They endured a close call from the Eaton fire but now, as a religious institution on the mend, they plan to worship and take the opportunity to help and inspire those in the community who are suffering.

Members of the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre on Jan. 7 saw the fire heading toward them from a hill near Bailey Canyon.

“We were having a dinner and we had about 60 people hosted in our retreat” when they received a fire alert, said father Febin Barose, retreat center director and CEO.

“I looked through the window and I saw a glow far away and smoke and I said, ‘We may need to evacuate,’ ” he recalled.

Extreme winds were gusting and the power went out, so everyone pitched in, grabbing flashlights and getting the staff and guests together. Within 20 minutes the distant glow and smoke turned into flames that were quickly advancing toward the center.

“It was very hard because we had elderly people in there and we could not use the elevator,” Barose said. “Then we had only a small window of time and we gathered what we could. I grabbed my computer and Bible. That’s all that I gathered. We only had about five or six minutes before we got out.

“That speed at which the fire was coming in just amazed me.”

Janet Selinske, director of facility operations, was at home in Pasadena when she heard about the fire. She drove to the center as fast as she could.

“I could see the flames on the mountainside above Pasadena High School,” she said, “and let father Febin know that this was bad.”

When she got to the center, the staffers were evacuating everyone.

“After making sure all guests, staff and our Passionist community were safely evacuated, we left, praying that God would keep our beautiful retreat center safe,” Selinske said, “and thankful that everyone was out safely.”

Executive chef Ricardo Solda told Barose the center’s cars were in the path of destruction near the hill. Following his lead, they raced back and moved the vehicles to the parking area where they escaped damage.

As the fire approached the property Barose photographed a stunning statue of Jesus on the hillside with the flames rising behind it.

The next morning, he said, “the property looked like a war zone,” with the hermitage, employee apartments and garage burned to the ground. After they fled, firefighters arrived and saved the main building, administrative offices, kitchen and dining room.

“I felt like God threw his arms around our main building to protect it,” Barose said, expressing heartfelt thanks to the firefighters. “It was a miracle.

“We had significant damage,” he said, but not as much as “Altadena has (suffered), or what the fire has done to other people.”

Father Clemente Barron, local superior, said Mater Dolorosa has faced adversity throughout its 100-year history. After the Eaton fire, he said, “We’ve heard from many of the people we serve, all praying for us.”

The tragedy in Altadena, where 17 people died in the fire, “asked us to put our faith and hope in the future, and whatever was going to happen, we were going to face it with the courage and hope of going forward,” Barron said, “The hope is that as soon as we are able to get this restoration done, we will continue with our mission and ministry.”

Now the cleanup has commenced.

“We are all working as a team to run our ministry as soon as possible,” Barose said.

Solda made clear that he would do anything to help Mater Dolorosa.

“This retreat center is like my second home,” he said. “I sincerely pray the retreat center has a swift recovery and returns to normal activity, so together the staff at Mater Dolorosa and I will be able to start helping the community affected by fire.”