Blue Mass to honor Stanislaus County first-responders

Hundreds of emergency personnel from across Stanislaus County are expected to converge Saturday on St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Modesto, but they’ll be there for prayer rather than plight.

The 12th annual Blue Mass will be celebrated, honoring all first-responders in the region – police, fire, sheriff, FBI, CHP, EMT and other emergency personnel.

The interfaith event is sponsored by St. Joseph’s Knights of Columbus, with parish pastor Father Mark Wagner presiding. Other speakers will include Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson and Modesto Fire Chief Sean Slamon.

“We believe it is necessary to acknowledge our first-responders in a more formal fashion,” Mike Glendon, grand knight of the St. Joseph’s Council of the Knights of Columbus, said in an email interview. “They make our community safer through their service. Many of them quietly put their lives on the line for us and we are honored to be able to show our appreciation in this fashion.”

The Mass also will honor those who have died in the line of duty – particularly poignant given recent attacks on police officers across the country.

“Across the nation, ambushes of police officers have increased in the last five years,” Carroll said in an email interview. “A couple that come to mind are the two officers who were killed in Las Vegas who were just eating lunch, the two New York officers who were recently ambushed and killed while sitting in their car and the most recent incident where LAPD officers were ambushed as they drove down the street on patrol. I commend and love every single person who puts on a uniform every day and goes out trying to make a difference in their community.”

Carroll said he is appreciative of the Knights of Columbus, St. Joseph’s and the community for their prayers.

“Shortly after the last Blue Mass the first year I was here, I was riding with Officer J. Torres and we walked in on an armed robbery at the Starbucks right across the street from the church,” Carroll said. “The suspect in that robbery was as surprised as we were. I am thankful that he chose to run away and we were able to safely apprehend him later, rather than having someone seriously hurt or killed that night. I believe having two officers together may have had some influence on the outcome, as well as that shield of protection that we were afforded that night, which caused that suspect not to use the weapon he was holding in his jacket pocket as we walked in. That is just one personal example of situations that our officers face on a regular basis.”

Slamon, who said he will talk about current events and the stresses the city’s firefighters face, sees the Mass as a positive way for the community and his department to come together. “It is nice to know that the community is thinking not only about the Fire Department but all first-responders – and they are watching over us, as we are watching over them,” he said.

Glendon said the Blue Mass was born from tradition and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., and on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

“Our council at St. Joseph’s started the Blue Mass after 9/11 as a way to show our appreciation to first-responders of Stanislaus County,” he said. “Its origin goes back to 1934. It first took place at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington, D.C. More than 1,000 police and firemen appeared in their dress blues.”

In the church parking lot, there will be several first-responder vehicles, which also will be blessed by Wagner, Glendon said. In addition to the men and women in uniform, several of their family members, as well as members of the public, traditionally attend.

The celebration will start with a procession after 9:30 a.m. of uniformed responders, a color guard and bagpipers who will proceed from Father O’Hare Hall, on the west end of the campus at 1813 Oakdale Road, to the church. Mass will begin at 10 a.m.

This story was originally published January 8, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Blue Mass to honor Stanislaus County first-responders."