HUBBARD, Ohio (OSV News) — When Bishop David J. Bonnar of Youngstown celebrates a Mass of blessing at St. Patrick Church in Hubbard on St. Patrick’s Day, it will be the first Mass at the church since it was forced to close its doors Jan. 18, 2021, after a devastating fire caused millions in damages to the interior and exterior of the building.
Since the fire, the parish, which dates back more than 150 years, had been celebrating Mass in the parish center. But the Mass on the feast day of its patron saint will mark the official reopening of a church rebuilt from floor to roof.
The March 17 liturgy also will feature a relic of St. Patrick loaned to the Diocese of Youngstown by the Diocese of Cleveland for the church’s reopening. The relic will be carried by a deacon in the entrance procession and set in a place of honor. Bishop Bonnar also will bless the faithful with the relic during the Sunday Mass.
“Catholics honor relics of saints as a way of connecting to the reality of the saints’ lives on earth in the past and their present closeness with God in eternity,” Joan Lawson, the Youngstown Diocese’s chancellor and archivist said in a statement. “Saints inspire Catholics by the heroic ways in which they lived a virtuous Christian life in their own times and places. Stories of St. Patrick have circulated for centuries, along with the faithful asking for his prayers.”
Lawson noted that in addition to the Hubbard parish, five others in the diocese have carried the name of the Irish people’s patron saint.
A list provided by a spokesperson for St. Patrick Church in Hubbard detailed what the fire destroyed and what three years of labor, donations, prayers and the help of parishioners have brought back. In addition to the entire church being rebuilt, “the sanctuary floor was severely damaged and caved in so it was rebuilt,” the list said. The sanctuary’s back wall had to be rebuilt; all electrical wiring had to be pulled and replaced; heating and cooling systems and the boiler system had to be brought up to code and replaced; and a new metal roof had to be installed and the insulation and the church’s wooden ceiling were all replaced.
Cause of fire a mystery
Among other items, the marble on floors and walls had to be replaced; the pews, altar, baptismal font and ambo were all replaced or repaired; and the parish’s new Steinway piano and pipe organ had to be cleaned and rebuilt.
“Many parishioners from other churches across the diocese and the Mahoning Valley sent donations and prayers. Parishioners also helped clean, restore, construct and move items back into the church,” according to the diocese.
An article published Sept. 29, 2023, in The Catholic Echo, Youngstown’s diocesan magazine, recalled the scene of the fire when emergency services were called to the church at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2021.
“Hundreds of parishioners from St. Patrick Parish in Hubbard stood outside their beloved place of worship as thick clouds of smoke plumed against an already-darkened winter sky, burning the eyes and stinging the nostrils,” said the article by staff writer Collin Vogt. “The parishioners watched as firefighters, in their bright yellow suits, crawled over the exterior of the building, doing everything they could to save the church.
“But far from being overcome at the sight of their church burning, the parishioners instead turned their attention to supporting the firefighters, some of whom were fellow parishioners.”
No one was harmed that evening, and firefighters were able to preserve much of the building, Vogt wrote. “Even still, the damage was devastating. It would take years, millions of dollars and countless man-hours before the church would be usable again. Although arson was ruled out, the exact cause of the fire was never determined.”
Growing from the tragedy
“It was hard to believe what was happening, that it was actually happening here,” Father Mike Swierz, pastor, told The Catholic Echo. “Even though we were torn apart by what was happening, the parishioners’ concern shifted to the men and women who were fighting the fire. They went down to a parishioner(-owned) supermarket down here and got bottled water and doughnuts.”
Father Swierz said that when he arrived at the church, he tried to go inside to save the Eucharist, stored in the tabernacle behind the altar, but the smoke was already so thick that he was unable to move forward.
“In a way, it was like God put his hand down so I couldn’t go any further,” he said. “The sanctuary floor fell in, so I would have fallen in it, where the tabernacle was. Minutes later the firemen came in and put a ladder over the hole and took the tabernacle out.”
“When these bad things happen to us, it’s nothing that we did or because God’s angry. I think it shows how much God loves us, that he’s going to walk with us when we go through something like this,” Father Swierz continued.
“We took that hurt and changed it into a positive energy. You can’t sit there and say ‘poor me’ … that’s the perfect opportunity to run with that and to make a difference,” he said. “In (the parishioners’) lives, they’ll always remember this and grow from it — and they did, they have.”
Contributing to this story was Collin Vogt, staff writer at The Catholic Echo, the magazine of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio.
