san pablo catholic church

What a find in Marathon. The church garden is lovely with many beautiful trees, bushes and flowers. We enjoyed walking on the paths, listening to the quiet music and admiring the statues, fountains, pictures and plant material.

St. Pablo's is within walking distance of Coral Lagoon Resort where we stayed. The church sits back off the road so keep your eyes opened for the sign on the ocean side of the highway. They have 2 Saturday masses, I think 4pm and 5:30 pm as well as Sun masses at 8am and 11 am. The congregation is very welcoming, most of the people were likely visitors. The church itself is attractive, checkout the nice walkway and garden at the rear of the church.

We walked to the church from our hotel and found it had a beautiful garden and was not crowded. If you want a lovely peaceful stroll it is well worth your time.

Family went to church on Saturday evening. Church is small and nice inside. Prayer garden, stations of the cross and rosary garden are worth an extra 15-20 minutes before or after mass.

The quite area around the church is the best. Never have seen anything like it. The church itself was average, but the grounds is a must see.

I've only been to this church after dark in December, when the Christmas lights are in full display. Every year it seems to get a bit more elaborate. If you are anywhere near Marathon in December, and have the time, stop by and walk through the lovely, peaceful grounds and marvel and the time and energy that went into building this display.

San Pablo is an active church frequented by both locals and tourists. The people are friendly and the priest has a good sense of humor.

After all the partying, sun and surf ... if you want some peace and reflection ...GO HERE to the "Prayer Garden", it is a very special place in the middle keys. This place and the church is a sanctuary and place of peace for all, no matter what their believes.

Went on Sunday so only walked through the Stations of Christ Garden. We are not Catholic but we have never felt such peace as we walked through this garden. Please take the time to do this if you can. It would also be beautiful at night since many things are lighted.

Wow! We stopped overnight in Marathon, Florida on our way to Key West just after Christmas 2014. My husband saw this church on Trip Advisor recommendations so we decided to stop during the day to walk through the prayer garden with our kids. We ended up coming back at night to see it with the Christmas decorations all lit up. WOW WOW WOW! So peaceful and beautiful! Given the variety of plantings in the garden, I am sure it is beautiful all year round - we just happened to catch it when it was all bedazzled for Christmas. Definitely worth a visit whether you are Catholic or non-Catholic - and any time of year.

Loved going to Mass here! Parish is authentically Catholic and pro-life. There are prayer gardens and the people are very welcoming. Coffee and donuts after Wed am Mass.

We stopped by this church when there wasn't a mass going on. However, we were stunned by the beauty of their meditation garden which rivals any botanical garden for hundreds of miles! Their gardens were the best we've seen at any church.The stained glass inside the church was like no we've ever seen. Definitely stop by and check out their gardens on your next trip to Marathon!

We attended Saturday evening mass here, and found it to be a beautiful church with a very welcoming congregation. A wonderful place to attend mass while on vacation!

A must see especially around Christmas, it is like a catholic disney world in their gardens! Just stunning, with piped in music and all. I went to mass during the day, and strolled thru and saw how pretty then, but returned in the evening and it is spectacular light show! Not to mention very inspiring to pray to the blessed Mother, Padre Pio, St Francis, the Blessed Family and pray the rosary as well! Deacon Kirk is from NJ and a pleasure speaking to him after mass. I brought my family back another evening as they weren't able to be with me that day, and they thanked me as they couldn't believe how lovely!

A friend took us to see the beautiful gardens and Christmas lights at this beautiful church. All I can say is during the day, or at night, WOW. We first went at night to enjoy the lights and they were so pretty. As a matter of fact, we walked through twice. I don't know how much longer they'll be lit over this holiday season, but if you can, go and enjoy the beauty and reverence of the place. They turn the lights out at 10:00 p.m. Don't worry about being left in the dark if you go towards closing. We noticed that the lights go out slowly from a section to another, so you won't be in the dark. From the time the lights start to go out until they're all out, you have plenty of time to get to the parking lot. We went back the next day to enjoy the gardens during daylight hours. While not a huge area, it's one of the nicest gardens I've been in, and believe me, in my travels throughout various locations, I've been in quite a few. This is a place the entire city of Marathon can be proud of. Go and see for yourself how special a place it is.