Archbishop Lori offers support to Emmitsburg parish devastated by rectory fire

EMMITSBURG – Before Jim Smith was received into full communion with the Catholic Church two years ago, he made his first confession on the porch of the stately rectory building that has been a beloved landmark at St. Anthony Shrine in Emmitsburg since the 1890s.

One day after an Aug. 30 fire destroyed the building and sent Institute of the Incarnate Word Father Andres (Andrew) Ayala to Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center in Baltimore with serious injuries, Smith stood outside the charred structure and shook his head in disbelief.

“It’s real sad,” said Smith, whose wife, Debbie, stood by his side as they surveyed the ruined building. “It was a beautiful old house. But, it’s just a structure. Father Andrew made it out alive and that’s all that’s important.”

The Smiths were among nearly 200 parishioners who gathered for a 4 p.m. Mass celebrated Aug. 31 by Archbishop William E. Lori after he visited the destroyed two-story building. The archbishop offered his prayers and consolation to a shaken faith community.

In his homily, Archbishop Lori gave thanks to God that the lives of the three rectory occupants were spared. Father Mariano Vicchi, pastor; Father Ayala, associate pastor; and Andrew Boutross, a seminarian, made it out of the blaze with only Father Ayala suffering serious injuries. All are members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (I.V.E.), the religious community that staffs St. Anthony.

He also praised emergency responders from Maryland and Pennsylvania who spent hours battling the blaze.

“The beautiful rectory stood for many years and was the natural complement to this shrine,” Archbishop Lori said. “It was built with exquisite skill by parishioners of old and was carefully maintained through the years. How painful, then, to see it blackened and boarded up.”

The archbishop wanted to be with parishioners, he said, “to offer Mass, to pray together, and assure you that the archdiocese will work collaboratively with you in the time ahead.”

The archbishop noted that St. Anthony, the saint for whom the parish is named, is the patron saint of lost things.

“So, as we mourn the loss of the rectory, let us confide our sense of loss to this great saint, confident that St. Anthony will direct our gaze to the greatest of God’s gifts, a gift we have not lost, namely, the presence of Jesus in our midst,” he said.

In an interview with the Catholic Review, Archbishop Lori said he visited Father Ayala at the burn center in Baltimore.

“Fortunately, he’s on the road to a complete recovery,” Archbishop Lori said, “but of course, it was a traumatic event in his life. He narrowly escaped. I just thank God that there was no loss of life.”

Father Vicchi told the Catholic Review he, too, is grateful that no lives were lost. He recalled being awakened in the middle of the night by the smoke alarm.

“When I came down, I could see through the windows that there was some fire outside,” he said. “So I got outside to check if I could contain it. When I realized that it was big, I couldn’t contain it myself, I went back up to my room and I called 911.”

Thinking everyone else was also awake, the priest called for everyone to leave and he ran downstairs. Outside, the pastor realized that only the seminarian had followed and Father Ayala remained in the building. The pastor said he then saw Father Ayala breaking the glass of the second-story window.

“He made it out,” Father Vicchi said. “At that time, I saw that the seminarian who was staying with us was bringing the ladder, and we put the ladder up. Thank God it was long enough for Father Andres to make it down. After that, I think at that time, the fire department was already here, but everything happened maybe 10 minutes the most.”

Father Ayala was taken by ambulance to the Maryland State Police Medevac Hangar in Frederick and then flown to Bayview.

Father Vicchi said he is grateful to the numerous parishioners who have prayed for his religious community and even offered places to stay. Many parishioners embraced him or offered words of support after the archbishop’s Mass. 

The pastor is currently living at nearby Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. The I.V.E. seminarian has returned to be with his religious community in Washington, D.C.

“The only thing that haunts me a little bit is just the thought that one of them could have died,” said Father Vicchi, who noted that the blaze took place on his birthday and the anniversary of his priestly ordination. “Thank God, we all made it out safe and sound.”

Several priests attended the Aug. 31 Mass, including Monsignor Andrew Baker, president-rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Dr. Gerard “Jerry” J. Joyce, the new president of Mount St. Mary’s University, and his family, also attended the liturgy.

Sarah Campbell, spokeswoman for the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services, said the fire is believed to be accidental and started on an exterior porch, causing an estimated $400,000 in damage.

Archdiocesan leaders have pledged to work with the parish to determine what steps to take regarding the structure’s future. 

Connie Ohler, a lifelong parishioner of 74 years, could barely bring herself to look at the burned rectory as she walked across the parking lot to attend the Mass. She struggled to hold back tears.

“It’s just overwhelming,” she said. “I feel sick in my stomach when I think about it. I was talking to a nephew yesterday, and I couldn’t hold back the tears yesterday. But today it’s better, but I’ll feel a lot better when Father Andrew gets back.”

Pulling out a Divine Mercy medallion, Ohler said she has been offering a lot of prayers – especially for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word have a strong devotion to Mary, she said.

“We’re all praying,” she said.

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Also see:

Fire destroys rectory at St. Anthony Shrine in Emmitsburg; one seriously injured

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