WASHINGTON, Mo. – A special prayer was held at a church in Washington, Missouri, on Tuesday to honor the victims of the Nashville school shooting.
A 9-year-old girl, Evelyn Dieckhaus, is one of the three students killed in the shooting, and the mass held at St. Francis Borgia was to show support for her family. Her grandparents attend church at St. Francis Borgia, and the community packed the church to show their support.
“This story is just being repeated how many times over, and the need that those folks have of support to pray for them is just so much,” said Father Mike Boehm.
He never expected tragedy could strike his parish in this way, and said the mass is to show support for the Dieckhaus family.
“They’re just great people, and they’ve been around here for many years and have lots of friends,” Boehm said. “So a ton of support in this area and this community. From this parish in particular.”
He said early Tuesday he made the decision to turn the regular Tuesday night Lenten service into the special mass.
“This mass normally has about 20 people attending. So you can see the difference right there,” Boehm said. “The outpouring of the community for tonight in prayer because this is what we can do right now in the immediate time is awesome.”
He said he can’t remember if he’s met Dieckhaus, but he is praying for her family and all of the victims of the Covenant school shooting.
“Our whole focus is to bring some good out of bad. So when people are down and they’re hurting,” Boehm said. “The support that we bring is so good and so helpful, and that’s what I would like people to do.”