By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic
The sturdy building, once the home of Resurrection parish, outlasted the converted stable in which St. Maurice worshiped.
A sunburst design fills the south gable of the church.
The east transept at St. Maurice honors the four Evangelists, who wrote the four Gospels. St. Matthew is pictured as aged and white-bearded.
St. Mark, who wrote the second Gospel, was a companion to St. Paul and a cousin of St. Barnabas.
St. Peter is easily identified by the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven in his hand, given him by Jesus.
St. Paul has a place among the Evangelists' windows as the writer of the most New Testament books.
St. Luke was a companion of Paul and Peter. He wrote not only the third Gospel but the book of Acts.
St. John wrote the last and most personal Gospel account. He is imagined as one of the youngest apostles.
Maria Goretti was stabbed by a neighbor, dying a day later. Her killer repented after a vision in which she forgave him.
St. Thomas More was a theologian and member of Parliament in the 16th century. He was martyred for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as the head of the church in England.
The 19th century St. Therese of Lisieux is often shown holding roses. She is known as "The Little Flower" for teaching that God values not just heroic deeds, but small acts of kindness.
St. Francis of Assisi communes with birds, as the patron saint of the environment. At his side is the wolf that he tamed, according to a legend.
St. Katharine Drexel donated her life and her part of her family's fortune to serving African-Americans and native Americans through schools and missions.
St. Juan Diego shows the cloak on which he received an image of Mary. He and his wife were among the first indigenous Mexicans who were baptized into Christianity.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha was a 17th century Mohawk who became the first native American -- in 2012 -- to be declared a saint.
St. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit missionary, was among eight Canadian martyrs canonized in 1930.
St. Francis Xavier Cabrini -- who preferred the title "Mother" -- is credited with founding 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages across the United States within 35 years.
Junipero Serra, a Franciscan, founded nine missions in California in the 18th century. Pope Francis declared him a saint in 2015 in Washington, D.C.
St. Damien de Veuster is honored for his ministry to lepers in Hawaii in the 19th century -- continuing to serve them even after he contracted leprosy himself.
Bishop John Neumann oversaw the tremendous expansion of parishes and Catholic schools in 18th century Philadelphia.
Elizabeth Ann Seton converted to Catholicism as a young widow, then founded the Sisters of Charity in Maryland. In 1975, she became the first American-born citizen to be declared a saint.
The main Christ image at St. Maurice is a resurrection bas-relief. Smaller images show Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, and of the descent from the cross.
In the chapel at St. Maurice, the main crucifix has Jesus on the cross but with his arms spread. It therefore combines themes of his death and resurrection.
St. Rita was an Augustinian sister famed for her charity, prayer and austerity -- and for bearing wounds on her forehead that resembled those from the crown of thorns.
The only window at St. Maurice with two saints: Augustine, one of history's most prominent Christian teachers; and his mother, Monica.
St. John Stone bears the chains in which Henry VIII placed him before having him tortured and killed. Stone was one of 40 English martyrs canonized in 1970.
A swirling, galaxy-like pattern marks the main entrance to the chapel at St. Maurice.
St. Thomas of Villanova offers a handful of coins, which he often did as a champion of charity.
Luigi Giuseppe Bellesini dedicated himself to preaching and religious education for children.
A lotus-like window shines into the reconciliation room at St. Maurice.
Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while saying Mass, after protesting violence and social injustice in his native El Salvador. He was declared a saint in 2018.
St. Maximilian Kolbe was arrested by Nazis in 1941 at his monastery, then sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He offered his life for that of a man who had a family.
St. John XXIII, as pope, convened the Second Vatican Council, seeking a "new Pentecost" and more openness of the Church to the world.
St. Andre Bessette holds a figurine of St. Joseph, to whom he had a lifelong dedication. The devout Canadian became known for many healings and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.
Mother Teresa cradles one of the many sick and starving children she cared for. Although she was born Albanian, she patterned her habit after saris worn by the poor in her adoptive homeland, India.
St. Thomas of Villanova offers a handful of coins, which he often did as a champion of charity.
Luigi Giuseppe Bellesini dedicated himself to preaching and religious education for children.
A lotus-like window shines into the reconciliation room at St. Maurice.
This bronze statue is a rendering of the picture "Grace," snapped in 1918 by photographer Eric Enstrom of Bovey, Minnesota. The life-size statue stood on the grounds of St. Maurice, but was stolen sometime after 2014.
Photography: JIM DAVIS | FC
DANIA BEACH | A conscientious objector, who faced death rather than deal it to others, is the patron saint of St. Maurice at Resurrection Church.
Born in 250 A.D. in Thebes, Egypt, St. Maurice grew into a prominent military career. His skill earned him the command of his own Roman legion of 6,600 soldiers, many of them Christian like himself.
But his faith and his vocation clashed when his commander, Maximian, ordered the legion to crush a rebellion of Christian peasants in what is now Switzerland. They were also ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods in advance. Maurice and his fellow believers objected to both, leading to their martyrdom at Maximian's hands.
Maurice's courage in sacrificing himself, rather than his ideals, won the admiration of subsequent Church leaders. As an Egyptian from the Upper Nile region, he is sometimes classed among several hundred black or African saints as well.
St. Maurice at Resurrection Church in Dania Beach bears the names of its two parent churches, which merged in 2009. Oldest was the Church of the Resurrection of our Lord, founded in 1958 with 450 families.
In 1961, Augustinian priests began ministering at Resurrection, a post they filled until its merger with Maurice. Archbishop Coleman Carroll dedicated the parish’s distinctive A-frame church building on Palm Sunday 1963.
Over the years, Resurrection added the transept, a Peace Garden and three dozen stained glass windows. Some of the windows' subjects weren't even saints when the windows were installed. Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in his native El Salvador, wasn't canonized until 2018.
St. Maurice Church was founded in 1970 in ranchland southwest of Fort Lauderdale. The congregants converted a horse barn into the church building, even calling it “The Church of the Stable.” (See 50th anniversary story here.)
They also added nature-themed art, including a rocky pool and windows depicting the ancient elements of earth, air, fire and water. But the wooden structure suffered from decades of weathering, and the members finally decided to vacate. And in 2014, they moved into the sturdier Resurrection Church.
But that building still carries the heritage of the Augustinians who served there. One of the windows depicts John Stone, who was tortured and martyred by Henry VIII. Another shows Mary as the Mother of Consolation, a title given her by the Augustinians.
Another distinctive of St. Maurice at Resurrection is the pose of its two Christ figures — one over the chancel, the other behind the chapel altar. Both show him with arms open, emphasizing his resurrection and his triumph over death.
