Ave Maria! May our Lady de la Leche, the Immaculate Queen of Florida, together with St. valentine and the Martyrs of the Florida Missions, pray for us! On 27 January 2025, The Dicastery of the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree recognizing the Martyrdom of five Franciscan Friars from Spanish Florida, what is today Southern Georgia. Spanish Florida was first claimed by Spain in 1513 by Don Juan Ponce de Leon and after a few failed attempts, was officially settled in 1565 by Admiral Pedro Menendez de Avilez with the founding of St. Augustine. There were Missionaries in Gaule (modern day southern Georgia’s coast) as early as 1568, Spanish Jesuits, however the Jesuits would abandon the area in 1570 and later Spanish Florida, being replaced by Spanish Franciscans. In 1580, Franciscan friars established Mission San Pedro de Mocama on Cumberland Island (Georgia) for the conversion of the Mocama and Timucua peoples. By 1595 there were seven Missions in what is today Georgia, with Mission Catalina de Guale on St. Catherines Island being considered the mother Mission. A controversy arose in 1597, when a Guale prince named Juanillo (son of a chief and heir to his chiefdom) took another woman for a wife despite being married already, as was custom among the Gaule peoples. Juanillo was confronted by Blessed Friar Pedro de Corpa OFM, pastor of Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Tolomato. Father de Copra, a zealous missionary and fluent in the Gaule language, defined the definition of marriage to Juanillo, who he believed did not understand the doctrine. Before the confrontation, Father de Corpa had consulted his friend Blessed Friar Blas Rodriguez OFM, who was in a neighboring mission. Father Rodriguez was the priest who brought the first image of Our lady de la Leche to Florida and enthroned her above the altar in St. Augustine’s Misson Nombre de Dios. After understanding that Juanillo fully understood the doctrine of marriage and was going to continue to live in adultery, Father de Corpa admonished the errant Juanillo and made it known that he was forced to oppose Juanillo's succession as chief. Juanillo the apostate fled the mission and traveled north to tribes which remained pagan, with the support of shaman, he raised an army of Pagan and apostate warriors. On September 14, 1597, the rebels and pagans stormed Mission Guadalupe, murdering Father de Corpa with a tomahawk and destroying the Church. Father Corpa’s head was then cut off, placed at the end of a lance and paraded throughout the village. The rebels then went on to Mission Santa Clara de Tupique and apprehended Father Rodrigue and bound him with rope. He as allowed to celebrate a final Mass, where he preached: “My sons, for me it is not difficult to die. Even if you do not cause it, the death of this body is inevitable. We must be ready at all times, for we, all of us, have to die someday. But what does pain me is that the Evil One has persuaded you to do this offensive thing against your God and Creator. It is a further source of deep grief to me that you are unmindful of what we missionaries have done for you in teaching you the way to eternal life and happiness. ” Father Rodrigez consumed all the consecrated hosts to spare them from desecration and was then taken from the altar by the rebels, who ripped off his vestments, and bound him once again, forcing him to watch them destroy the Church and her sacred images. After this they clubbed him to death. While the rebels assaulted Mission Santa Clara, they had sent a messenger to Mission Santa Catalina ordering them to kill the priests, burn the Church or at least capture the priest for them to kill. The chief there however remained faithful, and warned the priests to flee, promising to escort them to St. Augustine. However, the friar there, however the two priests on the island refused to leave their assigned Church and flock, knowing it would be impossible for all the residents of the Mission to flee before the rebels arrived. They told the chief they would rather remain and give their lives as a witness to the Christian faith, earning the Crown of Martyrdom, then flee and abandon their flock. After preaching to their respective communities, the two, Blessed Friar Miguel de Añon OFM and Blessed Friar Antonio de Badajoz OFM, met at the Church of Santa Catalina, and after Mass and prayed for nearly four hours. When the rebels arrived, Friar Antonio, who was a lay brother, went forth to confront them and was struck dead by a hatchet. Father de Añon would kneel before altar and would similarly be struck dead by the rebels. The rebels would finally murder Blessed Friar Fransico de Veráscola OFM while returning to his Mission Santo Domingo de Asao from St. Augustine. Father Veráscola would be hacked to death just after disembarking a canoe full of supplies meant for his Mission. The rebels would then decend upon Mission San Pedro, the original Gaule Mission, but would be repulsed by the Catholic warriors there, who would then notify the Spanish officials in St. Augustine. Meanwhile, Juanillo would reinstate polygamy and paganism throughout Gaule. It is not known how many Catholic natives were killed, either during the attack or defending their priest or Mission Church. A retaliatory force was raised by Spanish Governor Méndez de Canço, who forced the rebels out of all the former mission lands and rescued the only friar to survive the assault, Friar Francisco de Avila. The expedition was aided by Catholic Gaule braves. Juanillo and 24 of the original ringleaders would be killed in the fighting.
In May 1600, a delegation of Guale chiefs went to St. Augustine to swear obedience to King Philip III in the presence of Governor de Canço and requested priests return to their territory. He accepted their submission on certain conditions, above all that they must suppress any uprisings. The same year Friars returned to Gaule and reestablished the missions, which thrived until British expeditions starting in 1675. By 1684 the Spanish were driven out of Gaule and Catholic Gaule fled to St. Augustine. The story of these friars was first communicated by Luis Gerónimo de Oré to King Philip III of Spain and by the 17th century, they were listed in many Franciscan martyrologies. In 1950 Friars the United States began to consider honoring their deaths. Their work culminated with Raymond W. Lessard, Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, approving the investigation of their lives and the manner of their deaths. He opened a cause for their beatification on February 22, 1984. In March 2007, the resulting documents were submitted to Rome for approval by Friar Conrad Harkins OFM, the Promoter of their cause, on behalf of the diocese. On January 27, 2025, the Holy See confirmed their deaths as acts of martyrdom "in hatred of the faith", officially authorizing their beatification. Interestingly, Two of the Friars, Father de Añon and Friar Antonio, were martyred on 17 September, the feast of the Stigmata of their holy founder, St. Francis, with Father Rodriguez murdered on the vigil, 16 September. In 1219 St. Francis exclaimed: “Now I can truly say that I have five Friars Minor! ” When he heard of the martyrdom of St. Berard and companions in distant heathen lands preaching the gospel to Muslims in Morocco. One could reflect that perhaps St. Francis exclaimed the same of his sons in the mission lands of Spanish Florida. Perhaps, still there is another area of reflection within these accounts. For it was Herod the Tetrarch, full of lust for the daughter of Herodias, who ordered the execution of St. Joh the Baptist. St. John was imprisoned because he clarified to Herod: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife (Mark 6:18). Full of lust, Herod promised to give the woman whatever she pleased, and what did she demand? “Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist" (Matthew 14:8). So, it was Juanillo the apostate, full of lust for his mistress, who ordered the death these poor Friars. Blessed Father de Corpa, the priest who confronted Juanillo on his adultery, was also beheaded, with his head placed on a spear rather than a dish. From the Martyrdom of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist to St. Valentine, and our blessed friars, the Church has always maintained the sanctity of Marriage, elevated to a sacrament and defined by His Majesty, our Lord Jesus. And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4 Who answering, said to them: "Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said: 5 For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (Matthew 19:3-7). Despite such a clear doctrine, many Catholics, either weakened by human respect or with intellects darkened with pride and lust, entertain false notions on what marriage is or regarding the indissolubility of the unity of Marriage. The Church, her clergy, religious, and faithful, are obligated to uphold the gospel and cannot make any mitigating concession to the laws regarding marriage, no matter the cost. These Blessed Martyrs, remind each of us of our duty to defend marriage in a society that is set on its destruction. Those of us who are married have a duty to have a holy, marriage pleasing to God. ”Remember them that are in bands, as if you were bound with them; and them that labour, as being yourselves also in the body Marriage honourable in all, and the bed undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge’ (Hebrews 13: 3-4). These poor friars, were willing to give their lives for the Glory of God, the salvation of Souls and the sanctity of Christian marriage, earning them the enteral Crown of Glory. Now, the question is, are you?
Prayer.
O Lord Jesus Christ, reward the apostolic zeal of Friar Pedro de Corpa and his four companion friars, Blas, Miguel, Antonio and Francisco, who labored for the spiritual well-being of the native Guale people of Georgia and gave their lives in witness to the Christian faith.
Through their merits and intercession graciously grant the favor I humbly ask of You, so that, for the glory of Your Name, their heroic sacrifice may be officially recognized by the Church. Amen.
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