RELIGION AUBURN — The Rev. Michael Brown remembers his first time in Holy Family Church in 1982. Brown, then a softball-playing seminarian, was in Auburn for a weekend tournament.
He stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn and walked across the street to Holy Family for Sunday Mass. He arrived early, walking up the steps to the North Street church. As he entered, he was impressed by its beauty — the stained-glass windows, the pillars and even the indentations in the kneelers, which showed that many people had prayed before him.
"Little did I know at that time, 42 years later," Brown said in his homily at Mass Sunday evening, "I would be standing at this pulpit presiding at this very Mass." The Mass was the last held at Holy Family, Auburn's oldest Roman Catholic church that is closing after 163 years. Its abrupt closure follows an engineer's assessment that revealed "multiple significant concerns," the Rev.
Stephen Karani wrote in a letter to parishioners. There is damage to the church's roof and stone veneer — caution tape was used to cordon off an area outside where some of the veneer has already fallen off the building — and several loose windows. Inside, water damage was found on the walls of the church and in the staircase leading to the choir loft.
The other buildings on the Holy Family campus aren't in good shape. The rectory has loose slate falling from its roof and significant water damage. Black mold was found in several rooms, according to Karani.
Inside the fo.