The Holy Spirit Catholic Mission / News 4
CV NEWS FEED // A fire on September 7 destroyed a Nevada-based mission church that celebrates the Latin Mass, prompting the bishop of Reno to hasten to the church in an attempt to rescue the Blessed Sacrament.
According to Nevada news outlet MyNews4, the church was burned in the Davis Fire, which burned 5,596 acres and damaged 14 structures in the Washoe Valley, where the church is located. The fire led to evacuation, road closures, school closures, and power outages.
The fire department determined that the fire broke out in Davis Creek Campground in Washoe Valley, but it is still investigating the source of the fire.
In a September 8 pastoral letter, Most Reverend Daniel H. Mueggenborg of the Diocese of Reno told the members of Holy Spirit Mission, “It is with urgent and heart-felt pastoral solicitude that I write to you offering my encouragement and support at this time.”
The Bishop received news of the fire in the evening of September 7, and explained that he “drove straight to the Mission in the hopes of recovering the Blessed Sacrament.”
“I am aware that many parishioners of Holy Spirit Mission attempted the same thing,” he added.
Due to the severity of the fire, first responders could not let the Bishop or the faithful into Washoe Valley until September 8.
“Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we arrived at the mission,” the Bishop wrote, recounting that the recovery efforts were supported by Fr. Arlon Vergara, Washoe County Sheriff and his deputy, and some of the lay faithful. “We were saddened beyond words at the smoldering debris that was once the House of God.”
The fire “had completely destroyed” both the Tabernacle and its contents, the Bishop wrote. “The heat was so intense that it actually fused metallic pieces together. As such, nothing remained of the Blessed Sacrament.”
The fire had also destroyed many of the church’s important documents. Bishop Mueggenborg explained that he and the faithful were able to recover part of a Monstrance, one chalice, and some Holy Oil, “but even these were badly damaged.”
However, Bishop Mueggenborg explained that seeing the church’s statue of the Blessed Mother, which was unscathed in the fire, was a “sign of hope.” He wrote that the statue of Our Lady was “standing in watchful attention over the site of the former Mission chapel. The Blessed Mother is particularly close to her adopted children in Christ when they suffer affliction and distress.”
Bishop Mueggenborg thanked the diocesan superintendent of schools, Brother Hall, for offering for the congregation of Holy Spirit Mission to attend Sunday Mass at the chapel of a local diocesan high school.
Addressing the faithful, the Bishop concluded: “I trust that God, who has been accomplishing good work in you and for you, will bring it to fulfillment. I hope that you share that trust and confidence as well, and that the experience of this tragedy may become a source of deepened faith, greater commitment, and blessing for your community.”
