Parishioners Come Together To Worship, Mourn One Week After Massive Fire Destroys Historic Church
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- It's been a week since a massive fire engulfed and destroyed an historic Serbian Orthodox church in the city.
On Sunday, members of the cathedral of Saint Sava came together to pray and reconnect, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
Parishioners gathered for service and to mourn on the first Sunday following the tragic fire that reduced the cathedral to a shell of what it once was.
"There is a wound that will never be filled up," one parishioner said.
They worshiped in a church that is not their home parish, but offered up by their neighbors at Calvary Episcopal Church. The loss and outpouring of support moved some parishioners to tears.
Though their cathedral is ruined, the congregation held onto small miracles. Several prayed around an icon of Saint Sava which was spared from water damage in the church office.
"There was a ray of light through the window it was an encouraging sign," the priest said during the service.
The fire department has determined last week's raging fire was caused by candles lit to symbolize the light of resurrection on Orthodox Easter. Now the light of the church shines through its people and their resilience.
"Church will rebuild, church will rise again, church will resurrect as Christ did," the priest said.
After mass, the congregation walked down Park Avenue to the cathedral which was erected in 1855 and became Saint Sava in 1943. It stood as a New York City landmark for the religious Serbian community and is a building that will be hard to replace.
"As long as we stay united, we'll make it through," parishioner Vesna Gvozdenic said.
In the meantime, the building inspectors have to study the structure to determine if its safe to begin rebuilding and restoring the beloved church.
