The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche is a Catholic Marian shrine located at the Nombre de Dios Mission in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

. Originally built in 1609 in honor of

Our Lady of La Leche Our Lady of La Leche (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto; "Our Lady of the Milk and Good Delivery") is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a statue of her breastfeeding the infant Jesus Christ. It is said to ...

—a Marian apparition popular among the Spanish settlers in the area—it is the oldest shrine in the United States. It was elevated to national shrine status in 2019 and received a canonical coronation in 2021.

History

Background

Spanish explorers, under the command of

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ast, Pedro (Menéndez) d'Avilés; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceani ...

and the spiritual chaplaincy of Fr Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, OFM, arrived in northern Florida in 1565. Grajalez celebrated there the first Mass in what would become the United States. The mission established there, Nombre de Dios, was also the first in that regard. The settlers brought with them the Spanish devotion to Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto ("Our Lady of the Milk and Good Delivery"). The name comes from the image of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

nursing the infant Jesus, hence the reference to "la leche"—i.e., (breast) milk.

Construction

The shrine was built in 1609 at the mission, in what was then

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...

. The central feature of the shrine is a statue of the La Leche image. The original shrine was destroyed in 1728 by British invaders from the north, and was rebuilt in 1875. The chapel seats about 30 and was built in 1914.

National status and coronation

The shrine was elevated to national shrine status by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2019, followed by the announcement of a canonical coronation ceremony due to take place in October 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the rescheduling of the coronation to October 2021.{{Cite web, title=Canonical Coronation of the image of Our Lady of La Leche – October 10, 2021 – National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, date=17 August 2021 , url=https://missionandshrine.org/canonical-coronation-of-the-image-of-our-lady-of-la-leche/, access-date=2021-09-03, language=en-US

Significance

As one of the oldest Catholic worship sites in the Americas, the shrine holds a certain historical significance and is a popular pilgrimage site for prayers concerning pregnancy. Upon its coronation ceremony in October 2021, it is to become just the fourth-such image in the United States.

External links

National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche (official website)
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References

Roman Catholic national shrines in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1609 Shrines to the Virgin Mary Roman Catholic churches in Florida Churches in St. Augustine, Florida 1609 establishments in the Spanish Empire Spanish colonization of the Americas Pre-statehood history of Florida New Spain