The Diocese of Venice continued its tradition by celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for veterans who have served and continue to serve our country in the armed forces.
The annual Veterans Day Catholic Mass, celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Dewane, is in its 13th year, with the 2022 Mass celebrated at St. Patrick Parish in Sarasota. The Mass, which has been traditionally held at the nearby Sarasota National Cemetery, was relocated out of an abundance of caution for the safety of participants due to rains caused by Hurricane Nicole.
“We honor our veterans in a very clear way,” Bishop Dewane said. “They fought to promote justice and to defeat tyranny… They had a faith that what they were doing was right and needed to be done; they were fighting not just for one nation, but for all of humanity. In the end, they had faith that a just God would grant them mercy.”
The Bishop noted that more than 41 million Americans have served in the armed forces over the course of the nation’s history and more than 1.2 million died in combat, causing everyone to pause and remember the sacrifice of not just the soldiers but of the families and friends whom they left behind.
“We celebrate the goodness, and the grace of each one of those individuals who serve their country and their God,” Bishop Dewane said, adding that veterans teach everyone “how to give totally of ourselves for one another to lay down one’s life in charity and love – our dear veterans have contributed all that they had, their whole life, many of them, for the sake of our greater good.”
The Veterans Day celebration opened with the singing of the National Anthem, and a presentation of a ceremonial wreath by one retired and two active members of the military.
Adding to the dignity and ceremony of the day were active and retired veterans who were asked to stand and be recognized as part of the opening ceremonies. The Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus formed a Color Corps, and many other Knights were also present to support the veterans.
Following the conclusion of the Mass, everyone joined in reciting a Veterans Day prayer before singing God Bless America. The Diocese of Venice coordinates the Veterans Day Catholic Mass with the support of the Knights of Columbus and plans to return to the Sarasota National Cemetery in 2023.
In the schools
Each of the 15 Diocesan Catholic schools celebrated Veterans Day in different ways.
At St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Naples, students processed to church with patriotic art projects for a Veterans Day Mass and tribute. The eighth graders led the tribute with a special flag folding ceremony, and hand-made wreaths were given to each veteran present, and prayers were offered for those not present.
St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton had a special flag raising ceremony led by the fourth graders, while at St. Ann Catholic School in Naples the students attended Mass where veterans were recognized and honored. Meanwhile, the Epiphany Cathedral Catholic School Young Marines faith program from Venice participated in the Sarasota Veterans Day parade.
These are just a few examples of how Catholic school students honored our veterans.
Veterans Day began as an informal celebration to mark the conclusion of World War I (Nov. 11, 1918), before being designated as a national holiday in 1954 to honor all military men and women who have sacrificed so much in their service to this country.
Incarnation Parish and Catholic school in Sarasota both had damage and water intrusion during Ian and the winds from Nicole penetrated the tarps. Parish and school staff reported new water intrusion and teams were quick to come out to mitigate any further damage.
The 2022 St. Michael Parish Family Day on Nov. 12, 2022, in Wauchula, welcomed more than 130 families (over 250 participants to include parents and their children) for a beautiful day filled with guest speakers about parenting, a young adult guest speaker, and children learning about the Eucharist and how to have a stronger relationship with Jesus. There were family games and raffles. The day ended with a Eucharistic Procession and Holy Mass, and dinner. The day focused on prayer for the conversion of all, that they may seek God in the Eucharist to guide them as a united family.
Luke P. Rubino, a senior at Naples High School and St. Ann Catholic School Class of 2019, achieved Eagle Rank from the Boy Scouts of America-Southwest Florida Council/Alligator District with Troop 165, now affiliated with St. Ann Parish in Naples. Luke was also awarded the Good Citizenship Award presented by the Marine Corps League (E.T. Brisson Detachment #063) of Naples on Nov. 13, 2022, in the Parish Hall.
Father Luis Pacheco, Pastor of St. Paul Parish in Arcadia, recently welcomed and blessed a new group of altar servers. The blessing took place Nov. 13, 2022, for the boys and girls who completed a training program. These servers will now be able to serve at Masses each week.
The Bishop Verot Catholic High School robotics program hosted two local robotics teams to work on their designs and programming in Fort Myers on Nov. 5, 2022. The “Java the Hutt” team was incredibly helpful, as they brought their robot and helped the Verot teams get their bots built and programmed to move. The students learned about the latest version of a competition robot. The Cypress Lake team shared ideas and were instrumental in getting a playing field constructed, while advising about which materials to purchase and use to help construct future Verot robots. Events like this are vital to the growth of robotics in Southwest Florida.
St. Martha Catholic School National Junior Honor Society hosted a Thanksgiving Festival for students in kindergarten through second grade in Sarasota on Nov. 14, 2022. The students decorated their own cookies, colored placemats, created turkeys, wrote what they are thankful for, played Thanksgiving Bingo and completed Thanksgiving Math.
This was the 18th Annual Hispanic Festival and an estimated 12,000 people descended on the Parish for this return event following a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Celestino Gutierrez, Pastor of St. Jude, officially opened the Hispanic Festival with a prayer. This followed a “Parade of Flags” when each country represented at the festival was announced, and the respective flags brought forth cheers from the crowd.
Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School junior Addison Dempsey took the silver medal in the Class 2A girls Florida High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Championship on Nov. 5, 2022, in Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. Dempsey crossed the 5,000-meter (or 3.1 mile) race in 17:54, just 11 seconds behind the winner. The Mooney girls’ team came in 25th overall, with Kate Ruaona placing 11th. The Sarasota boys finished in 20th, with the top runner, Christian Kline placing 37th. At the same event, the Bishop Verot Catholic High School runners from Fort Myers also participated, with sophomore Mackenzie De Lisle placing fifth. The boy’s team took fifth place overall, with the top runner, Grayson Tubbs, placing 16th. Congratulations everyone!
The Veterans of Foreign War Golden Gate Post 7721 visited St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Naples on Nov. 4, 2022, to teach the eighth graders how to properly fold the American flag in advance of the school’s Veterans Day Tribute on Nov. 11.
Fourth grade science students at St. Martha Catholic School in Sarasota learned all about Thermal Energy the week of Nov. 1, 2022. The students each constructed their own solar oven and placed the components for s’mores in them before bringing them outside to cook. The result: the ovens worked, and everyone had a delicious snack created in their own oven!
A fun time was had during “Silly String” festivities at St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton on Nov. 4, 2022. The fun was a follow-up celebration to the successful annual Eagle Run fundraiser held earlier in the month. The seventh-grade class, which had great success during the Eagle Run, also celebrated with a McDonald’s party.
The demand was great,” said Eddie Gloria, CEO of Catholic Charities DOV. “Catholic Charities stepped up to do what had to be done even as many of our staff and volunteers suffered losses from Ian.”
The basics of food and water were available at each site, some from donations of individuals, families, Parishes, non-profit groups and even corporations. The majority of what was distributed was in the form of FEMA Disaster Relief supplies, which included cases of bottled water and boxes of meals-ready-to-eat.
“We are past the first phase, which is responding to the immediate aftermath of this disaster,” Branam said. “Now we are focusing on helping people rebuild their lives. This means case management and support with getting people back into their homes whenever possible. Even if a family didn’t have serious damage in the storm, many had time off from work that they really could not afford. Others had damage they cannot afford to take care of, and still others need to relocate.”
While Catholic Charities will always accept donations of cleaning supplies and food such as rice, beans and cooking oil, the real need is for financial donations, Gloria said.
With its roots in German, Halloween (Hallow’s Eve) actually translates to Holy/Saints Evening, or evening of All Saints’ Day.
On Oct. 28, the St. Joseph second graders visited a nearby assisted living facility. In addition to trick-or-treating, the students performed Halloween poetry and songs for the residents. That same night, the school and Parish hosted a Truck-or-Treat where families went all out to come up with different themes.
Incarnation Parish in Sarasota offered the veneration of First Class Relics in between each Mass on the vigil and solemnity. On display at the Parish were relics from St. Catherine of Siena, St. Dominic, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. John of the Cross, St. Faustina, St. Francis of Assisi and many more. The idea for this grew from a spring tour of the “Relics of the Vatican” which drew great interest.
These sessions were part of the Diocesan Phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” as requested by His Holiness Pope Francis.
Overall, more than 1,000 of the faithful participated in the synodal process, including both young and old, women and men, English and Spanish-speaking. Findings were compiled in a detailed report shared with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June. Similar sessions to those held in the Diocese of Venice were held around the country and around the globe; a synthesis of all Diocesan reports will be shared with the Vatican.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane presided over the Admission to Candidacy of 14 seminarians at Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, in Weston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 26, 2022. Among those admitted to candidacy was Diocese of Venice Seminarian Carlos Galeso. Each of the seminarians have been approved by their respective Bishops and will continue in their studies to become Catholic priests. Each man publicly expressed his intention to complete his preparation for Holy Orders and his resolve to fully invest himself to that calling.
The Incarnation Catholic School middle schoolers took part in a Science Fair in Sarasota on Oct. 28, 2022. The students did an amazing job impressing the judges, teachers and each other. Each student, or team, did various experiments and documented their results, including the purpose of the project, a hypothesis, materials and procedures to conduct the experiment, data collected and the results. This was all displayed, including various graphs and images, to be judged and available for others to learn.
St. Paul Parish in Arcadia celebrated World Mission Sunday, on Oct. 23, 2022, with a procession of children wearing traditional clothing representing the different regions of the world. The children then sat on the steps of the altar while World Mission Sunday was explained. World Mission Sunday is celebrated in all the local Churches as the feast of Catholicity and universal solidarity so Christians the world over will recognize their common responsibility with regard to the evangelization of the world.
St. Isabel Parish, which is located on a high point toward the east side of the island, had major damage. The church and parish hall are intact but had extensive water damage. Unfortunately, the Parish rectory was not so lucky. There is extensive damage with holes in the roof, as well as impacts from the surge which filled the entire building.
Father Martin said he expects to either set up a tent outside for Mass in the coming weeks, or that the hall can be repaired quickly to accommodate the Liturgy.
One of the reasons the damage wasn’t worse was attributed to the fact that the church had a major renovation and upgrade after Hurricane Charley ripped the roof off in 2004. A similar upgrade took place in the Parish Hall in 2016. All this held back the worst of the winds and most of the water.
