BRISTOL — This past Wednesday, Sept 9, was the groundbreaking for what has become known as the “Stairway to Heaven” project at St Mary’s Church in Bristol—the construction of a new staircase at the front of the church. Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., joined Father Henry P. Zinno, Jr., the pastor of both St. Mary’s and the nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, to offer a blessing and participate in the groundbreaking ceremony.
Construction is expected to be completed by Christmas, although Father Zinno notes that the project has already experienced unexpected blessings, including the donation of nearly half a million dollars from two anonymous benefactors.
“We have a very vibrant, engaged, and generous congregation,” said Father Zinno. “I didn’t even have to ask for donations. As soon as they heard that a full renovation was going to be needed on the staircase, they came forward and offered to help make this possible.”
The stairs in question are located at the entryway to the church and have been badly showing their age after more than a century of welcoming local Catholics.
“This is one of the older parishes in the diocese,” said Father Zinno. “It was founded in 1855, although baptismal records indicate that there was a mission church in the area as far back as 1811.”
The church constructed in 1855 was a simple wooden affair with a seating capacity of only 500. As Bristol’s Catholic population started to swell over the late 19th century, they decided to be a bit more ambitious in designing the replacement, building a Gothic Revival masterpiece which has been admired by Catholics throughout the diocese.
Constructed in stages from 1911 to 1927, the church was reputedly inspired by the Sainte Chappelle in Paris. The vivid colors of the Munich Style-stained glass cast a radiant kaleidoscope of light onto the church’s marble and stonework, including the exquisite baldachin that stands over the altar.
“It’s a beautiful church,” said Father Zinno. “It makes you wonder how the small immigrant community who were the first parishioners were able to afford to build something this spectacular.”
Although the interior of the church is very well-preserved, the rainy and snowy climate of New England is not always friendly to exterior architecture, and 110 years of frequent footsteps and exposure to the elements seems to have taken a heavy toll on St. Mary’s stairs.
“We wanted to make sure that the outside of the church was preserved just as well as the inside,” says St. Mary’s parishioner and trustee Jim Kearney. “The parishioners that built this church back in 1911 were looking ahead to today and counting on us to do this work and maintain our church so that it will still be here in another hundred years from today, after two or three more generations of Catholics have come and gone.”
Both Kearney and Father Zinno mentioned that the parish has been looking to fix the stairs for a while now.
“When I was first assigned to St. Mary’s in 2023, it became very apparent that we would need to take on this major project of replacing the stairs,” said Father Zinno. “We believe that the stairs probably date back to the original construction since we haven’t located any evidence to suggest that they were replaced. The damage isn’t something that we were going to be able to just patch up. It’s something that needs to be done once, done right, and done forever.”
The stairs will be replaced by a flight that resembles the original steps, but with added features in what Father Zinno describes as a “new old design.”
“They are still going to be very steep, like the original staircase, but easier to climb, with a sturdy rail that has lights on it for increased visibility. We are also discussing the possibility of installing a heating system in the stairs to protect them from freezing and prevent anyone from slipping and falling in the winter months.”
The first stage in the project, demolition, will take place next week. Father Zinno reports that the parishioners are excited for the renovation, noting that the stairs “had been in disrepair for a while and needed some tender loving care.”
Among the 60 parishioners who attended the groundbreaking ceremony were a number of students from nearby Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School whose families belong to the parish.
“This is a good moment for them to remember,” said Father Zinno. “These stairs will play a role in the rest of their life at this church. They are the same stairs that brides will walk up and that caskets will be carried down.”
Although naturally not an actual “Stairway to Heaven,” Father Zinno notes that the steps of our parishes do play a meaningful background role in our spiritual lives, being the way we physically enter into our place of worship.
“When these are complete, it will be a wonderful way to begin the whole prayer experience with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, ascending to the heights of the Divine.”
