MARYSVILLE, Ohio — It’s safe to say that nearly everyone who attended Mass at the Ohio Reformatory for Women two days before Christmas would rather have been preparing for the birth of the Savior elsewhere.
It’s difficult to be merry and bright during the holiday season while separated from family and friends. But for some of the women who participated in the pre-Christmas Mass celebrated for the third consecutive year by Bishop Earl Fernandes, the opportunity to come together as a community brought some joy to their world.
“In here, Christmas is what you make it,” one of the women said after Mass. “It can be the darkest, saddest, miserable, most depressing time, or it can be full of …
“My Christmas last year was really dark. It was really sad. And I came last year and went through the motions, but this year … I feel a little better.”
The morning Mass on Tuesday, Dec. 23 in the Religious and Recovery Services (R&R) building at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) attracted a crowd of approximately 150 women – a majority of whom are not Catholic – along with ORW staff and members of the Order of Malta, who actively engage in prison ministry.
Bishop Fernandes was joined at the altar by Father Joseph Trapp, ORW’s Catholic chaplain and the pastor at Plain City St. Joseph Church, and assisted by diocesan seminarians. He celebrated the evening Mass for the Nativity of the Lord.
In anticipation of the bishop’s entrance at the start of Mass, the large room was noticeably quiet after the singing of several traditional Christmas hymns. When it was time for the opening procession, the congregation joined in the singing of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” while women carrying the cross and serving as lectors approached the altar ahead of the seminarians, Father Trapp and Bishop Fernandes.
“We are celebrating at Christmas that God came down from heaven so that we might go up to heaven,” Bishop Fernandes said later in his homily. “God came down from heaven to rid the world of all that misery and suffering and all that violence and sickness to bring healing and peace to our world. …
“But when God came down from heaven … he did not come in power and majesty to make us tremble before Him in fear. He came as a child.”
The bishop’s Christmas message continued with words of encouragement for the women.
“How powerful is the love of the Child Jesus for each and every one of us,” Bishop Fernandes said. “Who could not be moved by His immense love? And so, this Christmas, I invite you to be embraced by mercy and love itself by Jesus.
“It’s not so much about what we have to do. People make all kinds of good resolutions. I would simply say, open your heart to Jesus. Open your heart to this child and let him be at work in you. Let His life, which He wants to share with you, be at work because this is the most powerful force in the whole world, the power of God’s love.”
Bishop Fernandes reminded the women that they are loved by God and not forgotten by society while reflecting on the first reading from Isaiah that the Lord came to free his people from the burden of death and sin.
“God does not abandon you,” he said. “He comes to bring you Good News that He has given you His beloved son to be your savior, who is Christ the Lord. …
“God came down from heaven to bring peace. You are called to be instruments of that peace. You are called to love your neighbor because you have first been loved by God.
“The manger scene, which we will bless, helps us visualize that love of God every time we pass by.”
Near the end of Mass, Bishop Fernandes was presented a basket of hand-crafted polymer clay gifts from the women at ORW. Afterward, he greeted some of the women in attendance and posed for pictures during a reception.
Rebecca Tice, who led the Responsorial Psalm during Mass, expressed her gratitude for the bishop’s presence. She said she was given a special pass from her job at ORW that allowed her to attend.
“He is awesome and we’re so blessed that he comes her for us,” she said of Bishop Fernandes. “It’s a light in a dark world.
“Probably twice, maybe three times more (women) were here this year than last year. Even if you’re not Catholic, hopefully they take something back, and that everybody received (the graces) they needed. …
“You can let (Christmastime) be dark or you can decide that it’s one of the highlights that we’re allowed here. It was a highlight for me. It’s a time to lift people, love your neighbor. I mean, look how much love He pours on us.”
Heidi Schmidt, who led the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass, said the bishop’s visit “gives us hope. He brings a different perspective. It’s an honor to be here and have Mass with him.”
After arriving at ORW in 2024, she said she has made positive strides in her faith. She was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school in Michigan.
“I’m so thankful I’m incarcerated and my family would tell you the same thing,” she said. “This past year I’ve been progressing with my faith and was reunited with my family. I think this has brought us back together. … They believe in me.”
Being away from her five-year-old son is difficult at Christmas, she said, “but I know there is light and hope at the end of the tunnel. I’m a far better person now with a better mindset.
“Yes, it gets hard. Everyone misses their family, sure, but the amount of people that came here today was big. So that’s hopeful, and they came to the right place.”
Also attending the Mass were several volunteers who come to ORW on Sunday afternoons to pray the rosary with the women.
“My rosary group was the first people I showed a picture of my son after I saw him for the first time after 2 ½ years,” Schmidt said. “We can talk about things we can’t talk about in the general population.”
The Christmas Mass and the bishop’s presence served as a reminder for the women at the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Hope that there is hope for everyone.
“It’s easy to feel forgotten in prison,” one of the women said. “You know, out of sight, out of mind. But the bishop doesn’t forget us, and the Catholic Church doesn’t forget us.
“A lot of what the Church does revolves around people who are incarcerated and people who are like society’s castaways. It’s a blessing how much the Catholic community in here helps you – the women who come in for the rosary and the women in here who were my first friends.
“When I got here, I was so broken, so lost. But when I discovered they offered Catholic Mass, it was something that was familiar, that I could do. They welcomed me with open arms and it was the first thing I did to try to feel normal again – and I’m really grateful for that.”
