast Day Mass (confirmed on the parish events page). A separate community listing mentions a 12:00 PM Divine Liturgy as part of the annual celebration, but that earlier time is not confirmed by the parish for 2026 — if you want to attend a daytime liturgy, call the parish office first to verify.
- Place: St. Paul Albanian Catholic Church, 525 W Auburn Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
- Cost: No admission fee is listed. Parish feast Masses are typically open to all without charge, but the parish does not publish a formal "free" statement — assume open admission and bring something for the collection if you wish.
- Weather: Early September in southeast Michigan usually means mild evenings in the 60s–70s°F. The Mass itself is indoors, so weather mainly affects the walk from the parking lot.
Getting There
St. Paul Albanian Catholic Church sits on West Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, a short drive from I-75 and M-59. Most families coming from Detroit, Warren, Sterling Heights, or Troy will drive — Rochester Hills is built around its road network, and the parish has its own lot on site.
Parking specifics (cost, overflow arrangements, accessible spaces) are not published on the parish events page. For a Saturday evening Feast Day Mass, expect the lot to fill earlier than a regular weekend service — Mother Teresa's feast draws people from across the Albanian community in metro Detroit, not just regular parishioners. Arrive 20–30 minutes early if you want a parking spot close to the doors and a seat in the main nave rather than the back or an overflow area.
Public transit to this part of Rochester Hills is limited, and none of the available sources list a bus line, stop, or walking distance to the church. If you do not have a car, the practical options are a rideshare from a nearby suburb or carpooling with someone from the parish community — ask in Albanian Facebook groups for the Detroit area, and you will likely find a ride.
One local note: Auburn Road is a busy east–west corridor, and the church driveway can back up right before Mass starts. If you are coming from the east, give yourself an extra few minutes to turn in.
What to Expect
The confirmed centerpiece is the Feast Day Mass at 6:00 PM, celebrated in Albanian and English by the parish clergy. That bilingual format is standard at St. Paul and is one of the reasons families travel from across the region to attend — children who do not speak Albanian fluently can still follow the liturgy, while grandparents hear the prayers in their mother tongue.
The parish events listing also references "Bijat e Zojës" (Daughters of Our Lady) alongside the Mass entry. This is a parish women's group or devotional association, but the specifics of how they participate in the Feast Day — whether through a procession, hymns, or hosted reception — are not spelled out in the available sources. If you want to know in advance, the parish office can confirm.
Mother Teresa's image and relics are commonly venerated at her feast in Albanian Catholic parishes, and homilies typically draw on her life in Skopje, her work in Calcutta, and her Albanian identity. Expect a service of roughly an hour to ninety minutes, with hymns, scripture readings, and a homily.
What happens after Mass — a reception, coffee hour, cultural program, or community dinner — is not documented on the parish site. Many Albanian parish feasts do include some form of gathering afterward, so it is worth staying to see, but do not arrive expecting a confirmed program.
The Food
Here is where we have to be honest: the available sources do not confirm what food, if any, is served at the 2026 Feast Day celebration. The parish events page lists the Mass but does not describe a reception, dinner, or food vendors. The community listing that mentions the annual celebration also does not detail the menu.
For Albanian Catholic feast days at parishes like St. Paul, it is common for the parish or its women's group to host coffee, pastries, or a light reception after the liturgy — and on larger feast days, sometimes a fuller meal. Whether that includes traditional dishes such as byrek, qofte, or tavë kosi is something only the parish can tell you for this specific year.
If the meal matters to your plans — for example, if you are driving in from out of town and want to know whether to eat first — call the parish office before September 5 and ask what is planned after the Mass. Do not assume a full Albanian spread based on the parish's reputation alone.
Rochester Hills's Albanian Community and Why It Matters
St. Paul Albanian Catholic Church is, by its own description and by the description used across Albanian-American media, the largest Albanian Catholic parish outside the homeland. That is not a small claim. Metro Detroit — Rochester Hills, Sterling Heights, Warren, and the surrounding suburbs — is home to one of the densest Albanian populations in the United States, with roots going back generations and reinforced by more recent arrivals from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro.
And this is exactly where the count problem shows up. The U.S. Census records roughly 224,000 Albanian Americans. The real community is closer to a million — somewhere near 1,000,000 people of Albanian heritage living in this country, including the half- and third-generation kids who tick "white" on the form, the Kosovars and Çams whose paperwork says something else, and the families who simply never saw themselves in a census category. The Census stays essential. The National Albanian Registry is the parallel count beside it.
Feast days like this one are where the uncounted community becomes visible. When the parking lot at 525 W Auburn fills up on a Saturday evening in September, when the Mass is offered in Albanian and English, when families who have not seen each other since last year's feast embrace in the vestibule — that is the community making itself legible. Registering with NAR takes about two minutes, it is free, and it does not require fluent Albanian, a particular passport, or a specific generation. Half-Albanian counts. Kosovar counts. Third-generation counts. NAR is a 501(c)(3) (filed; IRS confirmation pending); registration is not an ID and not citizenship — it is a count.
What to Bring
- Modest church attire — this is a Catholic Mass on a major feast day; dress accordingly
- Cash or check for the collection if you wish to contribute
- A light jacket or sweater — early September evenings in Michigan can cool off, and church interiors run cool
- Something to occupy younger children quietly during the homily — a small book or quiet activity
- Your phone, on silent, for photos before or after Mass (not during)
- Patience for the parking lot if you arrive close to 6:00 PM
- The parish phone number saved in case you need to confirm anything day-of
