On Friday morning, May 18, the Salesian Family was
shocked with awful news from our sisters in North Haledon, N.J.: the chapel at
Mary Help of Christians Academy had been destroyed by fire in the wee hours of
the morning.
Initial information is that the fire is not
considered suspicious. But, as noted below, the structure will have to be demolished
and the chapel rebuilt.
Our SDB province secretary informed
the SDBs with a morning news bulletin:
Some of you may have already heard the
terrible news that early this morning a fire completely destroyed the interior
of the chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, New Jersey.
Fortunately, no one was in the chapel at the time and there were no injuries.
On behalf of Fr. Provincial we express our prayers
and support to the Salesian Sisters at this difficult time. Besides its
physical beauty, the chapel contained memories of so many Masses for religious
profession and graduation and countless other events in the life of the
Salesian Sisters and all of us.
The link below leads to some photos and a video.
Let's keep the Sisters and everyone connected with MHC Academy in our prayers.
The FMA province website carried some details:
The fire alarm went off in
the Chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy, 659 Belmont Avenue, North
Haledon, N.J., at 1:29 a.m. on Friday, May 18. The four-alarm blaze brought
responses from the fire departments of North Haledon, Hawthorne, Franklin
Lakes, and Paterson municipalities, and was finally extinguished around
4:00 a.m. Originally built in 1976 and later renovated in 2016 due to
water damage, our chapel has suffered devastating damage to its interior and
structure.
Functioning as the heart
of the Academy as well as the center of activities for the St.
Joseph Province of the Salesian Sisters, the chapel is where students
convene for all major events – including the upcoming Baccalaureate Mass
on June 1 and commencement on June 2 – and where they gather regularly for
worship. Though our hearts are heavy, we are fortunate to be able to
report that no one was harmed and that firemen were able to rescue the most
precious item in the chapel: the tabernacle.
During a morning assembly led by principal Sr. Marisa DeRose, FMA, our community wept as photos of the charred altar, pews, and melted Peragallo pipe organ were shared, along with a warning to students to keep far from the building. The sisters, students, faculty, and staff of the Academy are devastated by this loss, but remain thankful to the dedicated firemen who contained the fire before it could cause additional damage to our facilities.
A testament to the
strength of our community, the first donation to help rebuild the chapel
was received from a faculty member before the school day had even begun;
upon hearing about the blaze on the fire scanner radio, she was
immediately moved to help.
From the FMA province development office:
This
is the heart of our school and our province.
We
have learned that the chapel must be knocked down, so the fundraising has begun
for the new chapel.
To
help us rebuild, please visit us at: www.salesiansisters.org
Please
share this album with anyone who can help us.
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