Fire breaks out inside church in Corona, Queens, hours before Sunday mass

CORONA (WABC) -- Father Thomas Healy was overwhelmed with tears upon seeing what was left of his beloved parish where he spent the past 25 years.

For decades, Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church has been a home away from home for thousands of immigrants in Corona, Queens, but that safe haven was invaded early Sunday morning by a vicious fire that took more than a hundred firefighters to put out.

Surrounded by his congregation, Father Thomas recited several Hail Mary's and offered words of hope and encouragement. This particular Sunday, they were preparing to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Kings before the disaster took place.

"This parish we have 9,000 people coming here on Sunday, can you imagine that? And they're all coming because this is home, and this is their house that just burned down," said Father Thomas.

Longtime church members say it is hard to put into words what a tremendous loss like this means to the surrounding community.

"The community is really sad, you know it's a church that helped the community - it's not gonna be the same, I mean I got teary eyes - I can't believe it. I had to come and see it for myself," said churchgoer David Valerio.

However, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, and many members say they have faith Our Lady of Sorrows will rise again.

Unfortunately, all eight masses scheduled for Sunday were cancelled, but there is some discussion of continuing.

Over 100 firefighters and 25 units responded to the scene, and injuries were reported.

Preliminary indications are that the fire started in a balcony.