On December 2, 1938, Father Patrick J. Moran became the fourth priest at Susanville’s Sacred Heart Church. A dynamic figure, he would leave an indelible mark over the next twenty-eight years.
Father Moran’s first crusade would be a vigorous campaign to raise funds to build a new church to replace the existing church that had been built in 1892. The existing church could no longer accommodate a flourishing parish.
Another problem with the old church it was cold and drafty in the winter months—with its only source of heat and ornate pot-belly wood stove.
After Moran’s first winter, enough was enough. Father Moran had the following notice published in the Lassen Advocate on November 26, 1940: “That weekday Masses will be celebrated each morning at the parish house during the cold months as it is impractical and unnecessary to heat the church each morning for the services. However, Sunday services would be held in the church.”
It would not be until 1949, when the new church was completed.