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Ave Maria, Florida – the town with a Catholic heart.©™ Stories & information for residents & visitors.Archive for Ave Maria History
The Dix Family: Dixes Never Quit!
For those of us who are newer to Ave Maria, it is hard to imagine the town without Maple Ridge, Publix, or the Oratory, but the Dix family knows the town before those things quite well. When they moved to Ave in 2007, the Oratory was just a skeleton of what it is now and the vast majority of the current residential areas were inhabited by wildlife alone.
The patriarch of the Dix family, Daniel, was present for the groundbreaking procession as a couple hundred folks walked in prayer through the tomato fields and Ave Maria became a town. Daniel and Monica were also the first to sign a commitment to open a business in Ave Maria — that business was The Bean of Ave Maria.
Standing outside of Sunday Mass, Monica Dix, wife and mother of five, shares that their offertory envelope is number 27 — those envelopes were handed out to residents star ting with number one — another fact proving their status as one of the original families in Ave.
When they moved to Ave, they were a family of five, with the youngest two girls not having been born yet. Now, they are a family of seven with one dog, Bob Lee Swagger . The Dix girls are: Isabella Ray, “Bella,” 13; Gianna Carolina, “Gigi,” 10; Josephina Maria, “Josie,” 9; Gabriella Lucia, “Gabby,” 5; and Rosa Emiliana, 2. Daniel and Monica had very specific plans for their girls’ names. Firstly, all of their names have Italian roots, and most also honor a family member or patron saint. But secondly, Monica said, “we wanted to be sure their names could work if they wanted to be diplomats or rock stars.”
While unsure if the future has either of those two careers in store for any of the girls, their current interests are certainly varied, including track and field, martial arts, reading, sailing, fencing, book-writing, video game playing, and coding, to name a few.
While their schedules haven’t always been full with the multitude of activities they are now, Daniel and Monica are no strangers to long days and packed schedules. The two met while Monica was studying ceramics and sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University and Daniel was finishing up his degree in art history while working as an art conservator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA. They fell in love and Daniel proposed while on a seven-week bike trip together in Europe.
Monica, who was a cradle Catholic, although not practicing her faith at the time, wanted to get married in the Catholic Church. This was a bit of a problem for Daniel, who was a practicing Christian, but had no real allegiance to any particular denomination at the time. His problem came with the vow to raise his future children in the Catholic faith. Daniel took this vow very seriously. After discussing it with his own family and because it was something that Monica felt strongly about, the two were married in the Catholic Church.
Before they got married though,shortly after their engagement, Daniel left Pittsburgh to put his journalism degree to use by taking a job in management at a daily newspaper in his hometown of Wooster , OH. Monica wasn’t thrilled about the idea of moving to Wooster, so she stayed in Pennsylvania believing it might be easier to find work somewhere she was already comfortable.
It didn’t take her long to realize that she needed to be where Daniel was, “I was like, ‘what am I doing? I’m ruining this relationship I’m supposed to be in’ — Daniel proposed! This isn’t just dating anymore’ — I had made a commitment to Dan. And ultimately,
A 9/11 tribute album: Ave Maria Mass & Suite For The Americas
One way to mark the anniversary of 9/11 is to listen to music composed as a tribute to the victims by Stephen Edwards. His “Suite for the Americas” was paired with his “Ave Maria Mass”, which was commissioned by Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan, on a CD a few years ago. A small number of copies is still available for purchase, though you can purchase the songs on iTunes, and you can listen to samples of all 21 songs at this link.
The Suite for the Americas is sweeping music worthy of America’s epic saga – it will spark your imagination and evoke the American spirit. Listening to the Ave Maria Mass will make you wonder why the songs are never performed at the Ave Maria Oratory – the Kyrie and Gloria are particularly moving. This review is from Amazon.com:
Steve Edwards has composed a moving tribute to the victims of 9/11 in his Ave Maria Mass. He has an excellent appreciation for this genre of music, creating a reverent transcendence. For those who enjoy fluid, coherent lines of music, Mr. Edwards satisfies this longing. The Gloria moves well, the Sanctus and Benedictus are magnificent. The Agnus Dei hauntingly echoes the musical statement of the Kyrie. His Ave Maria is a wonderful work, that I found appealing. The Suite for the Americas is a set of short pieces for very enjoyable and often very inspirational listening. It begins with a musical flight into what seems an ethereal vista over one of America’s great wonders and plummets to what seems some profound journey. All of the music uses pleasing melodic structures with all dissonances resolved with a canvas of pleasant, beautiful, or magnificent phrasing that I appreciated greatly. It almost seems Steve takes you on a musical afternoon on his Tall Ships, and then steams you down the Grand Mississippi, with music that seems to let you see the danger of the shoals but the magnificence of the moving waters. In the mind’s eye, Steve helps one see the Flag waving in the breeze, the redwoods reaching to the skies. The Eternal Flame is haunting and the Elegy to our Fallen Heroes is the tribute is is meant to be, touching on their greatness and their loss.
This is a list of the tracks:
1. Kyrie
2. Gloria
3. Sanctus
4. Benedictus
5. Agnus Dei
6. Ave Maria
7. Gratias Deo
8. The Eagle Soars
9. I Will Fear No Evil
10. Tall Ships
11. The Grand Mississippi
12. Cowboy’s Jig
13. Flag in the Breeze
14. Central Park Waltz
15. Mighty Redwoods
16. Building a Nation
17. Eternal Flame
18. Niagra Falls
19. Baseball Hero
20. Elegy to our Fallen Heroes
21. Patriotic Parade
Video: How Ave Maria Became the Town with a Catholic Heart – Architect Discusses Town’s Catholic-Inspired Design
She was there in the beginning, so her words are an important part of the historical chronicle of the town of Ave Maria. Architect Elisabeth Perreault, Vice President at Cannon Design, delivered a detailed presentation about Town Planning and the Oratory at Ave Maria, Florida, at Judson University’s James Didier Symposium on Christ & Architecture.
This video is a great piece of history, and is “must see TV” for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the town. Ms. Perrault, who was integral in the master plan of the town, recounts what her clients hired her firm to create.
In the video she reveals that in fact her job was to design a “Catholic town” – meaning the very design of the town was intended to evoke, represent and encourage the Catholic culture of the town. That is NOT to say that it was ever intended to be a town just for Catholics, of course. However, Ms. Perrault’s words underscore the faith-based historical inspiration and genesis of the town, which remain the key reason so many people choose to live in Ave Maria.
Some interesting highlights:
- Client Barron Collier Companies thought there was a market for a Catholic community;
- Her firm understood they were being asked to design an ideal Catholic community;
- There was a Catholic faith-based foundation for the community;
- To come up with the plan, she and her colleagues looked back to a time in Italy when church and state weren’t divorced;
- The Oratory church was intentionally designed as the center and cultural heart of the town;
- They were designing a town whose identity was to be Catholic;
- The Church was front and center as a landmark and symbolic heart of the community;
- The church was placed and designed so that it would literally shout to everyone, day and night: “this is what we are all about as a community”;
- The church was designed so a person approaching the town sees the towering oratory from miles away and immediately discovers the faith based origin of the community.
After watching this video, we can be even more confident when we describe Ave Maria, Florida, as “the town with a Catholic heart.”™©. And the town where all persons of good will are welcome.
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McTeigue: The Annunciation is our icon of what our lives should look like
Annunciation by Ave Maria artist Cornelius Sullivan.
When was the Culture of Life first proclaimed against the culture of death? It could be said that the Culture of Life began with John Paul’s encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae,” promulgated in 1995. It could also be said that the Culture of Life began in 1973, in response to the Supreme Court ruling on Roe vs. Wade. It might even be said that the Culture of Life was inaugurated by Pope Paul VI in 1968, with his encyclical “Humanae Vitae.” You could make a good case for any one of those claims.
Here’s an easier question: When was Ave Maria University founded? Well, depending upon how one counts such things, we can say that Ave Maria University is looking forward to soon celebrating its twelfth anniversary. That is true, but it is not quite correct.
I think that Ave Maria University, and the Culture of Life which it serves, were both inaugurated at the Annunciation, the great solemnity we are celebrating today. At that moment, when the Providence of God met the humility of Mary, human life was given an identity, a dignity and a destiny that the pagans of the ancient world could not have imagined, and which the modern world cannot match or even comprehend. In that moment, in the “fiat,” in the “yes” with which Mary responded to the Archangel Gabriel, the horrifying power of sin and the culture of death it spawned, began to be broken.
Consider this lovely image from Saint Irenaeus. He wrote: “Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it“. Our Blessed Mother, by her love, trust and obedience, cooperated with God so that within her very body, the seed of the Culture of Life took root.
We here at Ave Maria, love and serve the Culture of Life begun at the Annunciation; we here at Ave Maria, in opposition to the culture of death which is devouring both human bodies and human souls, wish to imitate the love, trust and obedience of Mary. In imitation of our Blessed Mother, we too wish to cooperate with the saving plan of God. We want to say “yes” to what God would do with us, body and soul. That is why this glorious Solemnity of the Annunciation, a cause of joy for all Catholics, is held especially dear to us here at Ave Maria. The Annunciation is for us here at Ave Maria our icon, our charter and our measure.
Márton Váró’s iconic Annunciation relief in Ave Maria, Florida.
The Annunciation is our icon, for it helps us to see what our lives should look like—a humble, grateful and fruitful trusting of God’s Power and Providence. The Annunciation is our charter, for Mary’s “fiat”, her “yes” to the work of God must be echoed and implemented by us here. And the Annunciation is our measure, for we can only judge our success or failure by our obedience to the call of God.
Today, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the patronal feast of Ave Maria University, let’s pray for three graces, three special blessings. Let’s pray to be alert—alert to the promptings of the divine messengers sent our way, as Mary was. Let’s pray to be obedient—obedient to the workings of Divine Providence, as Mary was. And let’s pray to be fruitful—fruitful stewards of the amazing grace entrusted to our care. If we do that, if we pray and live to be alert, obedient and fruitful, then we can both echo and imitate Mary at the inauguration of the Culture of Life and say, “May it be done to me according to your word.”
Ave Maria University’s Father Robert McTeigue, S.J., preached this homily during Mass for the Solemnity of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is the patronal feast of the town of Ave Maria, the parish of Ave Maria Oratory, and Ave Maria University. Father McTeigue is currently finishing a collection of homilies and essays on preaching entitled, I Have Someone to Tell You: A Jesuit Heralds the Gospel. He recently began writing a weekly column. Father McTeigue earnestly seeks your prayers that his life and work be to God’s greater glory.
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The Annunciation – Cornelius Sullivan on Márton Váró’s magnum opus
The Annunciation, with Sculptor Márton Váró, Ave Maria, Florida
Ave Maria, FL, March 25, 2015 – The Blessed Virgin Mary strides forward breaking the confines of the sculptural relief format. That is only one original aspect of this Annunciation.
Márton Váró is a figurative sculptor who understands beauty and he is experienced in showing the beauty of women.
The scene is a break from the traditional Virgin figures who are shown passively reading or praying. Often she would be shown surprised. Here, her pose indicates that this may be after her fiat, after her yes. Váró’s Virgin is a substantial figure who is strong and active. We may read her expression not as surprised but as inspired.
The Archangel Gabriel kneels respectfully before the Virgin Mary. We may imagine that as Gabriel left on his mission he may have asked, “Should I kneel?” Perhaps God responded, “Artists might show you kneeling, or on your toes, or in the air. Don’t worry you will know what to do.”
Sometimes Artists compress time to tell a complete narrative. Gabriel is speaking and Mary has already said yes. It is in the nature of relationships on earth, that there must be a back and forth, and therefore there is always waiting. We may guess that there was a moment when heaven and earth waited for her yes.
The two other innovative qualities of this sculpture are, first that the sculptor is a Direct Carver and every inch of the marble relief was touched by his hands.
Secondly, the work was completed on site and the whole community became a part of the creative process.
The normal procedure for a project of this magnitude would be for a small two foot model of the design be sent to Carrara or Pietrasanta, Italy where it would be enlarged and carved by artisans. With some luck you could have it resembling the model in a general way in a few years. There would be no guarantee that what looked good at two feet would work at thirty five feet. In Ave Maria the sculptor alone began and completed this sculpture and he also supervised the installation.
The church is in the center of the town of Ave Maria in Florida. It dominates the main piazza like a European Cathedral, a Duomo, and it faces Ave Maria University. The church, the town, and the university are all dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Annunciation takes up a very large proportion of the “cathedral”, the Oratory. The art is both traditional and innovative and it signifies that the building is a Roman Catholic Church.
The sculpture saves the odd Post Modern building that kids call a space ship and that has been compared to an airplane hanger. Its silhouette, front and back, resembles a Bishop’s mitre. The architectural vocabulary of the Oratory, employing both masonry and steel, is a mixed metaphor, not having a particular style. The project did not have an architect, it was the vision of a businessman executed by engineers with no regard to the cannons of traditional Catholic Church architecture with its vocabulary of arches and domes and religious art designed for the inside of the church as well as the outside. It is recognizable now as a church because of The Annunciation sculpture.
A parishioner objected to my characterization of the Oratory as an odd Post Modern building. In teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the School of Architecture, I was required to define terms and understand movements such as Post Modernism. That does not mean that I don’t love the church. It is my church too. Sacraments are lived there.
In The Annunciation the beauty of the message and the beauty of the sculptural form are one and work together.
Lest anyone think that art like this is extravagant I remind them of a sentence by Pope Benedict that proclaims the truth that art is essential to the Church.
The only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely, the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb. – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report, Messori, 1988.
On any given day you can see small groups of people in the remote location on the edge of the Florida Everglades taking pictures of The Annunciation of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Those photographs will subsequently go around the world.
Márton Váró worked for long hours each day in public before the whole community. Covered with white marble dust, (and “looking like a baker” as Leonardo da Vinci said of Michelangelo) he would stop and answer questions for students and pilgrims. When asked at a discussion forum, when the work was nearing completion, if the Virgin Mary had communicated anything special to him, he responded, “Yes, she said keep working.”
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Click here to see an image of the unfinished side angels and to read more about the Ave Maria Oratory and The Annunciation.
Cornelius Sullivan, MFA, is a prolific writer, painter, engraver, sculptor, art historian and lecturer whose work – even his non-religious work – reflects his Catholic faith. He has taught at several universities including the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and currently is an adjunct at Ave Maria University. For years Cornelius has been part of the fabric of life in Ave Maria. His art and writing can be discovered at www.SullivanArt.com
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Patience and Feasting: Annunciation milestones in Ave Maria
It takes time. And God has all the time in the world. Just look at Barcelona’s Sagrada Família Basilica Church, which remains unfinished more than a century after construction commenced in March of 1882.
As Ave Maria prepares to celebrate the town’s patronal feast day, the Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25, it is fitting to recall the milestone events that have occurred on Annunciation days in the history of the still unfinished Ave Maria Oratory:
– In 2006, the Oratory’s cornerstone was laid prior to the town’s construction.
– In 2008, the Oratory was dedicated by Bishop Dewane on the town’s first Annunciation day celebration.
– In 2011, Márton Váró’s magnum opus Annunciation sculpture was unveiled.
– In 2013, the annual Grand Annunciation Feast celebrations were inaugurated by Ave Maria University, during which the university and the townspeople celebrate with Mass, procession, wine, food, song and dancing, under the backdrop of the magnificent Annunciation.
One future milestone will be the installation of the two side sculptures planned to accompany Váró’s Annunciation. We don’t know when that might be – and in fact there is no plan for the completion of these sculptures. But that is how it is with churches – it takes time and patience. When these sculptures are completed, their blessing and unveiling will be another great way to mark the town’s feast day.
This year the Annunciation celebrations will fall on Wednesday, March 25.
Rendering of the Ave Maria Oratory with side angels by Márton Váró – Photo courtesy of Márton Váró
Ave Maria Oratory left side maquette by Márton Váró – Photo courtesy of Márton Váró
Ave Maria Oratory right side maquette by Márton Váró – Photo courtesy of Márton Váró
Scythian delights a dancing crowd at the Grand Annunciation Feast in 2013
Robb Klucik has lived with his family in Ave Maria since it opened in 2007. In addition to running his law practice in Ave Maria, Robb edits this blog, administers a facebook forum for 1000 Ave Maria residents, serves as the President of the West Point Society of Naples, and enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
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