Lessons from Father Mendoza and his martyrdom.

Roland Flores
5 hours ago
6 min read

May Our Lady de la Leche, the Immaculate Queen of Florida, bless us with her loving Child, and together with St. Joseph, St. Augustine, and the Florida Martyrs, pray for us! On this day, 24 June 1704, Fransican missionary, Father Manuel Mendoza, was killed for the faith by British forces at his Mission Church in present day León County, Florida. Father Mendoza’s martyrdom serves to remind us of two valuable lessons in our modern day, both deeply connected to his life and death.

The Life of Father Mendoza and our need for Catholic priests.

Father Mendoza was born in 1642 in Medina de Rioseco, Spain. As a young man he entered into the Spanish Navy and later decided to join the Frasnican Order as a member of the Immaculate Conception Province. On 12 July 1678, Father Mendoza arrived in Florida as a missionary. In 1680 Father Mendoza was at Mission San Antonio de Bacuqua, then in 1690 he was transferred to Mission San Jose de Ocuia, about four miles west of present-day Tallahassee. In January 1704, British Forces attacked the Missions of Florida, killing three Franciscans and hundreds of Catholic Indians. After the British had left the area, Father Mendoza volunteered to return to one of the destroyed Missions, San Pedro ye San Pablo de Patale, and restore the Church. Father Mendoza not only restored the Church but provided the sacraments to the families that were unable to flee the area. On 23 June 1704, shortly after his Mass for the vigil of St. John the Baptist, Father Mendoza was tricked out of his residence by an apostate Indian and shot in the face. The British had returned and commenced an attack on the Mission. Father Mendoza survived the bullet but was captured and burnt at the Stake by the British, along with his faithful Indian sacristan. His suffering is said to have lasted well into the morning of today, 24 June. Also killed for the faith was a young mother and her two year old boy who were slashed with a sword, both of these two survived long enough to receive the last rites and tell of Father Mendoza’s Martyrdom. Father Mendoza’s remains were found half burnt, also with him was his half burnt rosary. His remains were taken and buried in the Cemetery of Mission San Lorenzo de Ibitachuco in present day Lamont, FL. Father Mendoza spent over 26 years of his life as a priest in Florida, and 24 of those were in the Florida Panhandle. But a good question for all of us is this, why did this 62 year old priest choose to die? If it was known to all of Florida that the British were attacking the Panhandle Missions and burning Catholic priests at the stake, why would he go there? The answer is simple, because the faithful were there. Many of the Indians did not want to leave, believing their captured loved ones would return, others still were too sick or had children who would not survive the journey. It was here that the old Father Mendoza chose to be, a father to his children, a shepherd of souls, and a vessel of the Holy Sacraments. We need Catholic priests, especially during this crisis of faith. Priests who are fearless to teach the faith and to give the sacraments, for in our times these priests are rare. Thank God for our beloved priests of the Society of St. Pius X. May Father Mendoza be a model for all priests but especially those who find themselves in Florida, a state hallowed by the blood of Martyrs.

The standard of Henry VIII flies in Rome.

On Saturday, 25 April 2026, the Anglican “Archbishop of Canterbury” gave a blessing at the tomb of St. Peter with Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, present and bowing to receive the blessing. Sarah Mullally, the woman who sits on the throne at Canterbury and claims the title of Archbishop, not only gave the blessing but joined the Pope for midday prayer in the Chapel of Urban VIII. This of course sits in the shadow of an even larger scandal. In April 2023, Anglican ministers con-celebrated a liturgical service at the main altar of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Anglican “Bishop” and Freemason Jonathan Baker, along with 50 more ministers including women, led in an Anglican Communion service at the head Church in the Chrsitan world. An Anglican “bishop” and Freemason sat on the papal throne. What can be said of this? This is not the Catholic Church. “Moreover, we determine to subject to excommunication believers who receive, defend or support heretics” (Fourth Lateran Council 1215). Later, after the establishment of the Anglican Church in 1534, Pope Paul IV would write this to the Catholics living in England: "We are forced to admonish and to conjure you, that on no account you go to the churches of heretics, or hear their sermons or join in their rites, lest ye incur the wrath of God; for it is not lawful for you to do such things without dishonoring God and hurting your own souls." In a certain way, this issue is directly connected to our dear Father Mendoza who suffered his martyrdom at the hands of Anglicans. His very presence challenged the early Anglican Church in Florida, who killed him in an attempt to destroy the Church and establish their false sect.

Who could find a priest or a bishop that would agree that the Anglicans in Rome are a bad thing or better yet that the Anglicans are not saved unless they convert to the Catholic faith? On the contrary, the New Order teaches the Anglican sect: “can assist the Roman Catholic Church to be more faithful to the vision of the Second Vatican Council.” This is because the Anglican Church is the enemy of the Catholic Church, not the New Order holding her hostage. Just like those poor Florida Indians, we need priests who are not afraid to teach us the truth, priests who are not afraid to give us the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Certainly not priests and bishops who are friends and brothers with the sect of Henry XIII. No makes me wonder what fate those Indians would have had with the priests of the New Order, who argue that the “plurality of religions is willed by god”, a contradiction of the faith from the very beginning. “Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would without doubt have known My Father also: and from henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen Him” (John 14:6-8). Is there any doubt then, that we need Catholic priests, like Father Mendoza, who are unafraid to be Catholic. Father Mendoza said his last Mass, a Low Mass for the vigil of the feast of St. John the Baptist, like every other priest faithful to the Roman Missal. Across the world, priests from the Society of St. Pius X, said that same Mass in union with him. How good it is to be Catholic, the everlasting faith, ever ancient and ever new. Let us pray for our beloved priests and upcoming bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, for keeping the Catholic faith and ensuring the faithful have access to her. Let us also look to the old Father Mendoza, a faithful priest of the Roman Catholic Church. The Florida Missions suffered a great loss in his martyrdom but the entire Church gained such an awesome example and heaven such a noble soul. Perhaps God felt that no one else was fit to use his Rosary, thus it melted into his hands and was buried with him. Godbless and keep him, and Godbless Florida for which he died.