Santa Ana church holds annual celebration despite fire

SANTA ANA, Calif.

They are devastated by the fire that caused so much destruction to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, but they are not letting it hamper their spirits.

There was an overflow of parishioners at Sunday's mass. They are also holding their annual celebration at the church, where the fire barely spared the sanctuary.

White tents have been erected alongside the church and the sanctuary will be used for their annual Feast Day of Guadalupe.

Many parishioners said it's difficult to see their place of worship in such a state.

"I think this is something that, it really broke my heart," said parishioner Perla Sura. "My family, my mom, she was crying the other day and I did too."

"From something from bad, God will do something nice, something good," said Father Alfredo de Dios. "And we are going to rebuild the church again."

The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. The church, which was built in 1938, was under construction and just days away from completion.

Sixty firefighters battled the flames. Investigators have ruled the fire to be accidental. However they aren't sure what sparked the blaze.

The church is asking for donations to help rebuild and they will also be holding fundraisers in the days to come.

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