The Nombre De Dios Mission was established when Menendez kneeled down to kiss a wood cross presented to him by Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales...a chaplain on the expedition. It was on these grounds that Lopez would celebrate the first parish Mass in the new world and begin the work of America's first mission. The Spanish seen this site as a sacred spot afterall it was where Menendez and his men's ships touched it shores and the founding of St. Augustine had began which is America's oldest city in 1565. 

In 1615 a chapel was built on the site which would house 200 parishioners and by that time the Timucuan Indians were attending here singing songs in the Latin language. They called the Chapel Our Lady Of La Leche which sadly fell three times due to war, pirates, and terrible storms. The last reconstruction of it began in 1918. It was made to look much older then what it is today but the site it stands on is definitely 500 years old. This spot would be an area made for the devotion of Our Lady Of La Leche to the Spaniards.

Nearby was the Rustic Altar the site outdoors where a great feast was held between Lopez, Don Pedro Menendez De Aviles, Adelantado Of Florida and Captain General Of The Indies Fleet, His Colonist, Soldiers and Timucuans. They called this feast thanksgiving similar to the Pilgrims...Menendez held it for his fleet and native Americans who were living on these shores the same day of his arrival and thus the first Christian settlement was born in the country.  I have a different take on it all though I believe that when the fleet came that they forced these Native Americans to Catholicism and back then the penalty for not submitting would be pillage, death, rape, abuse...etc perhaps making this one of the bigger religious conspiracies in the nation on how Christianity really came to be in the new world!

Archaeological expeditions have shown that the site was part of a village, fort, and even burial ground. Of course today a beautiful cemetery and the Menendez Coffin are on the grounds. The cemetery has 6 federal soldiers buried here from the civil war, parishioners of the church, Sisters Of St. Joseph's, and  some other well known residents of St. Augustine. Even though the history below says the graves start from the 1800s I did find a few from the 1700s and their are probably even older ones then that...that were unmarked when the community had no cemetery.  I found out the reason why I could NOT find the Menendez Coffin was that its kept locked up inside the Shrine Gift shop. I spend a long time running around like a chicken with its head cut off but during looking for it I did encounter many beautiful sites along the way. 

All the sites you see below I visited on this investigation its a big area that has paths leading to various places...as it sits right on the water. One could imagine a fleet of ships approaching this place as the natives watched in curiosity. Its a great site with the cemetery.....chapel...and historical signs. Its a very old site probably very haunted to but that is not always my objective to prove a site is haunted sometimes its just to let others ponder on it. The history more in depth of each location is below along with the photos from my wonderful journey through this place. It is one of the most gorgeous locations I ever investigated and now I bring it to you! I have put the photos from each area under each piece of history so you can get an idea of what each location looks like to go with it!

© By 

Lord Rick

  Nombre De Dios Site

From: http://www.missionandshrine.org/ 

A collaborative project of the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Florida Department of State, the National Geographic Society, and the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine.

On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menedez de Aviles of Spain landed near here and claimed Florida for the Spanish Crown. He built the first Spanish fort in Florida by fortifying the Chief’s house at the nearby Timucua Indian town of Seloy.

Archaeologists from the University of Florida have recently discovered the moat from a sixteenth-century Spanish fort believed to be that of Menendez on the grounds of the Nuestra Senora de la Leche Shrine (Mission of Nombre de Dios). Excavations are underway to uncover it and study the remains of some of the earliest European presence in what is now the United States.

Our Lady of La Leche Chapel & Cemetery

From the Great Cross area and its expanse of open space and sunlight, you will follow the path to the chapel of Nuestra Senora de la Leche y buen parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery) under a canopy of oak and cedar trees. This area is often referred to as “America’s Most Sacred Acre.” Commonly referred to as the chapel of Our Lady of La Leche, the Spanish style chapel invites you to spend some time in prayerful reflection.

Considering that coquina stone was not used for construction until well into the seventeenth century, we surmise that the earliest chapels were made of wood. These early chapels would have been susceptible to fires and hurricanes.

History records that when British Colonel John Palmer, a member of the Commons House of Assembly in South Carolina, attempted to subdue St. Augustine in 1728, the chapel of Our Lady of La Leche was built of stone. The Spanish fired at the chapel from the Castillo de San Marcos, to prevent Palmer from using the building to benefit his attack on the city. Bishop Augustin Verot, first Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, rebuilt the chapel in 1875. Shortly thereafter, it was severely damaged by a hurricane. Bishop Michael Curley, who later became Archbishop of Baltimore, began the present restoration of the chapel in 1914.

The present chapel is small and simple, holding approximately thirty persons, and reflects the Spanish mission style of the sixteenth century. The chapel houses the statue of Our Lady of La Leche and is a special place of quiet prayer for those seeking Our Lady’s intercession. A statue of St. Peter, holding the keys of the kingdom, stands above the outside entrance and below a small mission bell.

Circumstances permitting, Mass may be celebrated in the chapel on Tuesdays at noon. The rosary and other devotions are often held in the chapel. Many visitors purchase candles from the nearby Shrine Gift Shop and place them in the chapel in order that their prayers may continue beyond their visit.

Memorials in this area include a rustic altar commemorating the first Mass celebrated here, a statue of St. Francis of Assisi recognizing the work and sacrifices of the Franciscan missionaries, a statue of St. Joseph, a bell tower, a fountain, several religious plaques, and monuments of the seven sorrows of Mary. In this same area are numerous tombstones dating from the 1800’s, including those of some of the founding Sisters of St. Joseph. 

Our Lady Of La Leche Shrine

Located at the center of the tranquil grounds of the Mission of Nombre de Dios is the chapel which houses a replica of the statue of Our Lady of La Leche and provides visitors with a quiet place to pray.

Our Lady of La Leche is the first shrine dedicated to Our Blessed Mother in the United States. The history of the devotion to the Mother of Jesus as Our Lady of La Leche may have roots in a 4th Century grotto in Bethlehem. To this day the Franciscan community maintains a shrine there called the Milk Grotto. Its centerpiece is the Blessed Virgin nursing the infant Jesus. Many believe that the crusaders brought the devotion to Mary as a nursing mother to Spain in the Middle Ages.

During the reign of Phillip III in Spain, word spread of a nobleman’s wife and baby, expected to die during the birth of the child, who were both spared as a result of the intercession of Nuestra Senora de la Leche y buen parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery). The statue, in possession of the nobleman, soon found a place in the hearts of many throughout Spain.

By the early 1600’s the devotion, under the title of Nuestra Senora de la Leche y buen parto, had a special place in the lives of the Spanish settlers and the converted Native People in St. Augustine. It was on these same Mission grounds that the Spanish built the first Marian Shrine in the land, a devotion that continues to this present day.

Thousands of visitors and pilgrims make their way to the Shrine every year. Many ask for the blessings of motherhood, beseeching the intercession of Our Lady of La Leche that God will grant them a safe and happy delivery, and healthy, holy children. Many write requesting remembrances in Masses and prayers not only for motherhood but for petitions of all kinds. All who visit the Shrine find it to be a place of spiritual comfort and renewal.

The Great Cross

This massive structure, made of stainless steel and rising two hundred and eight feet above the marshes of the Matanzas River, stands as a sentinel over the Mission and a “Beacon of Faith” for all who pass this way.

It was erected at the direction of Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley, then Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. His Excellency Casimiro Morcillo, Archbishop of Madrid, dedicated it during the diocesan Eucharistic Congress of October 1966. Like the Prince of Peace Church, the Great Cross celebrates the Four Hundredth anniversary of the Mission of Nombre de Dios and the City of St. Augustine.

Four hundred years earlier, in 1565, Pedro Menedez de Aviles placed a small wooden cross in Florida’s soil and founded the Mission of Nombre de Dios. The beginnings of Christianity in this new land led to numerous missions throughout Florida and, eventually, to the flourishing of the faith that we celebrate throughout this country. The Great Cross is a tribute to that growth. It serves to remind the visitor of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, as well as the role played by the Catholic religion in the history of both Florida and our Nation.

The Cross weighs 70 tons and consists of 200 stainless steel panels in various sizes. The loftiest sections of the Cross contain 1.6 ft. x 10 ft. panels 3/16 in. thick, while 4 ft. x 10 ft. and 5/16 in. thick panels cover the foundational sector. To prevent potential damage from hurricane force winds, workers solidified the lower 65 feet of the Great Cross by tightly filling the inside with concrete. At night, lights mounted from the ground provide illumination of the Great Cross.

The base of the Cross is made of granite slabs. Several of the slabs have names inscribed as memorials from family or other loved ones. Information regarding such memorials is available through the Mission office: (904) 824-2809 or (800) 342-6529.

Our Lady Of Guadalupe Shrine

Next along the path, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a gift from friends of a distinguished modern day missionary in Brazil . This shrine, in colorful Spanish tiles, commemorates the 1531 visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego in Guadalupe, Mexico. Below is an abbreviated version of the marvelous event.

At dawn on December 9 in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, a native named Juan Diego was walking across a hill called Tepeyac when he suddenly heard birds bellowing gleeful music in the distance. He then heard a voice calling him, and as he wondered to himself what was happening to him, he saw a beautiful woman. She instructed Juan Diego to tell the bishop to build a church on that very spot. Soon realizing that the lady was indeed the Virgin Mary, he responded and did what she implored of him. After being rejected by the bishop, Juan Diego, ready to give up on his task, was approached again by the Virgin Mary. She reassured him that he alone was to be her messenger.

Juan Diego again visited the bishop, but after a second refusal by the prelate, he was instructed to attain proof of Mary’s visitations. On the third visit from the Holy Mother, Juan Diego surprisingly found roses on the Tepeyac hill in spite of the frost-covered landscape. He picked the roses and placed them inside his cloak, as proof of her presence. Juan Diego returned to the bishop and opened his cloak. The precious image of Mary then appeared impressed on the tough cloth. The bishop, who had now experienced the glory of which Juan Diego had spoken, built the church. Within six years of the apparition, over six million Aztecs converted to the Christian faith.

The image remains intact on St. Juan Diego’s original cloak and is preserved in the cathedral in Guadalupe, Mexico. Millions of pilgrims from all over the world visit the cathedral to pray for healing and renewal.

On the tiled replica of the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe here at Nombre de Dios one will note symbols that were quite familiar to the Aztec natives. For example, the black ribbon symbolizes “woman with child.” The rays of the sun are seen around her body, signifying that Mary is more powerful than the Aztec’s “sun deity.” Similarly, the Aztecs worshipped the moon as a deity; however, in the image, the sacred mother has the moon beneath her feet. Seeing such a depiction would have fed the Aztec’s curiosity about the mother’s child and his importance to the world. Christ had become real to the Aztec people and helped transform their lives through this marvelous image.

For more information on Guadalupe and guidance in devotion to our Blessed Virgin Mary, go to: www.sancta.org

Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajale Statue

Prince Of Peace Church

A beautiful fountain graces the circled entrance to the Mission grounds. To the right of the circle is the Prince of Peace Church. The church was built in 1965 to commemorate the Mission’s Four Hundredth anniversary. Prince of Peace is a votive church dedicated to prayers that God would deliver the world from atomic warfare.

Similar to the Castillo de San Marcos (1672), a mile north of the Mission grounds, the Prince of Peace Church is composed mostly of coquina stone (a natural rock formation consisting of limestone and small particles of broken seashells which form a strong building material). Like the Castillo, the walls of the church are composed of solid blocks of coquina stone rather than a mixture of coquina dust and cement seen in other constructions. This solid construction reminds the visitor of the strength of the Christian faith and prayer in the face of adversity.

This shrine, farther northwest on the path, consists of a beautiful mosaic of Our Lady of Perpetual Help housed in a Byzantine styled cupola. The imagery of this gold-laden mosaic icon displays Mary’s contemplation on the God-child of whom she is the vessel of honor. The cupola itself is known for its simplicity, appropriate as the holy abode for the humble Mother of Christ.

Byzantine Rite Catholics, like Roman Catholics, share the same faith and doctrine of the Catholic Church. Both are united under the leadership of the Pope in Rome. Over two hundred Byzantine Rite Catholics attend the bi-annual pilgrimage to the Mission of Nombre de Dios to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The parishes of the Passaic Southern Deanery Diocese stretch from Miami, Florida to Passaic, New Jersey. The faithful pilgrims in the Passaic Diocese gave the icon replica to the Mission of Nombre de Dios as a gift of charity on October 1, 1988.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine

The original portrait of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (or Succour) elegantly painted on wood first appeared in San Matteo in Rome, but the French invaded Rome in 1812 and destroyed the church. Rediscovered by the general public again in the early 1860’s at an Augustinian oratory, Pope Pius IX then ordered that it be venerated once again for the world to see at St. Alphonsus Church, built near the ruins of San Matteo where it now resides.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help presents a portrait of the Blessed Virgin holding Christ in a loving, matriarchal embrace. Fixed above Jesus and Mary both crowned in glory, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel offer Christ the objects of his Passion as Mary mothers Jesus by coming to his aid when his sandal has come off. Looking more intently at the portrait, one notices Greek abbreviations translating to Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Archangel Michael, and Archangel Gabriel.

To be sure, the Byzantine rite and the Latin rite both draw inspiration and devotion to Mary from scripture, the main instance being Luke 1:46-55. Both sects incorporate this passage known as the Magnificat to Roman Catholics and to Eastern Catholics as the Canticle of Mary into their liturgical year: