A fire that devastated an historic western Ohio church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati late last month appeared eerily similar to a blaze that severely damaged a church in the Diocese of Columbus almost 90 years earlier.
St. John the Baptist Church, built in 1891, went up in flames in Maria Stein, a village of 1,400 in Mercer County, during the afternoon of May 29. In a spectacular fire that could be seen for miles, the wooden steeple toppled to the ground and the roof collapsed as firefighters fought to contain the blaze of unknown origin.
Early reports suggested the integrity of the walls of the church might not have been compromised. If that’s indeed the case, the fire resembles one that happened at Columbus St. Patrick Church on May 28, 1935.
That fire started on the roof at the downtown Columbus parish and quickly spread, but the courageous efforts of the city’s firefighters helped preserve the walls of the structure and saved some of the stained-glass windows. As a result of their heroics, the church was able to be restored in about a year.
On May 28, the 90th anniversary of the historic fire, the parish paid tribute to those firefighters at its regular daily Mass celebrated by Father Paul Marich, OP, the parish’s pastor.
Five current members of the Columbus Division of Fire who attended the Mass came forward afterward to receive a special blessing from Father Marich at the altar rail.
“I wanted to commemorate this milestone of the fire as a way to teach parish history but also to honor those who follow in the footsteps of the firefighters who saved the church building 90 years ago,” Father Marich said. “Firefighters put their lives on the line each day, as they did on May 28, 1935. It’s important that we ask God’s protection on them.
“Teaching our parishioners about the fire is important too, since many were unaware of what happened in 1935.”
Father Marich thanked the firefighters attending Mass for their service and for carrying on the legacy of their predecessors “who saved our church.”
“Many are drawn to St. Patrick’s for its beauty,” he said, “but imagine if the whole building had been lost? I think that bringing awareness about the fire to parishioners, especially those who have joined in recent years, has helped many appreciate the beauty and grandeur or our church a bit more.”
More than a decade ago, historian J. Michael Finn published an article on “The Great Fire: The Burning of St. Patrick’s Church, 1935” in the Bulletin of the Catholic Record Society. He called the fire one of the most disastrous and serious in the history of the diocese.
In his detailed account of the events that day, Finn wrote that a small spark from a charcoal pot used by a tinner, who was putting copper tubing in a rain trough on the roof, caught the building on fire.
Two parish priests hurried into the church from the adjacent rectory and immediately removed the Blessed Sacrament while also saving many of the sacred vessels and vestments as the fire was spreading. Almost all of the moveable objects were taken out of the church, with assistance from students at nearby Aquinas High School, until the flames prevented them from going inside.
Despite the efforts of more than 120 firefighters surrounding the church with 17 pieces of equipment and 13 hoses, the roof collapsed in less than 15 minutes and the cross at the front of the church crashed to the pavement.
Fortunately, no lives were lost, but several firefighters were injured, including Columbus Fire Chief Edward P. Welch, who was knocked unconscious after he stepped into water that was electrified when two electric lines fell to the ground.
Six large stained-glass windows were damaged and the organ was destroyed, but, miraculously, the exterior walls, some of the other stained-glass windows, and statues of Mary and Joseph on side altars were preserved.
The damage at that time was estimated at $115,000, which would be approximately $2 million today. A rebuilding fund was established right away.
During the construction, Masses were held in the adjacent school. In less than a year, on Feb. 16, 1936, the church reopened with a new organ, pews, Stations of the Cross, ceiling mural of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a shrine for St. Margaret of Castello, OP.
In Father Marich’s homily, he pointed to the Holy Spirit in the days before the Solemnity of the Pentecost as a guiding light.
“The Holy Spirit is usually depicted as fire,” he said. “No, it wasn’t the Holy Spirit that caused the church fire many years ago. That was a welder’s spark in a bird’s nest in the gutter. But it was the Spirit that comes to us through God’s truths.
“Whenever we do something good, something virtuous, or when we deepen our relationship with God in prayer, God is the one who gets it started, the cause of all things, that gives us that divine spark. …
“We spread this fire of grace which comes from God in every prayer, in every work of mercy and charity that we do. Let it remain burning throughout our lives so that one day we can enter the glory of heaven.”
