History
San Juan Catholic Mission has a long and fascinating history. It all began when Franciscan missionaries first came to Florida in 1573 and launched an all-out effort to convert the native people. They somehow succeeded in that effort where the Jesuit priests before them had failed. In all, the Franciscans may have established up to 140 missions throughout Florida , and converted around 16,000 Indians to Christianity. The Indians were sincere in their newfound faith, and many missionaries were amazed at the extraordinary piety of these people.
San Juan is named after a mission established between the years 1609-1612 on the banks of the Suwannee River at a site called Baptizing Spring. There the Spanish Franciscan missionaries built a mission to serve the Timucuan Indians of this area, naming it after St. John . The mission at Baptizing Spring was commonly known as San Juan de Guacara”—“Guacara” being the Timucuan name for the Suwannee .
It was a small mission that, at times, did not even have a resident priest. In 1656, the mission participated in an Indian revolt and suffered heavy losses. The next year it was moved from Baptizing Spring 7 miles west to a site at Charles Spring , and may also have been repopulated at that time by Indians brought in from other areas. The reason for the move was to place the mission at the point where the “Camino Real” crossed the Suwannee . The “Camino Real” was the “ Royal Road ” built by the Spaniards that stretched 350 miles westward from St. Augustine . The Governor wanted to use the Indians to ferry travelers across the river by canoe. Many Indians actually deserted the mission due to the great amount of work that was placed upon them. By 1675, San Juan ‘s population lists for the last time, and in 1691 it was attacked and destroyed by Apalachicola Indians. It had been in existence for approximately 80 years.
A long time passed before the next episode in the Catholic history of Branford. In 1905, Fr. P.J. Bresnahan, a missionary who traveled around Florida on horseback, arrived in the Branford area. He said Mass at a local school and administered the Sacraments to Catholics who had not seen a priest in many years. He wrote of his experiences in a book entitled, “Seeing Florida with a Priest”. Aside from Fr. Bresnahan’s visit, there is little evidence of any other missions preached, Sacraments given, or Masses celebrated in this area from 1691 to the late 20 th century.
In the year 1976 the idea began to formulate that Branford could have its own Catholic mission again. The dream began with twelve families from the Branford area, along with Father William Kelly of Epiphany Church , Lake City , and Father Roland Julien of St. Madeleine’s, High Springs.
Not having a building in which to start this new mission, they approached the Branford United Methodist Church , whose pastor, Reverend Bruce Williams, graciously gave his permission for Masses to be celebrated there until a Catholic Church could be built. The first of these Masses took place on February 14, 1976, with about 25 people present. Fr. Julien became the pastor of the makeshift mission and continued as such until Fr. Thomas Gordon and his assistant Fr. Patrick Carroll, of Epiphany Church replaced him, in October of 1977. Under Fr Gordon’s leadership, by 1979 the Church had grown to 45 members and by 1981 it had reached 125.
In January of 1980, Bishop John J. Snyder visited the mission, and in response to requests from the Ladies’ Guild, promised his support in the building of a new Church. Soon a five-member building committee was elected to begin the planning for the structure. Rudy Smith became the chairman of the committee, along with members Winston Huff, Muriel Boyd, Charles Shirley and John Siedner.
In October of 1981, the dream began to take shape. The shape that it took was that of an old grocery store building! The G & H Grocery on Plant Street was purchased and the crew set to work on converting it into God’s home. Money for this project was raised through barbecue dinners and various other fund-raising events, a grant from Florida Missions, and a lot of help from the Diocese of St. Augustine.
Local contractor Scott Johnson was employed to renovate the building and Building Committee Chairman Rudy Smith led a group of volunteers who worked on the interior, doing everything from carpentry to electrical work to plumbing. Other parishes in the diocese contributed by donating furnishings and vestments.
Once the construction was completed it was decided to christen the new church on December 6, 1981. Many people gathered for this wonderful occasion. Led by Bishop Snyder, many priests, dignitaries, benefactors, guests, and members celebrated the first Mass together. In all, some 236 people attended.
In his homily, Bishop Snyder declared, “What we are witnessing today is something of a miracle.” He was right—a miracle of faith and perseverance. The new church was named after the old Franciscan mission of San Juan . With so many years between the establishment of the two missions, it is a testament to the enduring spirit of the Catholic faith that the connection with the past was maintained and passed on.
THE MISSION’S TIME-LINE
1609-1612: San Juan de Guacara is established at Baptizing Spring.
1657: San Juan is relocated to Charles Spring .
1691: San Juan is attacked and destroyed by Apalachicola Indians.
1905: Fr. P.J. Bresnahan conducts a mission in Branford.
1976: The first Mass is celebrated at Branford United Methodist; The Branford Catholic Mission is under the care of St. Madeleine’s, High Springs, and Fr. Roland Julien.
1977: The Mission is transferred to the care of Epiphany Church , Lake City , and Fr. Thomas Gordon becomes pastor. His assistant is Fr. Patrick Carroll.
1981: In October, the G & H Grocery Building is purchased, and on December 6 th , the first Mass is said at the new San Juan Mission.
1983: San Juan is transferred to the care of St. Francis Xavier, Live Oak, and Fr. Christian Brandstrup becomes pastor.
1984: Fr. James O’Neal, St. Francis Xavier, becomes pastor.
1987: Sister Agnes Marie Jasa becomes pastoral associate. Lives on San Juan Mission property.
1990: Fr. Anthony Sebra, Epiphany Church , Lake City , becomes pastor. His assistant is Fr. Alan Bower.
1993: Fr. Grald Vallee becomes first resident pastor of San Juan Mission.
1998: San Juan is transferred to the care of Epiphany Church , Lake City , an Fr. Patrick Murphy becomes administrator.
2000: Fr. Michael Morse, Epiphany Church , becomes Pastor. His assistant is Fr. George Kuruvilla.
2001: Deacon Michael Leahy becomes administrator. Fr. Edward Murphy of St. Madeleine’s, High Springs says Mass and hears confessions.
2002: Fr. Edward Murphy becomes Pastor.
2004: Fr. Jim Cottrell, retired priest, joins Fr. Ed Murphy in ministering to San Juan Mission.
2007: Fr. Sebastian George, CMI, became Pastor of San Juan Mission in February of2007.
2008: Fr. Arnaldo Bazan began yearly visits to minister to the people of San Juan and surrounding communities in June of 2008.
OUR PATRON
Known as ‘Doctor of the Church’
Feast Day: December 14th,
Lived: 1542 – 1591
Early life and education
As a child he lived in various Castilian villages, with the last being Medina del Campo , to which he moved in 1551 . There, he studied the humanities at a Jesuit school from 1559 to 1563 , and then entered the Carmel order, adopting the name Fr. Juan de Santo Matía.
The following year ( 1564 ) he professed as a Carmelite and moved to Salamanca , where he studied at the University and at the Colegio de San Andrés . This stay would influence all his later writings, as Fray Luis de León taught biblical studies ( Exegesis , Hebrew and Aramaic ) at the University. León was one of the foremost experts in Biblical Studies then and had written an important and controversial translation of the Song of Songs into Spanish . (Translation of the Bible into the vernacular was not allowed then in Spain).
Priesthood and association with Saint Teresa de Jesús
San Juan was ordained a priest in 1567 . That same year he met Saint Teresa de Jesús , who immediately talked to him about her reformation projects for the Carmelite order, including among the friars. The following year, on 28 November , he started this reformation at Duruelo together with Fr. Antonio de Jesús de Heredia. In the following years, until 1577 , he worked as a helper of Saint Teresa, founding monasteries around Spain and taking active part in their government. These foundations and the reformation process were resisted by a great number of Carmelite friars. The followers of St. John and St. Teresa differentiated themselves from the non-reformed communities by calling themselves the “discalced”, i.e. barefoot, and the others the “calced” Carmelites.
Imprisonment, writings, death and recognition
On the night of 3 to 4 December 1577 he was taken prisoner by the calced in Toledo , where he was kept under a brutal regime that included public lashing before the community at least weekly, and severe isolation. He escaped on 15 August 1578 . He had composed a great part of his most famous poem Spiritual Canticle during this imprisonment; his sufferings and spiritual endeavours then are reflected in all of his subsequent writings.
After returning to his normal life, he went on with the reformation and the founding of monasteries until his death on 14 December 1591 .
His writings were first published in 1618 . He was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1675 , and canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726 . In 1926 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pius XI . The Church of England commemorates him as a “Teacher of the Faith”.
Literary works
San Juan de la Cruz- or St. John of the Cross, is considered one of the foremost poets in the Spanish language . Although his complete poems add up to less than 2500 verses, two of them—the Spiritual Canticle and Dark Night of the Soul are widely considered to be among the best poems ever written in Spanish, both for their formal stylistic point of view and their rich symbolism and imagery.
The Spiritual Canticle is an eclogue in which the bride (representing the soul ) searches for the bridegroom (representing Jesus Christ ), and is anxious at having lost him; both are filled with joy upon reuniting. It can be seen as a free-form Spanish version of the Song of songs at a time when translations of the Bible into vernacular were forbidden.
Dark Night of the Soul (from which the spiritual term Dark Night of the Soul takes it’s name) narrates the journey of the soul from her bodily jail to her union with God . It happens during the night, which represents the hardships and difficulties she meets in detachment from the world and reaching the light of the union with the Creator. There are several steps in this night, which are related in successive stanzas.
San Juan wrote also three treatises on mystical theology , two of them concerning the two poems above, and supposedly explaining the meaning of the poems verse by verse and even word by word. He actually proves unable to follow this scheme and writes freely on the subject he is treating at each time. The third work, Ascent of Mount Carmel is a more systematic study of the ascetical endeavour of a soul looking for perfect union with God, and the mystical events happening along the way. These, together with his Sayings of Love and Peace and St. Teresa ‘s writings, are the most important mystical works in Spanish, and have deeply influenced later spiritual writers all around the world. Among these can be named T. S. Eliot , Thérèse de Lisieux , Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), and Thomas Merton . John has also influenced philosophers ( Jacques Maritain ), theologians ( Hans Urs von Balthasar ), and pacifists ( Dorothy Day , Daniel Berrigan , and Philip Berrigan ).