An early morning fire Oct. 22 at St. Thomas Apostle Church in Washington, D.C. caused the cancellation of Sunday Masses there, but did not do extensive damage to the building beyond the sacristy where the fire originated.

“Thank God for this good old 1950s construction,” said Father Richard Mullins, pastor of the parish located in the city’s Woodley Park neighborhood. He added that concrete walls and steel fire doors between the sacristy and the main body of the church prevented the fire from spreading.

He also praised “the great skill and prompt attention of the Fire Department” in keeping the blaze contained.

Father Mullins that while the cause of the fire is still being investigated, “the initial thought is that this was an electrical fire that started in a conduit.”

The fire started just before 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. Father Mullins said he was awakened “by the smell of the smoke and the fire alarm and the dog barking trying to alert us to what was going on.” He said that he tried to enter the church but thick smoke prevented him from doing so. He added that firefighters helped him remove the Blessed Sacrament from the church while the fire raged in the sacristy.

After the fire was put out, fire department officials advised the parish to keep the church closed to the public for the remainder of the day to allow the smoke to subside. The parish did hold Mass on Monday, Oct. 23, and has resumed its regular Mass schedule.

“There is still a remaining smoke odor, but it isn’t anything that would stop people from coming to Mass,” Father Mullins said.

Father Mullins said that while the cost of the damage caused by the fire and smoke is still being calculated, the entire contents of the sacristy, including priestly vestments, were heavily damaged, except for one item: a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“That statue was given to the parish by the wife of the last Cameroonian ambassador. She brought it on the plane from Cameroon as a gift to the parish,” Father Mullins said. “It was the only thing that was not destroyed. We put it out on special Marian feast days, so that statue for us is a sign of hope and resilience. Mary was standing at the foot of the cross with our Lord, and she is standing here with us.”

Also preserved from damage were articles – including a chalice – that once belong to Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Famous for his evangelization efforts on radio and television, the late archbishop was a frequent visitor to and preacher at St. Thomas Apostle Church.

Father Mullins said that while the fire was being fought, he texted officials with The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, and received an immediate response. He also received a text from Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who is still attending the synod in Rome.

“He assured us of his prayers,” Father Mullins noted.

Father Mullins said that he is also “very grateful to the St. Thomas parishioners who have been so responsive in coming by, sending messages of hope and making promises to help.”

“The congregation is very motivated to move forward and to come back strong after this. Together we will rebuild into the next phase of St. Thomas Apostle’s service to Woodley Park,” the priest said. “This is a small feisty parish and we’ve been resilient through all sorts of obstacles in our history – and we will be resilient with this – and we will be back up to full speed very shortly.”