From the Desk of Fr. Thomas - May 2025 Newsletter
- awalker301
- Jun 7
- 6 min read
Dear Friends of Our Lady of Pompeii,
May has done it again! A year ago, Pompeii Rising Restoration Project received our anchor, the Image of Our Lady of Pompeii. I then suggested that most of the spiritual work would stem from the enthronement of the image in Jacksonville on May 8, 2024, and how she will watch over all of the details. Now, on the one year anniversary, we break ground preparing the way for something bigger than ourselves. Much bigger.
In St. John’s Gospel, Our Lord seemingly rebukes us, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.” I woke up the morning of May 8th and was delighted to offer the Votive Mass of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, commemorating the Apparition of St. Michael, honoring both of our two patrons on their joint feasts. As God permits, we all know, the morning of May 8th there was no Pope to name in the Canon. Our guest, Fr. Scott Gardner offered his Votive Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff. Then… white smoke.
Next it was time to break ground with many of you at the new church. In thanksgiving, we offered the prayer written by Bl. Bartolo Longo 150 years ago. The Suplica includes a very specific line that would have been extremely out of place had the throne of St. Peter still been vacant. “Bless now, O Mary, the sovereign Pontiff, to the first laurels of thy crown, to the ancient trophies of the Rosary, whence thou art called Queen of victories.” But on May 8th, 2025, nothing was out of place. Just learning the name of the Holy Father, it was very surreal having the ability to, in that particular moment, pray for him in such a Marian way. The man who, only hours earlier in his first address to the City and the World, uttered the words “Today is the day of the Suplica to our Lady of Pompeii. Our blessed Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, be close to us. She always wants to help us with her intercession and her love.” Okay, dear Mistress of Pompeii, what are you trying to tell us!
The entire night can be summed up with one lasting memory. The children. The children were so excited to turn over spades of sand and start the physical work needed to restore Our Lady of Pompeii. This will be where many of them receive their sacraments, meet their future spouses, baptize their children, God willing, offer their future Masses, and bury their parents. But they do not get ahead of themselves, they focus on rebuilding the church one Rosary at a time. I will conclude May’s newsletter with three updates.
Firstly, we say good-bye to Jeremy Moss who sat on our Executive Committee. Jeremy’s been offered a new role out West and we wish him the all the best with great appreciation for the hundreds of volunteer hours he has sacrificed. I’m happy to announce that parishioner Veny Maysonet is joining the Executive Committee, bringing with him decades of senior strategic management experience that will continue to propel the Pompeii Rising Restoration Project forward.
Secondly, Progress Reports. The property has been staked for construction and the utility lines have been scanned. We've received permits from both the Florida Department of Transportation and St. John's River Water Management District, which you can imagine, is no small feat. Yesterday, the City held an Administrative Deviation meeting and we walked out with a 'recommendation for approval'! These are all big steps which move us closer to obtaining building and site permits.
Thirdly, I just returned from Ecuador. I am still processing everything, but I can let you know that Our Lady of Pompeii met me there. More to come.
Keep praying your Memorares,
Today’s Mailbag comes from an old high school friend. I met Jeff our Junior year at St. Mary’s Academy, KS in 1996. I’ve read his story several times, not because I find it hard to believe, but because my faith grows every time I do. Nothing surprises me anymore! Signs and wonders, dear friends.
Last year, the Florida chapels were invited to come see the unveiling of a painting at the new church in Jacksonville. In that moment, I thought it would mean a lot to my longtime friend, Fr. Thomas, if my mother, daughter Lucy, and I came to show our support. What I didn’t know was how much Our Lady of Pompeii would end up meaning to me. Just in the past few months, I’ve been amazed to discover how the Jacksonville chapel of St. Michael's, and now Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, has been weaving my family together for four generations. Without knowing it, we’ve actually been a part of this Restoration project for decades.
It all started with my grandfather, Daryl Rhea, who converted to Catholicism in 1941 just before he shipped out to Europe for WWII. I wish I knew more about his time in Italy, but my grandfather never spoke much about the War. Last month, however, my mother and Aunt Teresa found the most astonishing letter while cleaning out some old boxes. Finding out my grandfather received Holy Communion from Pope Pius XII in this overseas memoir is obviously a family treasure in and of itself. But only as heaven can orchestrate, it kept getting better:
I have since been in many different beautiful churches throughout Italy. Only yesterday I borrowed a Jeep and went to Pompei to visit the church of the “Blessed Mother of the Rosary”. My personal opinion is that it is more beautiful than St. Peter's, though not nearly as impressive. One of the most beautiful in all Europe. It was just recently completed, I think 1939.
The story continues. After the changes in the late 1960’s, my father Bruce, like so many, fell away from practicing the Faith. Around 1986, his older sister, the same Aunt Teresa, saw an ad in the Yellow Pages advertising the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Remembering it fondly from her youth, it took my dad some convincing (more likely the persistent hounding that only an older sister can do) but we packed the family in the car and drove what felt like forever to go to Mass in a rented space. I just found out today that the venue was the Garden Club in North Jacksonville, where my parents met Mr. William Gulliford. Rediscovering the Mass of All Times reinvigorated the Faith of my father, and he never looked back. We eventually found ourselves attending the Society Mass at the Radisson Hotel in Orlando, where I met my future wife, Rose's family in Confirmation class. Providentially, her family also discovered the Latin Mass at the current St. Michael's chapel in the late 1980's.
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