When he delivered newspapers at the former St. Anthony Hospital on the Near East Side nearly a
century ago, Melvin Harris would pass the chapel, stopping to watch Catholic faithful gathered in
worship.He had been raised Baptist but was impressed by the solemnity of the Mass. He became hooked.
“I said, ‘This is for me,’” Harris said. “I’ve been a staunch Catholic ever since I was 12 years old. I’ve never wavered.”
Now 99, Harris attends Mass almost every day — either at St. Dominic Catholic Church on the Near East Side or at the Community of Holy Rosary and St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church about 2 miles away on the South Side.
On weekdays, he serves morning Mass for the Rev. Joshua Wagner, preparing the altar and serving wine during the Communion service.
“He is one of the happiest people I have ever met. We’ve talked about some of the crises in his life, and I know it’s his faith that has gotten him through that,” Wagner said. “He’s an inspiration to me.”
The priest posted a photo of himself and Harris on his Facebook page this summer, noting,
“Me and my buddy Melvin Harris. He serves Mass for me every day. He is 99+.”
The post, he said, received more than 250 “likes,” prompting Wagner to call it his “most-popular post ever.”
Harris had never been an altar server until a couple of years ago. He replaced his sister, Freda Gilchrist, 95, whose health kept her away.
Harris is there almost every weekday — except when he is pulled away by the lure of fishing at Hoover Dam or the Delaware Reservoir.
“Rain, shine, sleet, snow, he comes to Mass without fail,” said Wagner, who pastors both the St. Dominic congregation of about 225 families and the Holy Rosary and St. John congregation of about 150 families.
Harris attends Mass at St. Dominic on Sundays, usually wearing a suit and tie. But he’s no slouch at the weekday Masses, either. On Tuesday, he showed up in a neat sweater and a matching fedora.
He said he prefers the weekday services because fewer people attend, allowing them to discuss Bible readings and the like. “They’re like brothers and sisters, because you get to know them so well and you love them.”
Harris has lived on the Near East Side all of his life. His house for the past several decades is “only about a stone’s throw” from the house where he grew up.
He said his family’s neighbor there, Arabella Gilchrist, was a devout Catholic and that she is one of the reasons he converted to the faith.
Other members of his family also converted, including his parents, a brother and his sister, Freda, who married one of Gilchrist’s sons.
Over the years, Harris has buried a number of family members, including two wives and a son. A sister and a nephew live nearby, and a daughter lives in Indiana.
He attributes his longevity to eating right, never drinking alcohol and enjoying a great life.
He has visited Israel and Vatican City and always finds a church to attend when he travels.
He remembers when the Mass was celebrated in Latin and says changes over the years have been tolerable because they’ve come gradually.
He doesn’t fear God and likens him to an artist who paints a picture.
“I believe if God made me, God has to love me, because I’m part of his making.”
Along with serving Mass each day, he joins Wagner once a month to distribute Communion at the former St. Anthony — now Ohio State University Hospital East — the very place where he found Catholicism as a boy.
It’s his way of giving back.
“Church,” he said, “is my life.”