When it is time for Wednesday Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church, students from the school next door file into the front pews and settle in with their assigned buddies from different grades. Middle schoolers might sit with first graders, fifth graders with third graders.
It is a sacred, if ordinary, part of the rhythm at Annunciation in Minneapolis, where children practice for their turn to read Scripture or to be part of the choir during their grade’s week to help lead the Mass.
“You feel important as a second grader, going up in front of your school and doing a reading,” said Conor O’Rourke, 23, who attended Annunciation Catholic School from kindergarten through eighth grade.
That tradition was shattered this week, during the first Wednesday Mass of the school year, when a shooter fired into the service during the recitation of Psalm 139. The attack killed two students and left 18 people injured. At least one student, who was shot in the back, used his body to protect another child.
“You have searched me and you know me, Lord,” the day’s psalm says in part. “For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day.”
The shooting has brought a tragic spotlight to a busy urban parish that much preferred being locally famous for its Wiffle ball field and its annual SeptemberFest. And it has pushed into action a support network at the church that, one member said, had long functioned as a sort of small town within Minneapolis.
“It’s a large American city, but it’s a very tight-knit community,” said Duane Passa, who has three children at the school, and who volunteers as a coach and a fantasy football league organizer for students. “I know a majority of the kids in this school by first name, as well as their parents.”
Annunciation has remained lively even as other urban parishes in the area and across the country have withered, merged or closed. Recent church bulletins promote offerings like a new aluminum can recycling program, a blood drive and the upcoming Blessing of the Animals, a tradition in which families bring their pets for an outdoor blessing.
The church’s stone and stained-glass facade sits alongside a busy street next to the school, with signs extolling the benefits of rain gardens and inviting parents to enroll their students. Just across the road, a Starbucks fills with schoolchildren and parents before and after classes.
The congregation was made up of people living “simple, but simply profound, lives,” said Shannon Smith, a parishioner for about 20 years whose four children graduated from Annunciation Catholic School.
The school draws children from families in the parish, but also from families who are part of other congregations in the neighborhood.
“It’s people who are interested in moral formation and in their kids being in church,” said Andy Rowell, a professor at the evangelical Bethel Seminary whose wife is the pastor of a Baptist church a few blocks from Annunciation. “This is a sort of idyllic little part of the city.”
The church’s annual SeptemberFest party, which started as a parish anniversary celebration, now draws large crowds from the neighborhood for a carnival, games, music and food. The church’s bells, which sound throughout the day, are part of the soundtrack of South Minneapolis. Annunciation even hosts indoor baseball practices in April, when Minnesota’s persistent winters make outdoor conditions unpredictable.
“It’s more than a civic organization,” said Jeff Cavins, a Catholic author and podcaster who lives in the Twin Cities area, and who attended church at Annunciation as a child. “This really is family, and it’s at times like this that we come to this realization, that there’s a solidarity and a love that transcends regular living.”
Shawn Olson, an architectural designer who lives about a mile from Annunciation, and whose children have played many a Wiffle ball game there, said he saw that love on display on Wednesday as he was driving by after the shooting.
He described seeing a large group of children “all huddled together like penguins do in the Antarctic, you know, with their heads down and all jammed together.” Teachers hovered over them, he said, covering them with their arms like mother birds.
“And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, these people would do anything to protect these kids,’” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing, but they were so scared.”
The assailant’s motive is unclear, but a social media account associated with the attacker contains videos of diary entries that include a drawing of the church’s sanctuary. The shooter’s mother worked in the business office of the church for five years before retiring in 2021. The F.B.I. is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics, Kash Patel, the agency’s director, said on Wednesday.
The parish celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022, and the centennial of the school a year later. The school was led by four Dominican sisters when it opened, according to the parish’s website. The first year, 72 students were enrolled.
Kenzie Huyen, 23, who went to Annunciation School through eighth grade, said she has remained in touch with friends from those days even as she moved to New York and started her career as a teacher.
“I didn’t really realize how lucky I was until I kind of grew up and left and you have to create that community yourself,” Ms. Huyen said. “You just feel celebrated when you’re there,” she added. Ms. Huyen happened to be visiting home on Wednesday. She heard the sirens racing toward her old school and the helicopters buzzing overhead.
The last few years have been a time of transition at the church and the school, both of which have welcomed new leaders. Father Dennis Zehren became the parish’s pastor in July, moving into the 102-year-old rectory on the church grounds.
“All of us at the school and church will enjoy praying together and learning together,” Father Zehren wrote in the church bulletin distributed last weekend, just ahead of the first day of classes. “Let the school bells ring!”
A few nights later, members of his church and others from the region had gathered at a Catholic high school in nearby Richfield, Minn., crowding into the gymnasium as they tried to process the unthinkable.
As they prepared to leave, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis and St. Paul offered a prayer. “Lord, as we mourn the sudden death of our children, show us the immense power of your goodness,” he said. “Strengthen our belief that they have entered into your presence.”
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
Ruth Graham is a national reporter, based in Dallas, covering religion, faith and values for The Times.
The post The Shattering of Wednesday Mass: Minnesota Parish Reels From Attack appeared first on New York Times.
