I have been trying to find ways to produce more content for the site that jibes with the theme of what I do–controversies–but even I need a break from it sometimes. So I am going to start posting about Catholic churches and shrines and other non-controversial things on the blog here going forward. -Darrick
The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine, Florida, is one of the oldest in the continental United States. A modern structure now stands where the original building, destroyed by the British in 1728 during one of their colonial wars with Spain and twice afterwards (the latest construction dates from 1918 and an additional space was built in 2015). It has since been designated a national shrine and is a site of pilgrimage in the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental United States. The devotion for which the shrine was built is an important one, as the Virgin Mary’s role as an intercessor for mothers desiring to have a child (“la leche” refers to nursing mothers) is an ancient one which the Spanish brought to Florida in 1603. In 2012, the Holy See approved October 11 as a local feast day for Our Lady of La Leche in the diocese of St. Augustine. Thus the shrine in St. Augustine has been a place of prayer for mothers for many centuries now.
In 2015, the bishop of St. Augustine dedicated a shrine to Our Lady of La Leche in High Springs, Florida, to complement the one in St. Augustine. High Springs is a small town just north of Gainesville, Florida, and it is called the Santa Fe Shrine because it sits within an area covered by the old Spanish missions in Florida, centered on the mission of Santa Fe de Toloca, established in 1606 near the Santa Fe River in what is today NW Alachua County, Florida.
The structure you see above is the old church that served Catholics at the parish of St. Madeleine in downtown High Springs. It was built in 1925, but was moved in 1979 to its current site as a chapel. The parish website for St. Madeleine says the property on which the parish now sits was purchased in 1979 from a drive-in-theatre of “ill repute,” which I guess means it showed pornographic films. Go figure.
The shrine isn’t necessarily the grandest structure ever built for Our Lady but it is an intimate, quiet setting in which to adore Christ through her mediation, fitting for the devotion associated with Our Lady of La Leche. If you are ever in the area, you should definitely pay a visit.
