History of Our Parish

The heart of a parish is the Eucharist, but the parish family is the body that makes it a unique and vibrant community with an exciting parish life. Our parish offers a variety of ways to be part of that communal family in addition to the celebration of the sacraments.

Faith formation is a vital element of the Catholic life as we grow in knowledge and understanding of our faith in Jesus Christ and the Church he gave us. A deeper understanding can lead to a more intimate relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and through the Trinity to the Church and our family, friends, neighbors, parish, and community. Such faith formation is not just for children, but for all of us as we grow as Catholics. Our parish has many opportunities for faith formation that we encourage you to explore.

The original structure was a one story brick veneer ediface, having a wood joisted roof covered with composition shingles. Later priests in residence lived in the attached rear quarters. The church suffered minimal damage from hurricanes and storms over the years but the original building still stands today. In 1962, St. Ann's received funding for reconstruction and renovation of the church and extension of the residential quarters under the leadership of Father Russell Nickerson. A catechetical center on Dixie Street was built in 1964 followed by an additional center in 1969. Around this time, three sisters of the religious order, St. Mary of Namurs, were invited to Florence. They began in August 1964, living in the rectory across the street, while the current pastor, Father Russell Nickerson continued the tradition of priests living at St. Anthony's rectory. Friends of the Sisters cleaned, painted, and collected donations of furniture for them. The first nuns, including Sister Claire Marie, and Sister Laura, taught religion and Bible classes for the neighborhood children and eventually later started kindergarten classes at St. Ann. St. Anthony's Parish donated a car to transport children to school. The Sister's work was truly an outreach ministry helping the less fortunate of the community throughout the city with food and clothing, regardless of religious affiliation and the charism of the parish continues to this day. The Sisters of St. Mary of Namurs served at St. Ann's from 1964-2000.

The St. Ann's Ladies Guild was organized in 1977 under the pastorship of F ather Matthew Casey. Through the years the Ladies Guild, along with the support of the pastor and parishioners, have held many fund-raising activities particularly the Harvest Tea and an annual Barbecue Sale. The Barbeque became the longest-running fundraiser which was started by Mr. Jimmy Burch during the pastorship of Father John Lyons. The Harvest Tea, started by Constance Cooper, featured a secret recipe tea that brought many people annually. These events were opportunities for parishioners to socialize with members of St. Anthony's as well as non-Catholics of the city who supported our fund-raisers.

St. Ann's was elevated from mission to full parish status on November 12, 1975 by Bishop Ernest L. Unterkoefler and by this time we were named St. Ann. When St. Anthony's Church burned in 1970 and was rebuilt on the west side of Florence, some parishioners decided to stay on the east side of town and therefore joined St. Ann's.

One of the parishioners, Mr. James (Jim) Johnson, was ordained on the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, 1985, becoming the parish's first permanent deacon. Deacon Jim grew up in the parish, actually living in the house across the street from St. Anne's until he moved away for military service. When he returned home from the military, he entered into the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program.

With almost 200 registered families, the parish continues in its ministry to the community, providing food, clothing and other support to those in need; in its ministry to the sick; and in its evangelical mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others.

Saint Ann, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast Day July 26

Anne (Hebrew, Hannah, grace; also spelled Ann, Anne, Anna) is the traditional name of the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Prayer to St. Ann

We pray...

Good St. Ann, you were especially favored by God to be the mother of the most Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. By your power with your most pure daughter and with her divine Son, kindly obtain for us the grace and the favor we now seek. Please secure for us also forgiveness of our past sins, the strength to perform faithfully our daily duties and the help we need to persevere in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

"Of St. Ann we have no certain knowledge. She is not mentioned in the New Testament, and we must depend on apocryphal literature, chiefly the Protoevangelium of James, which dates back only to the second century.

In this document we are told that Ann, wife of Joachim, was advanced in years and that her prayers for a child had not been answered. Once as she prayed beneath a laurel tree near her home in Galilee, an angel appeared and said to her, "Ann, the Lord hath heard thy prayer and thou shalt conceive and bring forth, and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world." Ann replied, "As the Lord my God liveth, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life " And thus Ann became the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The devotion of St. Ann was known in the East in the fifth century, but it was not diffused in the West until the thirteenth. A shrine at Douai, in northern France, was one of the early centers of the devotion. In 1382 her feast was extended to the whole Western Church, and she became very popular, especially in France. Her two most famous shrines are at St. Anne d'Auray in Brittany and at St. Anne-de Beaupre in the province of Quebec.

She is patroness of housewives, women in labor, cabinet-makers, and miners. Her emblem is a door. St. Ann has been frequently represented in art, and the lovely face depicted by Leonardo da Vinci comes first to mind in this connection. The name Ann derives from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning "grace."" Source: From Catholicism/Saints/St Ann, /https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/anne-469.

The Feast of Saint Ann is celebrated on July 26. She is also known as the patron saint of mothers, women in labor and minors.

Saint Ann Memorial Library

Dedicated Sunday, October 17, 2022
11:30 AM Mass in Memory of Deacons James JohnSon, Robert Gerald & Kay Schweers
Fr. JohnBosco Duraisamy, CelebrantReception Followed St. Ann Parish Life Center

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