Deacon José Luis Díaz, with other parishioners, was able to miraculously save his church from destructive fires in Los Angelus that have destroyed over 10,000 structures. His prayer as he worked was: God, please spare my church.
Angelus News reported that , a few hours earlier, Díaz and his family had been awakened from their beds by a cellphone alert ordering them to evacuate, as dry winds pushed the Eaton area Fire into their Altadena neighborhood. They packed up a few belongings and went to the Pasadena Convention Center nearby, one of several public shelters set up for local evacuees.
His wife Maria Esther received a call and told him: “José Luis, they’re saying the church is on fire!”
Then Díaz drove up to Sacred Heart with his son-in-law around 7:30 am Wednesday morning, and he found two other parishioners trying to put out a patch of flames burning the wooden roof near the church’s boiler room.
“There were houses next door, in front, and behind the church that were already on fire,” said Díaz, who’s served at Sacred Heart since he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015.
Díaz quickly unlocked a maintenance room and pulled out a ladder and an iron pipe. Then the team got to work: Two of them propped up the ladder so that Diaz could use the pipe to break shingle tiles on a side roof of the church, while another poured water from a garden hose on the flames.
“We almost didn’t have water pressure in the hose,” said Díaz. “So we had to do everything we could to put it out.”
Their efforts kept the roof fire, which had been sparked by embers flying from burning homes down the street, from spreading to the rest of the church. The four men stayed on the scene for most of the morning, breaking tiles and finally extinguishing the last of the stubborn flames. When Diaz opened the church to look for any damage inside, he was relieved to find the sanctuary in good condition, besides some heat damage to a church door, and likely smoke damage throughout.
“We have a lot of debris but no real damage,” Sacred Heart pastor Father Gilbert Guzman told Angelus hours after surveying the grounds on Wednesday. “All of the buildings are fine, the rectory is fine. We will just have quite a bit of cleanup afterwards.”
The deacon’s house, just eight blocks from the parish, has so far remained intact by the Eaton Fire. But as he waits at the Pasadena shelter with his family, Díaz said he’s kept his Bible close by, turning to praying certain psalms of agony, supplication, and pleading as he looks to make sense of the sudden destruction.
Prayer, Díaz believes, can also bring about an interior “improvement” in those who suffer. Another one accompanying the deacon this week has been Psalm 85.
“Passing through the valley of weeping, he turns it into a spring,” the psalm reads. “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has established a special dedicated fund “to support parishes and schools impacted by the fires.” To donate, visit here.
“There were houses next door, in front, and behind the church that were already on fire,” said Díaz, who’s served at Sacred Heart since he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015.
Díaz quickly unlocked a maintenance room and pulled out a ladder and an iron pipe. Then the team got to work: Two of them propped up the ladder so that Diaz could use the pipe to break shingle tiles on a side roof of the church, while another poured water from a garden hose on the flames.
“We almost didn’t have water pressure in the hose,” said Díaz. “So we had to do everything we could to put it out.”
Their efforts kept the roof fire, which had been sparked by embers flying from burning homes down the street, from spreading to the rest of the church. The four men stayed on the scene for most of the morning, breaking tiles and finally extinguishing the last of the stubborn flames. When Diaz opened the church to look for any damage inside, he was relieved to find the sanctuary in good condition, besides some heat damage to a church door, and likely smoke damage throughout.
“We have a lot of debris but no real damage,” Sacred Heart pastor Father Gilbert Guzman told Angelus hours after surveying the grounds on Wednesday. “All of the buildings are fine, the rectory is fine. We will just have quite a bit of cleanup afterwards.”
The deacon’s house, just eight blocks from the parish, has so far remained intact by the Eaton Fire. But as he waits at the Pasadena shelter with his family, Díaz said he’s kept his Bible close by, turning to praying certain psalms of agony, supplication, and pleading as he looks to make sense of the sudden destruction.
Prayer, Díaz believes, can also bring about an interior “improvement” in those who suffer. Another one accompanying the deacon this week has been Psalm 85.
“Passing through the valley of weeping, he turns it into a spring,” the psalm reads. “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has established a special dedicated fund “to support parishes and schools impacted by the fires.” To donate, visit here.
Source: https://angelusnews.com/local/la-catholics/altadena-deacon-fire/
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