St.
Timothy Parish History
On
October 15, 1985 a meeting was held at the Club House in Orange Blossom Gardens
for the purpose of establishing a place of Worship. An estimated crowd of
225 attended. Father Philip Stegeman, Pastor of St. Paul’s in Leesburg
outlined the forming of a parish. The boundaries were North of Route 42,
South of Eagles Nest Road, encompassing the counties of Lake, Sumter and Marion.
It’s name, LADY LAKE CATHOLIC MISSION. The first Mass was celebrated on
November 3, 1985 at 8:00 am in the temporary location in the Recreation Hall of
OBG.
In
early 1986, the Lady Lake Catholic Mission became St. Timothy Catholic Mission.
The generosity of the parishioners was unbelievable and the determination of the
different committees made the ground breaking for the $800,000 multi-purpose
building possible on Sunday, October 4, 1987. The first mass was
celebrated by Father Philip Stegemen on June 26, 1988. Father Philip
Stegemen died suddenly and on October 7, 1988 his funeral Mass was celebrated in
this church.
On December 1, 1988, Father William
Killion was appointed the first pastor, and St. Timothy became a parish.
The church building was dedicated on December 10, 1989.
Our second pastor, Father Louis
Dunleavy, was with us only from November 1992 until his death on October 13,
1993.
Father Francis X Zammit served as
administrator during Father Dunleavy’s illness, from December 1992 until
December 1, 1993, when Father Robert V. Fucheck became our third and present
pastor.
The need for a larger
Church became evident as the Catholic households mushroomed to
1,600 families, crowding the five weekend Masses. Ground
breaking for the new St. Timothy Catholic Church was on November
23, 1994. The dedication of the new St. Timothy Catholic
Church was Sunday, January 28, 1996, presider, The Most Reverend
Nortbert M. Dorsey, C.P.S.T.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando,
Florida.
Many thanks to all
the members of the parish organizations, and all the parishioners,
without whose sacrifice and hours of toil this house of worship
could not have been completed.
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Behind The Tabernacle
The three stained glass windows behind the
tabernacle constitute the three central Mysteries of our Faith:
the Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, and are also used in
the praying of the Rosary. The left window depicts the
Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she is to
be the Mother of God. The central window shows the Crucified
Christ, who shed His blood in Atonement for us. The window
on the right depicts the Resurrection of Our Lord, promising
Eternal Life.
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Windows On Your Right Or North Side
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As you enter the Church from the front entrance,
the windows on your right or North side are numbered 1 through 8
and designed with themes of Community Involvement. It is the wish of the Pastor that
as you study each window you will find your own deep spiritual
meaning in each of them.
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"Prayer" Sparks the fire of love. In
this window, the message is given through the use of the Holy
Rosary.
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"Community" In this window the whole Church of
St. Timothy is shown with Christ as the vine and the people, His
branches.
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"Service" The use of the Bowl and Pitcher to
depict the Servanthood of Christ's people is a reminder of the
washing of the Disciples feet, at the Last Supper.
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"Healing" The Theme in the fourth window
signifies healing by using the cross as the ultimate healer and
the Holy Oil poured over the pleading hands of Mankind.
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"Forgiveness" Forgiveness is the
basic theme of our Christian Faith and is shown as the Keys of the
Kingdom, which Christ gave to Peter saying "What you have bound on
earth is bound in heaven, and what you have loosed on earth, shall
be loosed in Heaven."
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"New Beginnings" This symbol, the
beauty of the butterfly as it emerges from its Chrysalis, refers
also to those beginning in the promise of our Father.
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"Peace and Justice" Peace and justice,
those traits which are part of the Mission Statement of our Parish
are depicted as the scales of Justice against the backdrop of the
Olive Branch of Peace. Without Justice, there can be no
Peace and with Peace comes Justice.
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"Jubilee" This all important window shows
the dedication of ourselves to the Jubilee year 2000 in the symbol
of the Bee Hive, from which the Bees produce the sweetness of
Jesus' love. The vine is old and gnarled, but the hive is
new and the leaves which spring from the living vine are new,
giving the promise of new life in the new Millennium.
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Windows On Your Left Or South Side
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As you enter from the vestibule, the windows on you
left or South side depict scriptural themes in their
symbolism, and are also numbered 1 through 8. It is the wish of the Pastor that
as you study each window you will find your own deep spiritual
meaning in each of them.
"Creation" The depiction shows the Sun, Moon
and Stars separated by the cloudlike formation of the firmament.
"Covenant" The depiction in this window is of
the Rainbow, which was sent to Noah following the Flood, whereby
God said He would make a covenant. The angels guard the Arc
of the Covenant, which is shown containing the Ten Commandments
given to Moses.
"Wisdom" Depicting the theme of Wisdom, the
Scriptures, the Torah, and the Word of God, are made alive through
the Holy Spirit.
"The Word" The word as taken from John 1:1 "In the
beginning was the Word". The word is symbolized by the lamp
of Enlightenment.
"Baptism" Baptism, the theme for the fifth
window, is depicted as the Paschal Candle dipped into the waters
of Blessing. CHIRHO, (PX) the Greek symbol for Christ and
His Church, is superimposed as a part of the Candle, symbolizing
our being Baptized into Christ, that through His Death and
Resurrection, we are saved.
"Eucharist" The Sheaf of Wheat intermingled
with the Grape Vine, the Bread and Wine, the Body
and Blood of Christ. The portion of the Host depicts our
visible salvation by Christ, while that portion which is hidden is
the Sacrificial Mystery.
"Holy Spirit" In the seventh window, the Holy
Spirit is represented by the Dove from which emanates the Fire of
the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
"Second Coming" The second coming, the final
Scriptural Window, is shown as that portion of the Book of
Revelation which tells of the Second coming, wherein His love is
poured out over the whole world.
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WINDOWS VIEWED FROM THE NARTHEX
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Looking into the body of the church from the narthex, one
can view the window etching based on The Last Supper. Ray
Richards designed these windows in 1999 using the theme of
Eucharist. Figures behind the apostles are sketched with a
thinner line and “on another plane”. Since Eucharist spans time
and includes all, we see added figures representing all ages. From
left to right behind the apostles are seen St. Padro Pio, Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Vincent DePaul, St. John Newman, St. Francis
of Assisi, Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, Pope John Paul
II, St Martin dePorres, Mother Theresa, St. Francis Xavier, St Joan
of Arc and finally a contemporary family. In the center area
doorway are located etchings depicting symbols of Eucharist,
namely the bread and wine, wheat and grapes. Sister Diane
Couture, SSJ of Sisters of St. Joseph Stained Glass, was
commissioned to do the window.
The exterior windows in the Narthex of the church from left
to right are the following themed windows:
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St. Mary Magdalene:
As part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of
the Women’s Guild at St. Timothy, Sister Diane Couture of SSJ
Stained Glass, was commissioned to design a stained glass window of
St. Mary Magdeline, the first disciple to witness and announce the
Risen Christ. Mary announced to the apostles: “I have seen the
Lord”. This saint was chosen to be a complement to the one on the
right side and to commemorate women in the Church.
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40th Anniversary Commemoration: The center window was
commissioned in 2006 to commemorate the 40th anniversary to the
priesthood of our Pastor, Father Bob Fucheck. The window denotes
Father’s journey with the words, “Come follow me”, which led Father
Bob to St. Leo Abbey (center) where he was ordained a Benedictine
Priest. As the journey continued, Father came to the Diocese of
Orlando and eventually to St. Timothy (lower right). At the base of
the window is seen an altar with the elements of Eucharist, the
bread and grapes and wine goblet.
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St. Stephen, the first Deacon: This window was commissioned
to celebrate all of our Deacons, especially Deacon Nick Deutsch at
the time of his retirement from the altar. St. Stephen was the
first deacon in the time of the early church. We see here Stephen
with the deacon stole, the bible (word) and cup. Deacons are
ordained for the ministry of the word and the service of the cup.
Sister Diane Couture SSJ of SSJ Architectural Stained Glass
designed, fabricated and installed all of the above-mentioned
windows.
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