Sacred Place on the Coast of Georgia: The Blood of Martyrs

Sacred Place on the Coast of Georgia: The Blood of Martyrs January 18, 2017

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Twelve palm trees mark the location of Georgia’s first church, a mission dedicated to Saint Catherine.   Destroyed in the late 1600s by fire, the mission was run by Spanish Franciscan friars who first arrived to Saint Catherines Island, Georgia, in the 1590s.  Located on an island still only accessible by boat fifty miles south of Savannah, the Mission of Santa Caterina de Guale was the northernmost Atlantic outpost of the mighty Spanish Empire which at one point stretched from the southern tip of South America to California, and from Peru to coastal Georgia.

The Spanish successfully established colonies and missions along the eastern coast of Florida and Georgia in the sixteenth century.  Though this territory collectively called “La Florida” was not rich in gold and silver, it was a strategic location since Spanish galleons full of riches sailed back to Europe along the coast.  Fearful of British attacks and unfriendly natives along the coast, the Spanish had an interest in colonizing the region.  After the successful founding of Saint Augustine in present-day Florida in 1565, the Spanish founded a string of missions along the coast, both on the mainland and barrier islands.

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Royce Hayes (back), longtime superintendent of Saint Catherines , explains the graves that were found at the Fallen Tree Site.

By 1597 there were five missions in Coastal Georgia where Franciscan friars preached the Gospel, learned the indigenous Guale language, and lived peacefully with the native population.  Most Guale natives not only embraced Christianity but also welcomed European goods such as glass beads, metal tools, various cloths and other luxury items.   The friars lived among the Guale without any military presence, giving evidence to the good relations between the Guale and the missionaries.

Friar Luis Geronimo de Oré (a Peruvian Franciscan friar) recorded in 1618 after visiting La Florida, that on September 1597, the friar assigned to the mission of Tolomato (near Eulonia, Georgia) did not allow a baptized, Guale man to take a second wife.  Juanillo, who was the heir to a Guale chiefdom, opposed the Friar Pedro de Corpa’s fidelity to Christian teaching on marriage and killed him.  Juanillo and the men he assembled continued to the other missions with the intention of killing all friars.  Before arriving to Saint Catherines Island, Juanillo ordered the chief of the island to execute the two friars stationed there, Father Miguel de Añon and Brother Antonio de Badajoz.  Unwilling to carry out the order, the chief begged the friars to flee south to the mission on San Pedro Island (present day Cumberland Island).  The friars refused to believe the rumors of coming murder.  Once Juanillo and his men reached Saint Catherines, the two friars were brutally killed after they prayed fervently inside the very same church now marked by twelve palm trees.  The oldest church in Georgia was a witness of the martyrdom of two of the five Franciscan Georgia Martyrs killed in 1597.

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The Mission of Santa Caterina de Guale was burnt in 1597, but the Guale rebuilt the mission and requested Saint Augustine to send a priest.  The mission church continued to operate until a 1680 attack by British slave traders and Westo Indians from South Carolina.  Though the attack was thwarted, the Guale soon preferred moving south than succumbing to slavery.  The mission was abandoned.

In the 1980s, three centuries after its destruction, archeologists under the direction of Dr. David Hurst Thomas discovered the remains of the mission church.  This sacred ground is a testament to the fervent response by the sixteenth century Church to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  It stands as a reminder of the deep faith of the Franciscan friars who left the comforts of home and were willing to give up their lives for the sake of the Gospel.  It is also a reminder of the deep and vibrant faith of the Guale Indians, many of which are buried there.  Unfortunately this sacred ground will be under water in several decades unless drastic and expensive measures are taken to strengthen the quickly eroding shore of the island.

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The beautiful Saint Catherines Island contains a little-known yet significant treasure.  The twelve palm trees enclose a site for pilgrimage and remembrance.  Hundreds of Guale men and women came to know Christ in this exact location, and two courageous, young friars held fast to their calling to be witnesses to Jesus Christ.  The twelve palm trees encircle a sacred place, a holy place, on the coast of Georgia.

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We got very close to this beautiful bald eagle
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On the very small boat heading back to the mainland after spending a wonderful day on the island

 


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