BRUSSELS — Christmas Eve 2011 brought tragedy to many Blessed Trinity parishioners when the historic Immaculate Conception (St. Mary's) Church burned, but this Easter the mood is much brighter among the people in Brussels and Southern Calhoun County. Not only are parishioners celebrating the resurrection and the Easter season, but they are rejoicing about recently announced plans to rebuild their beloved St. Mary's.

A few weeks ago, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki told Father Don Roberts that he could go ahead with rebuilding the nearly 150-year-old church. Father Roberts, who serves as pastor to all of Calhoun County, says parishioners were naturally excited about the news and are anxious to move forward.

Calhoun County is divided into two parishes, St. Francis of Assisi Parish on the north and Blessed Trinity Parish on the south. "St. Mary's was the largest church in the south, where we now (until St. Mary's is rebuilt) have just two churches. We have three churches on the north and St. Anselm Church in Kampsville is the biggest church there," Father Roberts says. "It just so happens to be the year to have the (Paschal) triduum at St. Anselm Church."

Rebuilding St. Mary's will take time, Father Roberts says. Currently, only the exterior brick walls are standing; support poles have been installed as an extra precaution. "All the walls are there. There is some damage but the structural engineers we've talked with all said they are as strong as they've ever been," he says. "Right now we're getting final arrangements for clean-up and interviewing architects.

"The plan is to use those walls and retain the architecture that had been there. That pleases the people as well. We want to restore it to the nature of the architecture. It's a matter of helping the architect understand what we had and where we're hoping to go."

The fire started in the attic, so parishioners and town residents were able to quickly remove statuary, vessels, candlesticks and vestments that were stored for future use. "We took out everything that wasn't nailed down and were able to save all the statuary from the church," Father Roberts says. "We hope to use everything again once the building is restored."

Parishioners have gathered photos of the church's interior to share with architects. Trustees are ready to move forward with fund-raising efforts for costs that might not be covered by the insurance. "We're raising some money in case we need it," Father Roberts says.

Of course, the absence of a church causes sadness even though the place will be rebuilt. "There is kind of a heartache here," Father Roberts says. "We're coming up on a wedding that was supposed to be at St. Mary's, but now it will be at St. Joseph in Meppen. And we've had a few baptisms that would have been at St. Mary's.

"You know, there is an experience of great tragedy when any parish loses a church," says Father Roberts. "So naturally it's really good for everybody to hear we are going to be able to rebuild. But like I said, we're kind of on the ground floor with this right now. I know what we have to do, but I really don't know how long it is going to take."