Always have faith! When nothing seems to go right think of the generations of parishioners of St. John the Evangelist Mission Church at Mayport and what they had to endure.
Throughout their long 130+-year history the parishioners of St. John faced good times and bad, destruction of their church by fire, natural forces and man. Once-a-month visits by missionary priests to minister the sacraments was all too common. During the early years of the church's history these visits were less frequent due to a shortage of priests. This situation proved to be a major reason for many to renounce their faith or be Catholic in name only.
According to Michael V. Gannon's the Cross in the Sand, the history of St. John's begins when Fr. Claude M. Pampon, a newly ordained French priest was sent to FL in 1836. During his 7-year tenure, and assisted by Fr. Patrick Hackett, Fr. Pampon established new mission stations at Black Creek, Mandarin, Picolata, Tampa and St' Johns Bar (now Mayport).The exact year is not indicated in the records of the Diocese as to when St. Johns Mission was first established. However, Mayport and Mandarin would not see actual construction of a church under the jurisdiction of the church at Mandarin. Because of the traveling distance and time element involved, one wonders how often visits were made to the fledging congregation at St. John's. The majority of Catholics at Mayport were principally of Menorcan, Spanish, Greek and Italian origin who had migrated from St. Augustine. Many of their decedents are parishioners of the present-day church.
Down through the centuries war has never spared churches and the people of faith who built them. St. John the Evangelist was no exception: churches, homes, public buildings and businesses were wiped out during the Civil War.
during the withdrawal of occupying Federal troops in the Spring of 1836 tragedy struck the little community of Mayport. Few local historians refer to the catastrophe, preferring to concentrate their reporting on the events that occurred in Jacksonville. T. Frederick Davis' History of Jacksonville makes brief reference to the devastation and the subsequent burning of Mayport- including St. John the Evangelist Mission.
Late in the afternoon, on Sunday, March 29, 1863, uncontrolled troop of the 8th Main and 6th Connecticut regiments rampaged their way through the community; pillaging and looting prior to setting fire to the buildings. The troops were part of a taskforce of gunboats and troop ships lying at anchor inside the mouth of the river. A major northeast storm was raging that day and the ships had remained in the safety of the river until the storm abated. During their rampage the troops looted the mission of the sacred vessels and desecrated the vestments by parading in them as the church was burning. By day's end the building lay in ruins.
One can imagine the desperation and anger experienced by the parishioners as their church was burning. the only recourse they had was to pick up the pieces and start over.
Bits and pieces of information about post- war activities of the Mayport congregation can be found scattered throughout the writings of local historians and ecclesiastical records in St. Augustine. The very Rev. Henry Peter Clavreul recorded that he visited "St. John's Bar" between Aug. 22 & Sep 1, 1866. During his brief visit Fr. Clavreul administered the last Sacraments to Ignatio Andreu, and performed the marriage of James Arnau & Antonio Fatio. On June 13, 1871Fr. Clavreul accompanied Bishop Verot on his visit to St. Johns Bar and later in Sep of that year, returned to minister to the parishioners.
Sometime between 1866 and 1870 a second mission church was erected- most likely on the site of the destroyed building. One can safely assume it was the same site because the land was owned by the Diocese thus making the purchase of another site unnecessary. The new church stood "a short distance from the ocean but, in the course of time, banks and sand kept accumulating until access to the church was no longer possible". In 1890 the building was abandoned. A new one was erected half a mile farther back from the abandoned church. The new location was 800 feet east of the red lighthouse, on the south side of the shell road, between Mayport and East Mayport.
Prior to the closing of the church in 1890 the Sisters of St. Joseph, a French order of nuns, who came from France in 1866, purchased several lots on the beach at Mayport. In 1875, with lumbar donated by Mr. Henry Clark of Jacksonville, the Sisters constructed "a spacious and very comfortable convent". According to Sister Mary Albert, Archivist for the Order in St. Augustine, and data gleaned from the Order's records from 1866-1936, the convent contained "5 classrooms, community room, chapel, wide corridors, kitchen and dining rooms". It was the 1st in a series of buildings (cottages) extending eastward along the beach toward the ocean. Mother Claveria wa the superior of the convent. Unfortunately, due to the difficulties of transportation, the Sisters "were obligated to withdraw..". In 1884 the convent was sold to a Mr. Robert Mickler for the sum of $100: with the lumbar, Mr. Mickler built two cottages. Lenora Brown, a communicant of the church and its historian, remembers her grandmother telling her that she used to walk over the sand dunes carrying a basket of food to the convent for the nuns.
Following the closing of the second church, the new one stood for many years- until 1940 when the structure was demolished to make room for the Naval station. The late Ed Smith wrote that the last Mass was offered Nov of that year.
During the war years, after the church was torn down, many parishioners moved away to other parishes. Those who remained attended Mass in the living room of the Old John King House on Ocean St in Mayport until 1955 when Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Roland of Mayport donated a small house to the congregation for use as a chapel. A team of volunteers, headed up by Mr. Arthur J. Todd, went to work quickly converted the house into a chapel. The beautiful altar that was put into storage when the old building was demolished was recovered, restored and installed in the new chapel. Bishop James J. McDonough celebrated the first Mass in the chapel at the dedication ceremonies. This small monument to a people's faith and perseverance served the congregation until 1967 when a new brick edifice was erected on Mayport Rd.
During the 1860's the congregation numbered approximately 100 person. Yet, by 1906, more than 200 were on the rolls of the church, including many babes in arms. Today, the congregation numbers more than 800 families- a remarkable testimony to perseverance and faith.
One would think that, throughout 130+ years of adversity, those people would have thrown in the towel and quit. After several interviews with longtime communicants of St John the Evangelist I can only come to one conclusion- The word quit is not in their vocabulary.
