Ideas from Cathedral Ministries

Christine McMillan with Cathedral Ministries updated Historic City News on the upcoming events.

All Souls Day at Tolomato Cemetery

In observance of All Souls day, Sunday, November 2, 2008, the Cathedral Parish’s Tolomato Cemetery, located on North Cordova Street, will be open from 3-4:30 pm for guided tours and candlelit Evening Prayer at 4:30 pm. Please join us at this treasure of our parish as we intercede for those who have died in our community and ask for the intercession of the saints for those who labored to build this parish.

HURRICANE SALE at the Bell Tower Gift Shop, located inside the Cathedral

The Bell Tower Gift Shop is located inside the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine at 38 Cathedral Place, St. Augustine. A new Training Manager was hired last year to be promoted to Manager following the retirement of Marge Fischer. Diane McCoy started officially as the Manager in January 2008. Ms. McCoy holds a degree in Sociology from Sheperd University in West Virginia, as well as a minor in business. She says her mission for the BTGS is to provide Catholic devotional, inspirational and cultural materials to parishioners and the visiting public. Evangelization is part of the mission also, because providing education to everyone spreads the Word of our Lord.

The BTGS also aspires to support the Catehdral parish in its minitries by underwriting programs, such as the St. Augustinian Feast Day Speaker and assisting with the renovations of the stations of the cross. An educational aspect of the BTGS is the management of the volunteer tour guides that are scheduled with groups through the Shop. Tours are available when scheduled for school groups and any Tuesday through Sunday at 1:00 pm. Tours are given of the history and architecture of the Cathedral, it’s parish buildings and in regard to Catholicism as it began in St. Augustine.

The recent storms of August and September blew away the protective coating on the roof and many tiles were blown away. The water leaked in through to the storage area where many books and gift shop items were ruined. Several thousands of dollars of merchandise had to be thrown away, though others were donated to The Right To Life Group and Prison Ministry. Other books were slightly damaged and are now on sale at cost.

Ms. McCoy says that she loves living in St. Augustine and is thrilled to be a part of the Cathedral. The most fun part is answering the interesting questions she gets from visitors and parishioners alike. “What is the patron saint of (fill in the blank with 1,000 different subjects). Who is Michael the Archangel? Who runs the Church? Does the Pope sleep in the bell tower?” Stop in any day of the week to get answers to these and many other questions.