Brief History of

Father Andrew A. Bonet was born in 1906 in Mallorca - one of the Balearic Islands just off the eastern coast of Spain and he pursued his studies for the priesthood in the region of Barcelona, Spain. In 1923 he professed his religious vows in the Order of Clerics Regular (the Theatine Fathers, an Order founded in 1524 whose main purpose was for the sanctification of the clergy and laity). Because of the approaching Communist Revolution in Spain, Father Bonet was sent to Rome for the completion of his theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood there on August 14, 1932.

For some 17 years following his ordination Father Bonet did priestly work in Italy, including a period of some seven years in which he was the Director of the Theatine Seminary in Rome. In 1949 he was assigned by his Order to work in the United States and, during the ensuing twenty years, served in several parishes in Colorado and Mexico City, Mexico. In March, 1969 he resigned his position as pastor of a parish in the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, reportedly having been requested to do so because he was "too conservative." From 1969 until mid 1979 he served as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Antonito, Colorado.

Most of his priestly life was spent among the poor and humble. "They", he wrote, are the people "I like the best." Even in his seventies, he often drove about 600 miles a day, going to bed about midnight and getting up at 5:30 every morning for Mass, confessions, etc.

In 1978, having been urged to retire from the modern church, Fr Bonet did so by joining and going to work for the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement (ORCM) - a national traditional Catholic group founded by the renowned Fr Francis Fenton in the wake of the Vatican II crisis.

In November 1978, Fr Bonet was assigned by Fr Fenton as the first resident pastor of Our Lady of Fatima, in Spring Hill, a post which he occupied during the early years of the life of this parish. The following year, the ceremony of the ground-breaking took place on March 19, 1979 at which the Right Reverend Monsignor Paul Marceau officiated and Fr Bonet assisted.

Fr Bonet remained as pastor until an unfortunate dispute within the ORCM at the national level had its repercussions locally.

After his departure from Our Lady of Fatima, Fr Bonet continued to service other groups of Traditional Catholics which he had begun doing whilst our Pastor, a group in St Petersburg (later moved to Tampa) and another group in Orlando as well as his own chapel. He kept the grueling pace of three Masses each Sunday until shortly before his death in 1998.

Indeed we were privileged to have been asked to give Father the last rites of our Holy Mother the Church a week before his death late one Sunday night. Father had been admitted for renal and pulmonary failure. It seemed as though he began to rally a little in the days following upon his reception of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Then on the following Saturday we learned that Father was no longer responding to treatment.

Father and Sister hastened to his bedside to recite the prayers from the ritual recommending his departing soul to the all-merciful hands of Almighty God.

On Monday morning Tuesday, July 27, 1998 at 7.05 am EDT Fr Andrew Bonet, passed to his eternal reward. Father, who frequently said: "I am God’s pen to do with whatever He wants" and who loved to pray "Thy will be done" is an example of unstinting sacrifice to all of us. Truly the life of a faithful priest is like that of the candle which burns out and is extinguished before the Tabernacle – a silent witness to the presence of God with His people.

Father Francis Dougherty was born on November 11, 1903 in Flatbush - Brooklyn, N.Y. He was the youngest of eight children (three boys and five girls). His father and two brothers were policemen. Three of his sisters were teachers, and one, Sister Mary de Lourdes, was a Sister of Mercy for 58 years. Father Francis Dougherty’s elementary education consisted of four years with the Christian Brothers, two years in public school, and two years in a parish school which was taught by Sisters of St. Joseph. He attended a Jesuit high school with hopes of becoming a Jesuit. However, at the end of his four years, the Jesuits told him to forget "books" and do some hard manual work. Therefore after graduating from high school he worked on a farm, then handling freight on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and finally for a mortgage company.

In 1932 he came across a Postulants' Guide for the Cistercian Monastery in Oka, Canada. He wrote to the nearest Monastery which was located in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. The Prior, Rev. John O’Connor, told him to have his teeth fixed and bring a pair of work shoes. On January 3, 1933 he went to the office of the Prior with his shoes under his arm and said, "Reverend Father, I had my teeth fixed". The Prior replied, "Sure, you don’t need teeth for the food we have here".

After one month he received the habit of a novice — white robe, white scapular and cloth cincture. After two years he made Simple Profession and received a black scapular and leather belt. After another five years he made Solemn Profession. Bishop Francis Patrick Keough of Providence and later Archbishop of Baltimore ordained him with three other Monks on March 25, 1944.

He concelebrated the Novus Ordo Mass with his community for approximately one year before he became aware that there was something very wrong with the new liturgy and voiced his concerns. His Abbot respecting his conscience, excused him from concelebrating, but required him to be present at the Community Novus Ordo Mass. That he considered to be his greatest penance and source of danger, for he feared that he would lose his Faith.

In December of 1978 he asked for a "leave" but it was refused by the Abbot. In July 1979, with the help of two other monks he was able to obtain one and received a "Celebret" showing that he was a priest in good standing.

On August 5 1979, he went to the state of Florida where he celebrated the true Mass for a small group of Traditionalists on the south-east coast. In 1983, parishioners from the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Spring Hill met with Fr Dougherty and asked if he would come north to Spring Hill to assume the duties of Pastor of the Church. Fr Dougherty agreed and until his death in 1991 he ministered faithfully to his flock.

A series of unfortunate divisions between parishioners weakened the unity and scattered some of the sheep in these trying years.

In November of 1996, quite by chance as it happened, a young, freshly ordained and inexperienced priest arrived to assume the reins, uncertain as to what the future held. Over time, and through the fidelity, generosity and prayers of the people, a peaceful and spiritually vibrant parish has been re-born.

Requiescat in pace

A little known secret of our parish, is that one of its oldest members was actually present at the last apparition at Fatima and witnessed the miracle of the sun. "Al" as he was more affectionately known passed to his eternal reward in 2001, but words cannot adequately express this man’s emotion whenever he spoke about this singular memory from his childhood:

Our pilgrimage began early in the morning of October 13, 1917, in
Portugal.