Nuestra Señora de la Leche - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 54.288 W 081° 18.917
17R E 469562 N 3308278
The Nuestra Señora de la Leche (English: Chapel of Our Lady of the Milk) is located at the Mission of Nombre de Dios, which is located along the OST, in St. Augustine, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMRV6V
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2016
Views: 4
NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA LECHE (Our Lady of the Milk), Ocean St., one block E. of San Marco Ave., a small coquina chapel of Spanish mission type, built in a dense hammock on a tongue of land extending into an estuary of Matanzas Bay, commemorates the first mass (Sept. 8, 1565) said in the settlement. A shaded drive encircles the chapel and the slopes of the quiet hammock are dotted with mossy gravestones.
The original chapel near the present site, destroyed in 1728, was called Nombre de Dios (Name of God). When the miracle of the statue of the Lady of the Milk occurred in Spain about this time, the chapel obtained one of the statues that were adopted by many Catholic churches throughout the world. The present chapel, designed after the original structure, was erected in 1918. ---Florida - A Guide to the Southernmost State - Part II. Principal Cities - Jacksonville, 1939
This is one of my favorite places in St. Augustine. It's a very peaceful area to stroll through. Although the Guide indicates there was a drive around the chapel at one time, today the area can only be accessed on foot. Undoubtedly, OST travelers would have taken advantage of the ability to drive around this beautiful place back during the OST's heydey. There's a sign on the grounds that claims this place to be "America's Most Sacred Acre" and it certainly has that feel to it.
A plaque on the chapel reads:
"Erected in the early days on the spot called Nombre de Dios, where Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed in 1565 and laid the foundation of the first Spanish Colony in the new continent.
"Here the religious ceremony of taking possession of the land in the name of God and of the king of Spain took place and the first Holy Mass was celebrated.
"Scene of the Martyrdom of Father Rodriquez and a Franciscan Brother during the Indian Revolt of 1597.
"Dismantled and abandoned during the border raids from Georgia; Rebuilt by Bishop Verot in 1873, Blown down by a storm a year later; Reerected by Bishop Curley in 1918.
"Restored and furnished as a Chapel by, Mrs General Hardin in memory of General Martin D. Hardin in 1925.
Saint Augustine"