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Night Fire: Evangelizing through the beauty of the Eucharist

More than 50 volunteers gathered outside of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine on Sept. 17 to invite visitors to the ancient city to come inside for Night Fire, a prayer event designed to evangelize non-Catholics with the beauty of the church and the Eucharist.

Father Mac Hill, parochial vicar for the Cathedral Basilica, said Night Fire is an opportunity to reach anyone and everyone in a way that is casual and encouraging.

“The Blessed Sacrament is exposed, meditative music is sung and street missionaries invite people passing by on St. George Street to come in, light a candle and say a prayer,” he said.  “It’s as simple as that.”

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Federal Contract Employees Protest Against COVID Vaccine Mandate

On Oct. 21, Northrop Grumman employees, their families, and supporters protested in front of their St. Augustine location. The aerospace and defense technology company, as a federal contractor with more than 100 employees, is required to have their employees fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the Biden administration. They gave their employees until Dec. 8 to get the vaccine or be put on unpaid leave. 
Protestors say that they have the freedom of choice to decide to get the vaccine or not. Tom, 60, carrying a flag that says “F__k Biden,” is a retired employee of Northrop and has been vaccinated against COVID. “It’s not about the vaccine, it’s about not being forced to get it,” Says Tom. “And why should you lose your job because you don’t want to be vaccinated? That’s ridiculous.”

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Humans of St. Augustine

David

I’m from here, St. Augustine. I was born and raised here. Right now it’s slow here with everybody going back to school, all the college kids are going back to school so it’s slow around here. But I survive. I need about $25, $30 a day and I’m good. Because it’s expensive to eat downtown and I’m not eating McDonald’s. I don’t like McDonald’s, the only time I’ll eat it is if somebody hands it to me. I’m not going there to buy it. 

I’ve got manic bipolar and I’ve got PTSD. I guess, because I’ve learned to deal with it, when people ask me about it and everything, I’ll talk about it. I was sleeping on the USS Cole and the next thing I know, I’m on the ground and all hell breaks loose. And we got 17 stars on the ship. It was the Al-Qaida, yeah, it was a branch of them. They caught all the guys who did it and they brutally murdered them. Yeah, they went to trial and everything and they got brutally murdered. And then not even a year later 9/11 happened. We got bombed in October of 2000 at 5:12 in the morning. It could have been a lot worse.

The VA could put me in a house but, I’d have to go to Jacksonville or Gainesville. I’m not living in either one of them. Because they want to put me in the middle of the most dangerous part of Jacksonville. Okay. I’m not racist by any means, but I am the way wrong color to be there. My buddy did it and five days later, he got shot eight times for the $10 in his pocket.  

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Photo Story: Coronation of Our Lady of La Leche

On October 10, thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Augustine for the coronation of Our Lady of La Leche. Pope Francis sent a papal legate, Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid, to crown the image of the Virgin Mary.

  • A woman and child pray at the newly opened rosary garden at the National Shrine of Our Lady of la Leche. The Diocese held a youth and family night the day before the coronation on Oct. 9 which included several guided rosaries, a talk, and adoration with praise and worship.
  • The Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, S.H.M., lead a rosary with music in front of a depiction of Our Lady of La Leche in the rosary garden. The sisters along with priests from Spain helped coordinate the events on Oct. 9.
  • Sr. Kira, S.H.M. takes photos of the rosary procession on Oct. 9. The religious order produces English and Spanish audiovisual and written content, including this promo video for the coronation.
  • The crowd listens to the Rev. Richard Pagano speak during the youth and family night on Oct. 9.
  • Members of the Home of the Mother hold up a photo and shirt they won during Pagano’s talk on Oct. 9.
  • People gather at the base of the cross at the Shrine. The cross marks the location of the first Mass in the Americas celebrated by the Spanish and local Timucuan Indians in 1565. The Spanish had brought with them the devotion of Our Lady of La Leche and dedicated the land to her. Over 50,000 visitors come to this spot each year. Oct. 9.
  • Sr. Sasha, S.H.M. leads a group of teens and young adults in reciting the rosary at the base of the cross on Oct. 9.
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Coronation of Our Lady of La Leche

On Oct. 10, 2021, the Diocese of St. Augustine will receive the honor of having a canonical coronation of Our Lady of La Leche. 

Our Lady of La Leche is only the fourth site in the United States to receive the honor of a Canonical Coronation. The others include: 

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, crowned in 1895, in New Orleans, La.; 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 1904, in New York City, N.Y.; and 

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, 2013, in Lake Charles, La.

What is a canonical coronation? 

Simply put, it is a formal act of the pope to crown, in his name, an image of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or St. Joseph that is widely venerated in a particular diocese. 

Pope Francis has sent a papal legate, or a personal representative, from Rome to Florida. The papal legate will place a special crown on a newly carved statue of Our Lady of La Leche at the Cathedral Basilica during mass. Bishop Felipe Estévez will also be in attendance. 

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Frisky Cat Cafe

Carla Forrest, owner of Frisky Cat Cafe, prepares a coffee for customers in St. Augustine, Fl., Sept. 12, 2021. She opened the cafe in spring 2020 as a way to fund her cat rescue, Small Lives Matter. Before this, Forrest regularly fostered cats and noticed they were not getting the adequate attention and medical care they needed. “I was ending up taking them to my vet and making sure they’re healthy,” Forrest said. “I was just spending a lot of money doing it. My veterinarian said you should just have your own rescue and do what needs to be done for these animals and then you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
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Freelancing adventures in Latin America

He’s been stalked by a paramilitary group while investigating environmental conflicts in Latin America. He was invited to dinner by the mother of an MS-13 gang member. He spent an afternoon with the ousted president of Honduras.

This is not the life of some movie character. These are just some of the adventures Jared Olson, a student at Flagler College, has been on.

Photo courtesy of Jared Olson

As a freelance journalist, Olson has been able to travel to many Latin American countries, reporting on social struggles, environmental conflicts, and violence. He said freelancing has given him the opportunity to skip working at a low-level desk job to choose the people and places he wants to cover.

“It’s sort of its own like self-made path,” Olson said. “That’s a total freedom that, for all the stresses of it, is pretty exhilarating and awesome.”

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St. Augustine Bike Week 2021

  • Bikers cruise down St. Augustine’s Historic District during the 80th annual Daytona Bike Week on March 10. According to Daytona city officials, around 300,000 people were expected to attend, many of those also visit St. Augustine.
  • A row of motorcycles next to the Plaza de la Constitución on March 10. St. Augustine saw a surge of visitors and vehicles from March 5 to 14. Richard Baker, who lives in the Historic District, said he welcomes the visitors. He has been riding during Bike Week for the past 27 years. “This isn’t just for bikers; this is an all-around event for everybody,” Baker said. “We have different food samples, different cultures and different people coming together all at once.”
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Sister Agnes, Bride of Christ

On St. Valentine’s Day, a group of young women gathered at a busy café to listen to a Catholic nun talk about vocation, celibacy and her relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sister Agnes of the Community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal (CFR) had traveled back to her hometown of Jacksonville to meet with a discernment group and share how she had chosen her vocation of serving the poorest of the poor.

It’s hard to not notice Sister Agnes. She stood out from the other customers with her grey floor-length tunic and a black veil covering her hair. The religious habit is considered a wedding dress, an outward sign of her vows to obedience, chastity and poverty.

“I never thought of religious life as a young person,” Sister Agnes said. “I had a misunderstanding of a sister. I had a stereotype that you became a sister if you couldn’t get married, which is terrible.”

Sister Agnes now considers herself a Bride of Christ.

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