The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish were stunned by the wondrous sight inside the burned out shell of Holy Cross Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe what I\u2019m seeing,\u201d said Sam Arlotta, a parishioner for all of his 86 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilagro!\u201d added Cecilia Calderon, using the Spanish word for miracle. \u201cGod loves us very much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing on Jackson Street in the city\u2019s Northside neighborhood, they gazed through a fence and the open front doors at the heavy, 10-foot-tall, Italian-made gilded wooden crucifix that somehow survived the four-alarm fire Sunday afternoon. Like Arlotta and Calderon, Mantovani figured the crucifix and everything else inside the century-old church had been incinerated.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s important as a sign that the church should be rebuilt,\u201d Mantovani said. \u201cBut a miracle? That is a question of semantics. It is a miracle, but it was also a real possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Jose fire Battalion Chief Richard Toledo couldn\u2019t explain it either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could tell you,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was open to all of the elements \u2014 the fire and smoke and the collapsing roof, and yet it\u2019s there in almost perfect shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
What started the blaze is unknown, but fire officials suspect it ignited near the organ. Though fire department spokesman Capt. Reggie Williams said the church was salvageable, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of San Jose said that no decision had been made yet on whether it would be rebuilt.<\/p>\n
To remove the crucifix, Toledo called in a crew trained to use ropes in rescue situations. As the pastor and parishioners watched from the street, a half dozen firefighters carefully probed the charred beams holding up the cross. The day before, about 20 firefighters had battled the blaze from inside before making a hasty retreat.<\/p>\n
Monday, a lone firefighter lowered a special rope from a tall fire engine ladder into the gaping hole above the altar and crucifix. Firefighters below carefully fastened the rope around the arms of the image of Jesus nailed to a cross and guided the crucifix upward as the engine pulled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read the rest and see more pictures.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish were stunned by the wondrous sight inside the burned out shell of Holy Cross Catholic Church. \u201cI can\u2019t believe what I\u2019m seeing,\u201d said Sam Arlotta, a parishioner for all of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,45,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-20T11:38:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T19:42:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2014\/11\/SJM-HOLYCROSS-1118-23-L-575x395.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/\",\"name\":\"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-20T11:38:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T19:42:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact","description":"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact","og_description":"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2014-11-20T11:38:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T19:42:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2014\/11\/SJM-HOLYCROSS-1118-23-L-575x395.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/","name":"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-20T11:38:46+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T19:42:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"Photo: Gary Reyes \/ Bay Area News Group Details: The morning after the spectacular fire, the Rev. Firmo Mantovani and bleary-eyed members of his parish","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/miracle-church-destroyed-by-fire-but-crucifix-is-discovered-intact\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Miracle? Fire destroys church, but crucifix is discovered intact"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"SJM-HOLYCROSS-1118-23-L\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/56\/2014\/11\/SJM-HOLYCROSS-1118-23-L.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n