Fifteen Years...Remembering Our Great Loss On November 5, 1999...

15 Years ...
             Remembering Our Great Loss On November 5, 1999...

 See video of our tragic night covered by our local media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4zawx1DeEs

Please pray for the repose of
 the soul of
Fr. Michael O' Brien, OFM, Cap.

We all miss our beautiful castle where we held  our awesome Retreats! The upper room was dedicated in loving memory of Fr. Richard Delisle's parents.

We really were so blessed with so many memories of the La Salette Castle.

There were some miracles while this fire invaded our precious building:

Miraculously the Chapel where many services and 

masses were held in was spared from the raging flames!

The statue of Our Lady of La Salette down the hallway 

was also spared.

A wood carved statue of Our Lady of La Salette which

was inside the Castle's Chapel was also spared and

you may view this statue in our New Shrine Church

located on the left altar on your way into the 

Reconciliation Chapel.

...We now only have ashes as a reminder of this tragedy and 

the beautiful miracles of Our Lady's presence through her 

statues and the Castle's Chapel miracle!

Mrs. Fatima Bigda said: 

"I prayed that God would protect the Tabernacle

where the Most Blessed Sacrament was present.

 I believe it was this Tabernacle that saved the 

Chapel with Our Lady's help.

Actually the interior of the Castle's Chapel

 survived with just smoke damages! That's a miracle!!!"

We, the La Salette Family are  very grateful for 

everyone who  helped us during this tragedy!  

One never forgets one's kindness!  

Other Articles from our local news media:

Fire kills Fr. Michael O’Brien, OFM, Cap and destroys historic La Salette 'Castle'

By David Rising, Associated Press writer 

Posted Nov. 6, 1999 @ 12:01 am
Updated Jan 11, 2011 at 2:51 PM 

See Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4zawx1DeEs

ATTLEBORO -- A visiting clergyman from England died early yesterday when fire ripped through a historic stone building at LaSalette Shrine. The cleric was found kneeling in his third-floor bedroom; 21 others escaped unhurt.

The flames destroyed the turn-of-the-century structure owned since the 1940s by the LaSalette missionaries, a Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers. Nicknamed the "Castle," the building was one of the landmarks at the shrine, the site of countless religious retreats and a popular holiday lighting display.

"I feel really sad and devastated. I can't believe it," said Patricia Rennick, 49, a nurse from Cumberland, R.I. She was one of many who came to mourn the loss of a man and a building that housed the heart of the shrine's religious life.

Sitting on a grassy knoll under an oak tree, Ms. Rennick sat transfixed for more than an hour, staring at the roofless, smoldering and charred remains of the order's "Provincial House."

"It was beautiful inside," she said softly, fondly recalling the grand piano, chapel and prayer services at the "Castle."

"At first I thought, 'Am I dreaming or not?'" said Marilyn Martin, 67, of Dedham. A friend called her at 7 a.m. with news of the fire. "I had to come here and see it for myself. It was a bad nightmare ... I am heartbroken."

While he wasn't at La Salette yesterday, Michael Tremblay of New Bedford knows well the importance of the shrine to residents. His family has visited frequently and he has volunteered there for 10 years.

The fire "is going to have a really major effect," he said, noting he has taken numerous youth groups to the building. Typically, it was used for its chapel, retreats and a big summer fair, he said.

The Castle also housed a school and the order's provincial office, records, library and archives.

"All records are gone. People came out of the building with their lives but that's about all there is," said Father John Gabriel, at La Salette for the past year. "Right now, we are kind of numb ... We are grateful that 21 lives were rescued ..."

Attleboro Fire Chief Ronald Churchill said firefighters spotted the badly burned body of the sole victim kneeling in his third-floor room. But they were unable to save him before the building began collapsing around them.

The 4 a.m. blaze is believed to have started in his room; he was not identified pending notification of next of kin.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials said they believe it was accidental. Firefighters from some dozen communities including Fairhaven and Westport fought the blaze. But 15 or 20 minutes into the battle, they were hampered by low water pressure, said Attleboro Fire Capt. William LaPlume.

The trucks carry only 800 to 1,000 gallons apiece and the one hydrant on the grounds had low water pressure. Firefighters had to run the hoses 1,000 to 2,000 feet to hydrants at the road to get enough water.

The delay was costly and the fire progressed too quickly to be stopped, Chief LaPlume said.

Fourteen members of the LaSalette order lived on the building's first floor. "The Sabbath Program," a national renewal program for clergy, was located on the third floor; the cleric who perished was among those enrolled.

Of those who escaped the deadly fire, many fled with little more than the clothes on their backs.

The Rev. Andre Patenaude, an 11-year resident of the building, said he was alerted by warning cries of other residents. He ran down several flights of stairs to safety.

"I heard someone scream, 'Fire! Fire! Fire!' When I got out of my room, I smelled smoke," said Rev. Patenaude. "I just can't believe . . . the whole thing is gone. It's just devastating."

The Rev. Dennis Loomis, the head of the local branch of the order, said he was awakened from his second-floor bedroom by the sound of the building's fire alarms. He then saw flames shooting from the third floor of the stone mansion.

Some residents had tried to douse the flames with fire extinguishers before realizing the fire was too strong, Rev. Loomis said.

"At first, when we were all standing outside, we thought the Fire Department was going to put it out quickly, but we didn't realize that it had gotten into the ceiling," Rev. Loomis said.

The ornate woodwork inside the former sanitarium -- along with the network of small rooms that once housed patients -- created difficult conditions for firefighters.

Attleboro's LaSalette Shrine is the site of one of America's largest holiday season outdoor light displays. Some lights had already been put up on the Castle, but they were scorched and twisted by the fire.

The order plans to go ahead with the traditional display this year despite the loss of the Provincial House, Rev. Loomis said.

The Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette is a Catholic order of priests and brothers with about 900 members worldwide.

The faithful of the order believe the Virgin Mary appeared to children in LaSalette, France, in 1846. Some missionaries came to the United States from France in 1892 and settled in Hartford, Conn.

The order bought the Attleboro property in 1942 and priests established the shrine to host pilgrimages for people who could not go to France.

The Castle "had a special feeling," said Carol Landry, 59, of North Attleboro, a certified nurse assistant, who visited in the aftermath of the fire. She said that despite the tragedy, she is sure that spirit will endure.

"The La Salettes will go on with their mission," she said. Manuela Da Costa-Fernandes contributed to this report.

- See more at: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19991106/News/311069999#sthash.bM97LukB.dpuf

The La Salette
            Rises
                From
                  The
                    Ashes...         

LaSalette

 Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:00 am

 BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF |2 comments

 A raging fire that consumed the LaSalette Shrine provincial house in Attleboro 10 years ago

  today closed a chapter in the history of the national shrine, but also opened a period of   

 renewal that continues to unfold.

On Nov. 5, 1999, flames broke out in a room on the third floor of the majestic, three-story Romanesque revival structure known as The Castle. Within minutes, the blaze had spread to the attic and quickly consumed the 100-year-old former health sanatorium.

A visiting English priest, Paul O'Brien, perished in the flames.

"When I got there, there were flames coming from one window," said Fire Chief Ronald Churchill, who was among firefighters who went inside the building to check for occupants. "When I came back out, no more than 15 minutes later, the whole roof was going from one end to the other."

Rescuers found the body of O'Brien, but were unable to reach him because of the heat and fire. At least 20 other occupants managed to evacuate safely. 

Churchill said flames spread to the attic through a system of ventilation ducts.

The fast-moving blaze, helped along because the antique building did not have sprinklers or other modern features, left the building a total loss. It also left a major void in the city's history.

Marian Wrightington, chairwoman of the Attleboro Historical Commission, said the building had a storied past and was well known to generations of pilgrims who made their way to the National Shrine for religious retreats or to visit the annual 300,000-bulb Christmas lighting display. "It was very impressive to a child who grew up with that image," Wrightington said. "When we lost that, we lost a part of Attleboro." Churchill, who rates the massive fire as the most spectacular blaze of any in the past 10 years, remembers that mutual aid was provided by a number of communities.

Some brought tank trucks and drafted water out of a pond to supplement low water pressure in mains on the shrine property.

The ruins proved an impractical foundation for rebuilding and eventually the skeletal remains of the building were demolished. The 300,000-square-foot ediface, which had been used for religious purposes since the 1940s, was opened in 1903 as the Solomon Sanitarium as a rest center and health resort for people who came to partake of the area's mineral spring water. But founder James Solomon, always beset by financial uncertainty, was forced to sell the building and the 256-acre property to the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The Michigan-based company operated the spa beginning in 1908, before passing it on to the Methodist Church.

The LaSalette missionary religious order purchased the building, along with its, by then, 135 acres in 1942 for use as a seminary. The annual Christmastime illuminations, featuring thousands of electric light bulbs, an international crèche display and other attractions began in 1953. Even before the fire, however, LaSalette had laid the groundwork to add new buildings and programs intended for worship and the renewal of religious faith.

In 1998, the shrine broke ground for a new, $2.5 million shrine church.

In 2007, construction began on a new visitor center including a 600-seat auditorium.

Just as it had been before the fire, the National Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette remains an iconic destination for worshippers and those who come to attend the lighting display and cultural attractions hosted there.

  BEFORE FIRE... 

DURING FIRE...

We Remember...

 November 5, 1999...                  

                         ... With A Silent Prayer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f51n-yb11dY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6tVReXsioM

  " On Our Journey through Life"

Father Pat, M.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shhT38payjQ

 

Do you pray well, my children?

Pray the Rosary Daily!