It was April 9, 1969, when Bishop Paul F. Tanner affixed the Diocesan
Seal to documents establishing the parish of St. Madeleine Sophie in High
Springs. Catholicism in High Springs, however, was nurtured much earlier
than the date of its parish establishment. In 1906 Fr. Patrick A. Bresnaha
stayed in a bullet-hole riddled hotel known as the "Yellow Dog" and he
said his first mass in our town in the home of Sarah and James Paul.
Masses continued to be held in people's homes until 1925. In April 1925,
James Paul deeded land in downtown High Springs for a church and the
building we now call the "Adoration Chapel" was built. On May 24, 1925,
the eve of the feast day of our patroness St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, the
church building was blessed and placed under her patronage. St. Madeleine
remained as a mission church of St. Patrick's in Gainesville until 1968
when Fr. Richard Altenbaugh was appointed as the first resident pastor.
Fr. Michael Williams assumed his first assignment as pastor of St.
Madeleine "Tri-County Parish" consisting of the missions of High Springs,
Cross City, and Williston in 1971. He was followed by Fr. Paul Hogarty in
1973, Fr. Roland Julien in 1974, Fr. John Dux in 1977, Fr. Joseph Meehan
in 1985, Fr. Wayne Price in 1993, Fr. Noel Cox, CSSp, in 1995, and Fr.
Edward Murphy in 2002. Other priests who served in the 2000's include Fr.
Jim Cottrell as non-resident associate and Fr. Gerald Pincince as Interim
Administrator. It was Fr. Julien who purchased the property that housed
the ill-reputed Dragon Arts Drive-In with the intention of making it a
family oriented theatre. Fr. Dux arranged to have the parish moved to the
new site in December 1979. The main building was constructed as a
multi-purpose building in 1981 and it was blessed on May 6, 1984.
Fr. Meehan dealt with debt incurred from the building projects. Fr. Cox
was instrumental at getting the mortgage paid off and moving the abandoned
church building in Hawthorne to our property. It was the Education
Building until 2007 and currently used for the Country Store. Fr. Murphy's
term onwards the pastoral care of San Juan Mission, Branford, was extended
to St. Madeleine. He also arranged for the purchase of our new rectory.
Our present pastor, Fr. Sebastian K. George, CMI, arrived in 2007, the
year the Diocese purchased the property with a house that now serves as
the Activity Center. In 2008, the beautiful crucifix in front of the
Church was dedicated in memory of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Achille D'Anca. In 2009,
the Family Life Center was built and was dedicated on the Feast of All
Saints. January 9, 2011, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we
dedicated our former multi-purpose building as a church.
