A church suffered broken windows and roof damage, while the adjacent parish hall was destroyed when a May 6 tornado wreaked havoc in the small town of Barnsdall.
But the first person to arrive at St. Mary’s Catholic Church after the storm was brought to his knees by something else he noticed amid all the rubble and mud-splattered pews: a candle representing the presence of Christ, was left burning at the altar.
“I turned around and looked at the altar, and the crucifix and the candles, everything – they were all untouched,” said parishioner Jack Johnson.
“When the Eucharist takes place in the tabernacle on the altar, a candle must always be lit as long as the body of Jesus is there. And the candle was still lit because the body of Jesus was clearly there.”
The Eucharistic Host is considered by Catholic Christians to be the body of Jesus Christ. The consecrated host – usually a small unleavened wafer – is considered sacred. It is an integral part of the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion.
Johnson said he lives just outside of town, and he felt compelled to check out the church because he is responsible for lighting the sanctuary candle that symbolizes Christ’s presence. He said he drove his normal route to church around 9:30 a.m. on May 7 and saw the “heartbreaking” damage to homes and other property along the tornado’s path.
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He said he called the pastor of St. Mary, Rev. Emmanuel Nduka, once he got to the church, and they both knelt at the altar, impressed that the EF4 tornado had somehow damaged the altar had passed with his lighted candle. He said he thought the tornadic winds blew out the church doors and battered all four corners of the house of worship, but avoided the altar in the center.
“There was a little bit of debris, a few leaves, but pretty much the entire area was exactly as we left it that Sunday,” Johnson said.
He said Nduka turned to him and stated that Sunday Mass would be held at St. Mary’s in just a few days.
Johnson said with two people dead, several injured and extensive property damage, he hopes what happened at the small church will symbolize hope for Barnsdall’s future.
At Mass on the Sunday after the storm, Nduka shared the same sentiment with about a hundred parishioners who entered the church. God, he said, should have the final say on what happened, and he wanted to focus on the Lord and not the destruction, the Catholic magazine Eastern Oklahoma reported.
“Do not be afraid, my dear friends,” Nduka reportedly said in his homily.
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“God is in control. God is in charge. As a community, as a church, we will come out better and stronger.”
Johnson agreed.
“He (Nduka) said the Lord is still here at the city – he is still here in the middle.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Barnsdall tornado destroys St. Mary’s church, but altar untouched
