HAZLETON – For more than a century, Catholics walked through the doors of Our Lady of Grace Church in Hazleton to grow in their faith.
Over its history, thousands of children were baptized, received First Holy Communion and Confirmation in the church, while weddings were celebrated beneath its soaring arches, and funerals brought together loved ones to pray for those who died.
On Sunday afternoon, Aug. 2, 2026, those same doors closed for the final time.
A standing room-only crowd, filled with hundreds of parishioners and former parishioners filled Our Lady of Grace Church for a Closing Mass that brought together memories spanning more than 115 years of faith.
“It is, in fact, the most difficult moment in my 27 years of priestly ministry,” Father Anthony Generose, Pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish, told the faithful at the start of his homily for the Closing Mass. “Recently, someone asked me if I’m feeling sad. Yes, I’m feeling the sorrow of one in mourning.”
Father Generose acknowledged the profound grief many parishioners have experienced throughout the past year as they prepared for the church’s closure.
“I mourn with others among us or over those whose very reference to life as an individual and as a family are deeply rooted in this sanctuary,” he said. “How often I have heard in this last year and a half, ‘I lived up the street from this church all my life,’ or ‘I received all my sacraments from here,’ or ‘This just breaks my heart.’”
While recognizing the sadness of the day, Father Generose encouraged parishioners not to lose sight of the hope found in Jesus Christ.
“There is hope,” he said. “Without Christ, this church would not have been a place of grace and holiness.”
Reminding those gathered that they don’t go to Mass because of a building or priest – but because of Jesus – Father Generose emphasized that God’s grace continues wherever the faithful gather to celebrate the Eucharist.
The closing of Our Lady of Grace Church follows more than a year of consultation and discernment that began after the July 2025 consolidation of Most Precious Blood Parish and Queen of Heaven Parish into the newly established Our Lady of Peace Parish. Throughout that process, parish leaders evaluated financial data, demographic trends, sacramental activity and the long-term condition of parish facilities.
Among the most significant findings was an independent facility assessment estimating that Our Lady of Grace Church would require more than $3.6 million in repairs over the coming years, including nearly $2.5 million in immediate needs. At the same time, changing demographics within Hazleton have reshaped the pastoral needs of the community. While the city’s growing Hispanic Catholic population has outgrown the available space at Our Lady of Grace and will now worship at Saints Cyril and Methodius Parish, participation among the church’s English-speaking community has steadily declined.
For many people who attended the Closing Mass, it marked the end of a deeply personal chapter in their faith lives.
“It was very emotional,” Robert Umbriac, whose family connection to the church stretches back to its construction.
Umbriac, who now lives in Danville, recalled that his grandfather was among several men who placed their homes up as collateral to help finance the church’s construction in the early 1900s.
“He was the father of 15 children, and he still put the house up as collateral,” Umbriac said. “I was baptized in that church. I made my First Communion in that church.”
His wife, Mary Susan, reflected on attending kindergarten at the parish school and how those early years shaped her faith.
“It solidified my Catholic faith, even back when I was just five years old,” she said. “I hope the church’s legacy lives on. This world really needs God right now.”
Following the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the priests and deacons in attendance, numbering more than a dozen in all, recited special prayers over many parts of the church.
Everyone in attendance was then invited to approach and venerate the altar by touching or kissing it or offering a final prayer. Afterward, the deacon locked the church doors for the final time the church’s long-time sacristan tied a bow across the doors.
Although worship at Our Lady of Grace Church has come to an end, Father Generose said its spirit will continue to live on through the people whose faith was formed within its walls.
One specific example of this took place on the weekend following the closure. Our Lady of Peace Parish at Most Precious Blood Church renamed its annual festival which marked its 127th anniversary this year.
“We’re bringing along the saints that were mentioned in the final prayers, Saint Mauro, which is Our Lady of Grace’s patronal saint, and Saint Nazarius and Saint Aniello, who belonged to the other Italian parishes that closed in 2009 and came here. Since they’re all from the same region of Italy, now we’re calling it the ‘Madonna del Monte & Saints of Cilento Festival.”