By Lilla Ross
Deacon Charles Bemis will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of St. Augustine on Saturday, June 7, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, 38 Cathedral Place. The ordination Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Erik Pohlmeier, and all are welcome to attend. The liturgy will also be livestreamed on the diocesan YouTube channel (@YouTube.com/dosacatholics).
Looking back, Bemis says he first felt called to the priesthood when he was about six years old while preparing for his first Communion at St. Luke Parish in Middleburg.
He attended Sunday Mass with his family and weekday Mass with classmates at Annunciation Catholic School in Middleburg. He also accompanied his grandmother to weekly Eucharistic adoration.
“I saw the joy priests had on the altar,” Bemis said. “At that age, I didn’t understand the theology or anything, but I knew I wanted that kind of joy.”
As he got older, other interests took over. While still active as an altar server, lector and in youth ministry, his focus had shifted to sports, girls and a dream of becoming a sports journalist.
In 2015, between his junior and senior years at Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, a visiting seminarian at St. Luke’s parish made an unexpected impression. “I liked him — he seemed like a regular guy,” Bemis said. “I thought, if he’s discerning, maybe I could be too. At the Steubenville retreat, I felt God tugging. I opened the door a little bit and answered the altar call to receive a blessing.”
Encouraged by his pastor, Bemis attended a discernment retreat at Marywood Retreat Center in St. Johns. “I thought I was going to get my answer that weekend,” he said. “It was a nice retreat, but I didn’t get the spiritual high I’d had at Steubenville. So, I thought maybe this wasn’t for me.”
Later that year, while visiting Tallahassee, his birthplace and where his mother had attended college, the family went to Mass at their former parish. As they were leaving, the priest greeted them—and then turned to Charles.
“He asked my name, looked at me, and said, ‘Are you discerning a call to the priesthood?’ I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say—I just made a beeline for the car.”
Still planning for a future in journalism, Bemis couldn’t shake the feeling that “something felt off.” The door to his vocation, he said, was starting to open again.
During Lent in 2016, he returned to adoration. “During Holy Week, I was in the chapel and prayed, ‘If this is your will, let it be done.’ I felt the burden lift,” he said. “On Easter morning, I watched Father Remek Blaszkowski and his brother, Father Andy, celebrate Mass. I saw their joy again, but now I understood. I decided to apply to seminary.”
Fathers Remek and Andy even drove him to St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami for his entrance.
“Father Remek told me, ‘You’re not being ordained tomorrow, you’re just opening the door. If God wants you to be a priest, he’ll let you know,’” Bemis said.
Deacon Charles Bemis has since completed his theological studies and priestly formation, including time at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. His journey culminates on June 7 with ordination to the priesthood.
He will begin his first priestly as parochial vicar at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Ponte Vedra Beach on July 1, 2025.
