The Casavant Wish (and Dream) in the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine
I describe the history of the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine as a Three Little Pigs parallel.
The first structure of the church was built probably by wood in haste fashion. But in 1586, a pack of British “big bad wolves” - led by Sir Francis Drake - burned it and the colony of St. Augustine. The colonialists built a second church of palmetto and straw, but it also burned down in 1599.
And despite the construction of Castillo de San Marcos in 1672, the third church was also burned down 30 years later. Masses were held at the chapel of La Solidad Hospital till Florida ceded to the British in 1763.
In 1784, Catholicism returned to Florida when the British ceded it to Spain, which ordered a church to be erected 2 years later. The cathedral was erected in 1797. Though another fire consumed the cathedral on April 12, 1887 - that time caused by a fire at the St. Augustine Hotel (now Flagler College) - it was much more feasible to rebuild, as the coquina walls proved resiliency.
Pope Paul VI designated the cathedral as a minor basilica on December 4, 1976.
Taken on 3/25/2018.
Fast-forward nearly 25 years later, on August 2001. My first time going inside the cathedral was on a day-trip with DCs, DUs, DAs, and DPs. We attended part of Mass, but the organ music sounded convincing. I tried SO hard to pay attention to the homily, but parts of my mind were wondering if the organ was truly a pipe organ.
That got me to make one of my 3 wishes to have a church install a pipe organ in case the said organ accompanying the Mass was electric. Indeed, it was a Rodgers analog one - a 3-manual instrument installed around the time Pope Paul VI designated the cathedral a minor basilica.
"The pipe organ is the authentic organ sound,” Dominican Sister Patricia Eileen Consier, Ph.D., and the cathedral’s then-current music ministry director pretty much described the musical aspect of my pilgrimage, “The totally electronic organ tries to achieve the pipe organ sound. Many times, an electronic organ company will say to you, ‘It sounds just like a pipe organ, doesn’t it?’”
To my 11-year-old ears, it INDEED sounded convincing.
That was most likely why nevertheless, I wished for a real pipe organ that day of my first visit. Little did I know at the time that the parish was ALREADY raising funds for the 3-manual Casavant Opus 3821 installed that Palm Sunday of 2003.
Over a decade later, I had a strange dream of a church that resembled the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine, in a city that was similar to St. Augustine. I didn’t point out in my dream journal that I was touring St. Augustine, but the city was situated on a rocky coast, with palm trees and Spanish colonial architecture.
The interior of the church was strikingly similar to the real-life cathedral. But instead of the wooden pews, it had folding chairs. The facade of the pipe organ was much more distinct compared to reality. It had trompette en chamade pipes that crowned each side of the pipes in the reredos.
After a short walk outside, I revisited the church, but I eyed another set of pipes in the loft, also having a trompette en chamade rank. I woke up before I even got to hear it sing a postlude.
Also taken 3/25/2018.
It wasn’t till Palm Sunday 2018, 15 years after Casavant Freres granted me that wish, I attended another Mass at the cathedral, that time with the wish - which was expanded with the help of Walker Technical - sounding.
The newly-expanded Casavant Opus 3821 didn’t sound like that then-convincing-to-my-Catholic-tween-ears Rodgers analog I heard during the previous Mass a month before the Mournful Morning. (My memory was then fuzzy as the peaches in the peach-mango pies we brunched on with Chickenjoy at the Jax Jolibee a day later.) It was REALLY REAL.
And I sang the hymns with much more gusto than I sang visiting the church at age 11.
I visited it the third time on January 2020, shortly after disembarking the MS Harmony of the Seas. I’m glad to have DM’s college classmate and her adopted son tag us along for not only the cruise on the RCCL vessel as well as Universal Orlando, but also to have them give gratitude to God and to have me show them what I dreamed about in 2012.
I believed that at the time, when coronavirus had yet to hit the USA, one of their three wishes they made was for good health.
“(The Casavant Opus 3821) is the authenticity of Jesus,” Sister Patricia explained, “For example, there are real candles on the altar, not flash lights. The flowers are fresh. Our faith is the most authentic expression of our life. So, everything needs to be the real thing.”
At those visits in 2018 and 2020, the Casavant Opus 3821 sang at Mass Mike Batt’s lyrics:
Better than a dream
Stranger than my wild imagination
If this is a real sensation,
It's better than a dream.
And hearing the wish I made at 11 that Casavant Freres granted in 2003 - IN PERSON - was better than a dream.
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Dimanche 24 décembre 2023
Nous sommes de retour à Fort Lauderdale, mais je profite de cette journée plus tranquille pour partager d’autres images de ce que nous avons pu voir hier à St Augustine.
Le Bridge of Lions est un pont basculant qui relie le centre historique de St Augustine à Anastasia Island. On trouve, depuis un siècle, du côté de la ville, deux copies des lions Médicis qui se trouvaient jadis devant l’entrée de la Villa Médicis à Rome (ils sont maintenant à Florence), et qui donnent son nom au pont. Suite à la rénovation du pont en 2010, des donateurs ont offert deux autres lions, placés du côté d’Anastasia Island. Sur l’image (photo 1), on peut voir le lion côté nord, sur la rive située dans la ville, et l’inscription “P. de L. 1513 St Augustine 1924”, rappelant que Ponce de León est le premier européen arrivé sur les côtes de la Floride en 1513, et que le lion a été placé là en 1924.
Lors de mon passage le 17 décembre, j’ai déjà évoqué Henry Flagler (1830-1913), richissime homme d’affaire ayant contribué de façon significative au développement touristique de la Floride. La ville de St Augustine comprend de nombreux immeubles qu’il a fait construire à la toute fin du 19ème siècle, principalement des hôtels, mais aussi des églises, étant profondément croyant et attaché au méthodisme.
Construite en 1886-1887, la Grace United Methodist Chruch (photo 2) se distingue dans le paysage par son inspiration renaissance espagnole, mais également par le fait de s’harmoniser avec les hôtels qui partagent le même style architectural.
En 1889, la fille de Flagler, Jennie Louise Benedict, meurt au moment de sa naissance. Il lui a donc fait construire une église, le Memorial Presbyterian Church (photos 3 et 4), inspirée librement de Saint-Marc de Venise. Non seulement la dépouille de sa fille s’y trouve, mais celle de Flagler aussi. Le presbytère adjacent semble également évoquer le style vénitien, tel qu’on le retrouve Place Saint-Marc, peut-être même avec une touche espagnole (photo 5).
L’hôtel Alcazar (devenu aujourd’hui le musée Lightner) a été construit en 1888 et était le second que Flagler construisait à St Augustine. Sa cour intérieure est dotée d’un bassin et d’une grande végétation (photo 6). Déjà présenté lors de mon post du 17 décembre, l’hôtel Ponce de León (aujourd’hui Flagler College) était le tout premier, construit entre 1885 et 1887. Puisque le ciel était pas mal plus beau, je me suis permis de reprendre quelques images, de l’édifice en totalité (photo 7), où de sa cour intérieure avec vue sur la coupole présentée précédemment (photo 8).
Enfin, deux images des rues étroites de la ville, où les vieilles maisons se démarquent tant par leurs balcons au premier étage que par les couleurs chaudes employées pour rythmer les murs extérieurs (photo 9 et 10).
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