Flames powerful enough to blow out stained-glass windows left a statue of Mary untouched inside Fells Point?s St. Patrick Catholic Church in 1983.
“Even the fresh flowers and lit candles [around the figure] were unharmed,” said Deacon Richard Novak, who has served at the church since 1977.
Hispanic immigrants revived St. Patrick?s dwindling congregation after the devastating fire that destroyed most of the upper church. Founded in 1792, St. Patrick is the oldest Catholic parish in Baltimore.
St. Patrick, built in 1898 and the “twin” church to St. Michael Church, houses several statues used for annual processions. On feast days, parishioners carry religious figures carved in wood or depicted in ornate paintings through Baltimore?s streets to honor Jesus Christ, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the martyred Archbishop of El Salvador Oscar Romero and their Hispanic roots.
“We support each other?s culture ? Peruvian, Mexican, Guatemalan ? and participate in the traditions because we understand the value of them,” said Jane Arias, a parishioner for more than 10 years who came to Baltimore from Peru.
Over the years, weekly bilingual masses evolved into Spanish services led by the church?s pastor, the Rev. Robert Wojtek, on Sundays and Wednesdays.
“It?s a great feeling to have Mass in my own language and to preserve certain cultural and religious elements [by doing so],” Arias said.
Offering up prayers touches the deepest part of a person, Wojtek said, so it?s only natural people would speak in their own language while praying, even though they may know English.
St. Patrick?s parishioners live God?s words displayed in the church?s foyer: “Whatsoever you did to the least of my people, you did unto me.”
Arias, likemany parishioners, volunteers at the church to help less fortunate church members. She serves as a reader, greeter, Minister of Holy Communion, Pastoral Council member and Outreach program coordinator. The Outreach program provides dental and health care information as well as food and domestic-abuse counseling to the congregation.
“If you look at our folks, many are poor and abandoned,” Wojtek said. “We?re faithful to our mission by responding to the needs of our folks. The church [with all of its services] is a little world in itself.”
