A place to worship 'so that we can become holy ourselves'

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

Photography: TOM TRACY | FC

MIAMI | It took 70 years, more than 134 weekly planning meetings of the parish building committee, and enduring a coronavirus pandemic — with its related construction setbacks and material shortages — to get to Sept 15, 2023. 

That's when Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski presided at an evening Mass during which he dedicated and consecrated the new church of St. Agnes on Key Biscayne, a multimillion-dollar project that finally gave the parish a true and long-awaited worship space. 

“Congratulations! Felicidades! It’s true! There are three things that can be seen from outer space: the Great Wall of China, the pyramids of Egypt, and St. Agnes of Key Biscayne,” Archbishop Wenski said in his homily, referring to a local jest about the sizable proportions of the new church complex, which includes a new parish center, courtyard and renovated campus site adjacent to the already renovated parish school.

“Today, the feast of Mary, the Sorrowful Mother, who stood faithfully beside the cross of Jesus, this new parish church, and the altar upon which Mass will be celebrated, are consecrated. This church or temple and this altar will be consecrated – set aside from profane uses – so that the signs of God’s presence and love – the mysteries or sacraments of faith – can be fittingly re-presented here,” the archbishop said. 

In keeping with tradition for the consecration of a new church, the archbishop anointed the walls and altar with oil of chrism “to remind us that God dwells here with his people. We must remember that we also were anointed — and as God dwells here as in his temple, we too are his temples, temples of the Holy Spirit,” he explained. 

“Here, we do holy things — we hear the Scriptures, we worship and adore Christ present in his most Blessed Sacrament, we celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass and the other sacraments. We do these holy things — so that we can become holy ourselves,” the archbishop added.

St. Agnes’ pastor, Father Juan Carlos Paguaga, rejoiced that the community has a place of worship “that we can call our own temple, a representation of our faith and our love for God, and a lot of sacrifices (that) have been made with time and treasure,” he said, in reference to the fact that St. Agnes has until now been worshiping in a multipurpose building that was intended to serve as a temporary worship space, a practice common to many South Florida parishes when they were first established. 

“A lot of people have passed by the church now that it is built and there have been many tears of joy from their heart,” Father Paguaga added.

He noted that he has received countless compliments on the newly renovated parish campus, including the majestic white marble church itself, the adjacent courtyard, and the new liturgical artworks, including stained glass windows, a large crucifix over the altar and locally crafted statue of St. Agnes. 

Ground level parking and a raised floor elevation for the new buildings brings them up to current flood and hurricane standards required by state and local building codes. Though there were adjustments and cost impacts during 2020, not even material scarcity and other setbacks associated with the pandemic made much impact on the project’s completion date. 

“We have gratitude to God that we have been able to accomplish this project despite going through the pandemic — going through the whole thing to accomplish our dreams with sacrifices but it is finally here,” Father Paguaga said.

 

ARCHITECTS AND ARTISTS 

During his remarks, the priest offered public appreciation to some of the key partners and project leaders, including architect Jorge L. Hernandez in Miami; the Vilar Hoynack construction company in Miami; the project management company, P+F Management in Miami, and the parish building committee, along with donors and those involved in fundraising. 

Willet Hauser in Minnesota provided new stained-glass windows depicting the life of St. Agnes while Jose Antonio Arteaga Sculpture in Seville, Spain, provided the altar crucifix. 

In Fort Lauderdale, Nilda Maria Comas, who provided some of the artwork for Our Lady of Guadalupe Churchin Doral, created the signature statue of St. Agnes that graces the front entrance and steps leading up to the new church. It was crafted from material that comes from the quarry of Michelangelo in the Alps of Carrara, Italy. 

“My inspiration for the St. Agnes sculpture came easily after studying about her life and knowing where she would be placed,” Comas told The Florida Catholic. “She had to be white marble to stress her purity and beauty in a material known as the stone of light, favorite of sculptors through history for the highest honor that can be given — in this case a martyr full of symbolism.”

“It is my wish that St. Agnes’ sculpture becomes a symbol of faith, self-confidence and heavenly strength to all who see her and specially to the children of St. Agnes School,” Comas added. 

Parishioner Anabel Stevens found the dedication Mass poignant for a very personal reason: She and her husband were married at St. Agnes 41 years ago, in 1982. 

Over the years, Stevens, who serves as business manager at both St. Agnes Parish and Academy, said she has watched as Key Biscayne transitioned from a purely vacation community to a cosmopolitan area due to its proximity to Miami’s beaches, downtown and transportation hub, making it a mix of international and business-affiliated residents and parishioners. 

Some 700 contributed financial resources to the project, from “wealthy people to people who work very hard every day for a living, including nannies from our community,” Stevens said, adding that she encourages visitors to come walk the grounds and see the plaque marking the spot where the original church was consecrated. 

“I am very grateful for the leadership of our pastor who before the project began was able to ignite a fire in our community,” she said. “We have so many more ministries and more people involved in our parish now, and there is a thirst for God at a time when there are many Catholic churches all over the world that are closing down.”

“But to be a community of faith that was able to take on this project, and during COVID, in the end it was perfect,” Stevens added.

St. Agnes is now home to some 1,500 parish families and many more seasonal worshipers, according to Marcela Eraña, who headed the stewardship efforts at St. Agnes. 

 

A SWEEPING PLAN    

An initial idea to simply renovate the older church soon gave way to a more sweeping plan to start from scratch and recreate a parish campus not only more attractive and spacious but one which provided better safety features and overall separation from the adjacent school facilities, according to Eraña.

The entire parish property was updated with a new plan for vehicular circulation to allow for increased queuing during student pickup and drop-off times, as required to alleviate traffic on the adjoining roads, according to David Prada, senior director of the archdiocesan Office of Building and Property. 

“We also wanted to improve security at the school and increase capacity of the church because the number of parishioners had outgrown the church,” Prada said, referring to a 2017-2018 parish redesign master plan that provided the roadmap for the new construction. Other new construction projects in the master plan included the Pre-K school building, a new gymnasium, covered play areas, new church covered entrance, and increased parking.

“It is an unprecedented project for the archdiocese in that it represents the first time we built a church elevated off the ground due to such stringent environmental issues,” Prada said, adding that the church is situated on an island, a key — adding complexity to the building requirements to address flood and hurricane considerations. 

“What is unique to this project is that we were able to elevate the main floor level of the church so the storm surge waters will rush under the building unimpeded — which also resulted in additional (and much needed) ground level parking areas under the church. It was also important to maintain as much open green play fields as possible, so building the church ‘vertically’ allowed us to make the most efficient use of such a tight property,” he said.