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Neighborhood Report

Backyard shrine on borrowed time

The Armenia Avenue property where a Cuban immigrant demonstrates his faith is for sale.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published May 19, 2006

Thousands of drivers zoom past the backyard shrine outside 808 N Armenia Ave. every day, glancing with fleeting curiosity at its towering white cross, plastic statues and perennial Christmas lights.

But few stop to knock on the door.

If they did, they'd see a makeshift electric altar and a mosaic of candles, statues, photos and dolls that fill a small bedroom.

They'd hear about the time Jesus appeared there on Thanksgiving Day, and the day a sick woman was healed with prayer.

They'd meet the man who sees crosses in the sky.

Rogelio Sanchez wore a wide grin and no shirt when he answered the knock last week. The skinny 63-year-old was eager to share his stories in Spanish.

He told of his voyage from Cuba during the 1980 Mariel boatlift. Emigrants filled a boat packed three times over capacity and sat in silent horror as huge waves threatened to devour the vessel.

"Don't fear, because God is with us," Sanchez told the people. Then he saw her, the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of Cuba. "God is with us."

The sea calmed and they floated to Miami.

That night wasn't a turning point for Sanchez's faith. Even as a child, he instinctively made crosses out of sticks, trash and anything else he could find.

"You bring me anything you want, even paper, and I'll make a cross out of it," Sanchez said.

He believes he is on a mission, sent to Earth by God as a messenger. He wants to help as many people as he can.

Sanchez has lived alone in one of three tiny apartments in the green house on Armenia Avenue for 15 years. His wife and children stayed behind in Cuba, and she remarried.

Sanchez sleeps in a small bed beside his altar, with his hands pressed together in prayer. Every morning, he walks outside to greet the sun.

"How beautiful, that sun," Sanchez said, tearing up as he often does in conversation.

It doesn't bother him if people don't see the crosses in the clouds he videotaped on New Year's Day. He doesn't care if people can't see the face of Jesus in the Polaroid he took outside his front door. He sees them. He sees God everywhere.

Sanchez audiotapes his prophecies and prayers on a mammoth Sony sound system, mixing his voice with live Christian music. Next year, he predicts, God will give the world a sign of Jesus' second coming.

But when asked about the future of his home, he can't predict what will happen. His apartment and the lot on which his shrine has grown for the past four years are in limbo.

The City Council approved a zoning change for the property in January from multifamily residential to residential/office use.

The owner, Pawan K. Rattan, had planned to tear down the building and construct a two-story doctor's office and parking lot, according to council transcripts. But then, he put the property up for sale.

Rattan did not return phone messages left by the Times.

While Sanchez's future remains uncertain, his health declines. Last Sunday evening after painting a birdbath in the yard, he clutched his heart, which started beating rapidly. He later revealed the protruding hernia in his abdomen.

He set all his clocks on different times. One clock has no hands, a symbol of the unannounced coming of God, Sanchez said.

So until the day he gets to heaven, or is forced to leave his shrine behind, he will offer the sun a faithful greeting.

"Thank you, God," Sanchez said, "for another day."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified May 18, 2006, 12:30:38]