'We are going to be OK'
Feb. 28—LAWRENCE — Masked and socially distanced, Corpus Christi parishioners gathered Saturday afternoon just a short distance away from where they normally attend weekend Mass.
"What a difference a week makes. I am well. Thank God," noted parish pastor, the Rev. Francis Mawn, at the start of the 4 p.m. Mass in the Corpus Christi Parish Center at 34 Common St.
Five days earlier, on Monday night, a 4-alarm blaze gutted the rectory of the parish's beloved and historic Holy Rosary Church.
In the wake of the fire, Masses will be held in the parish center. While the fire was in the rectory, the church was left damaged by water.
The electrical fire caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage. Investigators determined the blaze ignited in a void in a first-floor ceiling in the rectory.
Mawn was alone in the rectory but escaped unharmed after the fire ignited around 6 p.m. Monday.
At Mass on Saturday, Mawn said he was fortunate the fire occurred at 6 p.m. and not 6 a.m.
"We are going to be OK," Mawn told the 30 or so parishioners who burst into applause and also offered their thanks Saturday afternoon.
At Mass, Mawn lightly remarked that he's wanted to downsize some of his belongings.
"God took care of it for me," he said.
Volunteers carried the altar and cross over to the parish center so Masses could continue.
This Sunday is the second Sunday of Lent — the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed by the Roman Catholic Church.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, all who attended Mass had their temperature taken when entering the center Saturday. Chairs were placed six feet apart and parishioners all wore masks.
During Mass, Mawn spoke of Christian life and how "in a sense that is like climbing up a mountain." Some stay in place and never leave town to climb the mountain. Others start the climb and turn around while some go off and explore a cave, he explained.
Whatever the journey, "the spirit of God in them will never lead them astray," Mawn said.
Mawn also thanked Lawrence Fire Chief Brian Moriarty, Lawrence firefighters and the many mutual aid firefighters who came from surrounding cities and towns to fight Monday's fire.
"The fact that God protected our church is a wonderful thing," he said.
Mawn also offered his thanks for firefighters in the parish's weekly bulletin, which was handed out at Mass.
"On Monday night around 100 firefighters from Lawrence and area cities and towns spent hours battling a persistent four-alarm blaze in our rectory," he wrote, emphasizing they brought "this fire under control after hours and hours of hard work and eliminating the hotspots and preventing the fire" from spreading to the church.
"It all could have been much worse and we are extremely thankful no one was injured," Mawn wrote.
He also thanked the police officers and other first responders for their help Monday night.
"You are all the best. All of you never gave up fighting to win what could have been a seriously terrible battle," he wrote.
Holy Rosary Church was founded by Italian immigrants in 1904. In the 1960s, it embraced the first Cubans to arrive in Lawrence, and later other Hispanic communities, according to the church's website.
In November 2004, the Archdiocese of Boston established Corpus Christi Parish at Holy Rosary Church by uniting Holy Rosary and three other ethnic churches — Holy Trinity (Polish), St. Francis (Lithuanian) and Sts. Peter and Paul (Portuguese).
The church is the backbone of the annual Feast of the Three Saints in Lawrence and beloved to many throughout the Merrimack Valley who have attended Masses, baptisms, weddings, funerals and more there.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
