Ave María! May our lady de la leche, the Immaculate Queen of Florida, bless us with her loving child and together with all saints and martyrs, pray for us! October 11th is a very significant feast day for Catholics living in Florida but most do not know the feast. Most Catholics are unaware of Florida’s Walshingham, the Mission Nombre de Dios and Nuestra Señora de la leche.
In 1565 Admiral Pedro Menéndez established Mission Nombre de Dios for the conversion of the local Timucan natives living near St. Augustine. Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza OFM was the priest who first said Mass upon the shores of St. Augustine, he also ran Mission Nombre de Dios until 1571 when he was transferred to New Spain. Just before Amiral Menéndez left Florida for the final time in 1572, he requested the transfer of the Florida Missions to the Franciscan order. In 1573 the first Franciscan missionaries arrived and Mission Nombre de Dios officially fell under their care. Among these first Franciscan missionaries was Father Blas Rodríguez OFM, who became the pastor of Mission Nombre de Dios in 1596. Father Rodríguez brought with him a small statue of Our Lady de La Leche, a replica of an image in Madrid and placed her upon the altar of Mission Nombre de Dios. There Father Rodríguez consecrated that Mission and the entirety of Spanish Florida go her protection and intercession.
“Father Blas Rodríguez, seeing the awful birth pains of this city and people… Father Blas Rodríguez yearning himself for the new birth of Christianity among the natives of Florida had the happy thought to transpatriate the Spanish devotion to [Mission ] Nombre de Dios… Therefore Father Blas erected Our Lady de la leche on this spot, as all authentic maps and records clearly determine, thus our lady de la leche, the divine child drinking life from the virgins breast, became the inspiring hope and succor of this city 340 years ago and so it stayed the years between and so it’s stayed today.” Father Michael Kenny, 1933.
Father Rodríguez would travel North the following year to work among the Gaule in modern day Georgia. He would became pastor of Mission Santa Clara de Tupiqui and there he began to spread devotion to Our Lady de la Leche. Our lady was without her enemies and that same year, 1597, a pagan revolt began and
Father Rodríguez would be killed with at the foot of the altar along with 5 other friars.
After the revolt was put down and the ringleaders were executed, the missions were restored.
Our lady de la leche moved the hearts of many of the natives and a mass conversion began. In 1606 Florida received its first episcopal visit from Bishop Juan de las Cabezas Altamirano who spent 4 months visiting all of the Florida Mission. During his visit he confirmed 3,500 and personally baptized 1,200 people, attributing this grand converison to devotion to our lady de la leche. For this reason Bishop Altamirano approved the establishment of a permanent shrine to our lady de la leche. In 1609 this shrine chapel was completed and consecrated, a separate chapel deon the grounds of the Mission dedicated to our lady. In 1649 Florida received its second episcopal visit by Bishop Gabriel Díaz Vara Calderón, he visited over 75 missions which included the Florida panhandle. Bishop Calderon reported that there were 250,000 baptized catholic natives living in Florida. Our lady had ushered in a grand age of faith and conversion but this changed in 1663 when the English established the colony of Carolina. English raids against Spanish settlements and missions became common and by 1684 all the missions in present day South Carolina and Georgia were either destroyed or abandoned. In 1702 the English governor James Moore of South Carolina attacked St. Augustine by suprise with a force of over 1,200 militiamen and creek warriors. The Spanish had garrisoned only 205 regulars. Moore defaced the statue of our lady and set a fire to the chapel but failed to take St. Augustine. Forced to retreat in shame, Moore returned in 1704 and destroy the largely unarmed missions of the Florida panhandle, killings thousands of natives and six friars.
While in Florida Moore would contract yellow fever which he would never recover from, dying two years later in 1706. He died insane and significantly in debt. Our lady’s chapel would be repaired and her statue would be replaced. In 1728 the South Carolina colonel John Palmer attacked Mission Nombre Dios by surprise. Notably, there was a Native American sacristan named Jose at the mission. When Jose heard the English he immediately took the blessed sacrament and ran but was shot before he could get very far. Miraculously when the Spanish later recovered his body they found the ciborium tightly held in his arms, not a single host was taken. Jose was later buried within the sanctuary of the shrine of our Lady de la leche. Palmer rode his horse into the chapel and took the statue of our lady. He ripped the child Jesus from our lady’s hands and straggled him before throwing him into a marsh. He then took our lady and ordered her executed by firing squad, after which he used her for target practice. He was told by a dying native that because of his actions he would die with a day. Remarkably, the follow day after failing to capture the city, colonel Palmer was riddled by bullets by his own men while retreating. The English were forced to retreat back to Charleston. The chapel was again rebuilt but again destroyed in the constant fighting. In 1763 Florida was ceded to England in exchange for Cuba at the end of the Seven Years War. Our lady’s statue was taken to Cuba by the friars who left along with the majority of the population. The English destroyed all of the Catholic Churches except for the cathedral of St. Augustine, which they used for their Anglican services. Only 8 Spanish families remained in st Augustine, the rest of the Spanish population left. Catholicism was almost entirely absent bedsides for the eight Spanish families who “prayed at home.” This was until 1768 when over a thousand Roman Catholic indentured servants came to Florida to work in a plantation, among these were two priests Father Pedro Camps, a secular priest and Father Bartolome Casanovas, an Augustinian. These indentured we servants were a maltreated people and in 1774 Father Casanovas was banished to Cuba. These indentured servants and the eight Spanish families continued the devotion of our lady de la leche, whose portrait had hung above their altar. While they were not allowed to use a church, the Quebec act was applied to Florida allowing them to practice Catholicism. In 1783 Florida was returned to Spain and in 1790 the Shrine of our lady de la leche was rebuilt and the old statue was re-enthroned by the Franciscans. This changed again however in 1819, when Florida became a US territory. The Us government took possession of all Church property during the hand over and the chapel of our lady de la leche was again demolished with her statue again taken to Cuba. The lands of Mission nombre de Dios were auctioned and used for orchards. Eventually, the US Bishops were able to win back in court the cathedral and other churches from the government but not Mission Nombre de Dios. Miraculously, the sacred acre and the ruins of the chapel were never touched by the farmers. In 1850, Florida had only 7 Catholic Churches and 4 catholic priests. Bishop Agustin Verot, bishop of Savannah, makes a visit to Florida and prays in the ruins of Mission Nombre de Dios. He writes in his journey, that in all the holy places he’s been within his life, that he had never experienced the “mystical peace” of being in the ruins of Mission Nombre de Dios. In 1870 the Diocese of St. Augustine is established with Agustín Verot named its bishop. in 1875 Bishop bought the sacred acre and asked for the statue to be returned, he also orded the shrine to be rebuilt. on November 14, 1875 the chapel of our lady de la leche was consecrated by Bishop Verot. Since then it was damaged by storm and fire. The last major restoration of the chapel was done in 1915 and in 1920 the bishop of Florida started a Easter pielginsge to the site from all of Florida. In 2021, the Holy Father granted a Canonical Coronation for Our Lady of La Leche at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Our lady de la leche, despite all the odds and many enemies managed to survive and continue to spread the faith in Florida.
Prayer:
Lovely Lady of La Leche, Most loving Mother of Jesus,
and my mother, listen to my humble prayer. Thy motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need. To thee only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has thy Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul. Thine was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior.
Intercede with Him now, my loving mother, that in accordance with His will (mention your request). This I ask, O Lady of La Leche, in the name of thy Divine Son, my Lord and Redeemer.
Amen
V. O Mary, conceived without sin.
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us.
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