Mission Nombre de Dios (Our Lady of La Leche)

The Story

Mission Nombre de Dios (Name of God) in St. Augustine, Florida, marks the ground where Spanish settlers came ashore on September 8, 1565, and where Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales celebrated the first parish Mass in what became the first permanent European settlement in the present-day United States. American Catholic life traces its earliest continuous roots to this shoreline. In the early 1600s the Spanish community established here a shrine to Nuestra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto - Our Lady of La Leche - honoring the nursing Mother of God and her intercession for mothers and children. It is considered the first shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United States. The devotion survived wars, hurricanes, and changes of flag; the intimate ivy-covered chapel that shelters the image today was built in 1915 on the old mission grounds. The Church has repeatedly affirmed the shrine's importance. In 2012 the Holy See approved October 11 as the feast of Our Lady of La Leche for the Diocese of St. Augustine; in 2019 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated it a national shrine; and in October 2021, with the blessing of Pope Francis, the image received a canonical coronation. Pilgrims today walk the peaceful grounds along the Matanzas River, pray in the chapel of Our Lady of La Leche, and visit the towering Great Cross erected in 1966 to mark four centuries of Christian faith in the nation's oldest city. Expectant mothers and families in particular continue to seek Our Lady's intercession here, as they have for four hundred years.

Church Recognition

The Holy See approved a local feast of Our Lady of La Leche (October 11) in 2012, the U.S. bishops designated the shrine a national shrine in 2019, and the image was canonically crowned in 2021 with the approval of Pope Francis.

Catholic Teaching

The devotion to Our Lady of La Leche honors Mary as the true Mother of God who nursed the infant Christ, and reflects Catholic teaching on her maternal intercession for families and for children in the womb (CCC 963-975).

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1 Additional Information ▾

Our Lady of La Leche shrine marks the 1565 founding of St. Augustine.

Go Deeper

The shrine's official website (https://missionandshrine.org) offers the history of the mission and devotion; see also the Catechism on Mary's motherhood and intercession (CCC 963-975) and diocesan resources from the Diocese of St. Augustine.