Atlantic Breezes and Papal Air

The Very Rev. Robert Webster, first rector of the Basilica of St. Paul, cut across the parish to the sacristy to vest, a breviary tucked beneath his arm. It was the feast of St. Augustine and the parish was celebrating an all-school Mass.

Inside the basilica, the organ rocked to life and the children began to sing “City of God.” Father Webster’s homily focused on architecture, specifically the spiritual kind. He enjoined his children to continue to help build God’s Kingdom on earth, and in the parish, even after he had gone.

After 20 years at St. Paul, Father Webster is stepping down. He will spend four months on sabbatical in Rome and, upon his return, become the Orlando Diocese’s full-time liturgy director. He made the formal announcement at Mass the day before and repeated it to the students.

“I baptized most of you and celebrated your first communion,” he told them. “Some of you are my godchildren. All things are good and we will continue to build the Kingdom of God together.”

Strolling through the basilica later that morning, Father Webster considered his time at the basilica. As a priest he helped establish the parish as one of central Florida’s Catholic resources, including a food pantry and counseling services.

But the crowning achievement of St. Paul happened in January when Pope Benedict XVI designated the church a minor basilica. It was a wonderful way to kick off the parish’s 125th anniversary. The papal honor makes Saint Paul the 60th church in the United States to become a minor basilica — and the first one proclaimed by the current Holy Father.

It’s Florida’s second basilica: The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine was so designated in 1976.

“It is the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a parish,” Father Webster told the Register. “To honor the faith of an immigrant and poor parish community is the greatest thing the Holy Father could have done.”

This prominent church is located on a famous stretch of U.S. 1, three blocks north of the International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Construction began in the early 1910s.

The building itself is a replica of the Cathedral of Valencia in Spain. The interior is “the most eclectic mixture of things I never in my life would have thought of at all,” as Father Webster puts it. “I can’t even begin to classify the narthex. There are Gothic influences, early American influences. The color scheme was done in the Roaring 20s. The hot pinks, the mustards, the teals, terracotta colors — makes it kind of fun to worship. But it’s not garish. This is exactly how it looked in the 1920s. I think it’s absolutely, totally striking.”

And a fine place to pray it will be on Nov. 18, feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome.

Mysterious Motif

Mass was first celebrated at the Daytona church on Christmas Eve of 1927. Florida Bishop Patrick Barry blessed the building in 1928. A sweeping lawn used to open up from the main entrance onto

Ridgewood Avenue
, but it was lost to growth and development when the city widened the road.

Like many Florida buildings, the basilica sustained heavy damage during the 2004 hurricanes, including the loss of its spire. A new 33-foot cupula arrived Sept. 8 and was erected on the 14th, the feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

The basilica’s interior is a smattering of Georgian and Byzantine styles, with likenesses of the Four Evangelists embossed on the magnificent dome. German stained glass depicts the lives of Christ, Saint John Vianney and the church’s namesake, St. Paul.

The basilica is one of the few churches in the United States with shrines to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

But perhaps the most remarkable visual features inside the basilica are two oil-on-canvas paintings on opposite ends of the church. The first, hanging over the altar and tabernacle chapel, depicts the conversion of St. Paul. The artwork is shrouded in inscrutability: Nobody knows who painted it, or when. 

On the wall above the organ pipes hangs a second oil painting, this one of the transfer of Christ’s body into the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. It, too, is of unknown origin.

Becoming a minor basilica brings papal honors and gifts from Rome. Upon receiving notice of the decree, Orlando Bishop Thomas Wenski celebrated a special Mass on Jan. 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The church received the tintinnabulum and ombrellino, Renaissance symbols of the papal court.

The tintinnabulum is a 12-pound copper bell used to alert people of the pope’s procession and the ombrellino is the canopy that shielded him from the elements. The bell is hand-cast and shaped like a miter, as is the archwork that holds it up.

Strong members of the Knights of Columbus hoist the tintinnabulum aloft and both are used in processions of all major events at the basilica.

The designation as a minor basilica is an affirmation of the liturgical and spiritual life of the parish, Father Webster says.

The Basilica of St. Paul was constructed to hold 1,200 worshippers back when the parish only had 250 families. Ordinations to the priesthood took place here because it was larger than the St. Augustine cathedral, the spiritual center of gravity back when St. Augustine was the original Florida diocese.

In some intellectual corner of heaven, Sts. Paul and Augustine must be having a wonderfully reasoned row over whose is the more important Florida basilica. No matter who makes the better argument, the Church Militant in the Sunshine State is better off for having a second great house of God to pray in.

Raymond T. Cordani

writes from Orlando, Florida.

Planning Your Visit

The Basilica of Saint Paul is located at 317 Mullally Street in Daytona Beach. Masses are held Monday through Saturday at 9 a.m. Saturday vigil is at 4 p.m. Sunday Masses are at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 6 p.m. and a Spanish Mass is at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Self-guided tour pamphlets and religious items are available in the vestibule. Individual tours may be arranged. For more information, contact the parish office at (386) 252-5422 or visit basilicaofsaintpaul.com on the Internet.

Getting There

From Interstate 95, take exit 92 onto

International Speedway Boulevard east
toward U.S. 1. The basilica is located on U.S. 1 three blocks north of
International Speedway Boulevard
.