{"id":1781,"date":"2016-04-26T10:30:47","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?p=1781"},"modified":"2016-04-26T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T15:33:10","slug":"tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html","title":{"rendered":"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"darien\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La Havana, Cuba marked the Georgia coast.\u00a0 Beginning in 1568, almost two hundred years before James Oglethorpe founded the city of Savannah, fearless Catholic missionaries established a network of missions to evangelize the Guale nation.<\/p>\n

This past weekend, I traveled with my bishop to three parishes located where Spanish missions once stood: Nativity of Our Lady, Darien, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Saint Marys, and Saint William, Saint Simon Island. \u00a0Almost five hundred years later, the presence of the Catholic Church continues as she announces the Good News of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Older and larger than the better known California missions of the 18th<\/sup> century, there are minimal physical remains of the Georgia missions which marked the northernmost limit of Spanish civilization along the Atlantic Coast.\u00a0 For almost forty years, Dr. David Hurst Thomas of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City has led archaeological explorations and investigations at Saint Catherine Island, an island with only two permanent residents.\u00a0 In the late 1970s, Dr. Thomas called Bishop Lessard of Savannah with exciting news, \u201cI have found the oldest church in Georgia, and it\u2019s a Catholic church.\u201d\u00a0 He had found the Santa Catalina de Guale Mission founded by Franciscan Friars in the 16th<\/sup> century and destroyed in 1597 in an uprising.\u00a0 Rebuilt soon after, it stood until an English-led slave raid from Charleston in 1687 destroyed it completely.\u00a0 Many of the Guale were taken as slaves by the English.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5438\"
Saint William Parish, Saint Simon Island, built on the same island where the second Santo Domingo de Talaje Mission stood (1661\u20131684)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last recorded sighting of Santa Catalina de Guale Mission was in 1687 when an English captain recorded seeing ruined buildings and corn fields on the island.\u00a0 Dr. Thomas identified a Spanish well, the kitchen, the friary, and the church buried under fourteen inches of hurricane debris.\u00a0 The mission was organized around a central plaza with significant town planning according to Spanish ordinances.\u00a0 Archaeologists have noted that Santa Catalina was not an insignificant outpost, but rather, it was organized as every other Spanish colony of its time.<\/p>\n

The Georgia missions formally came to an end in 1706 when the remaining missionaries, pushed south by the growing English presence along the Atlantic coast, crossed the Saint Mary River into Florida with the remaining faithful.\u00a0 The Guale descendants who lived in the missions eventually migrated to Cuba.<\/p>\n

In 1984, Bishop Lessard reconsecrated the church and gave proper burial to the 432 bodies found underneath the church.\u00a0 Beautiful palm trees now mark the site where the mission church once stood.\u00a0 Climate change and rising water levels have put the site at risk.\u00a0 Dr. Thomas believes that the remains of the church will be lost in less than 100 years.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5462
The five Georgia Martyrs as depicted at Saint William Parish, Saint Simon Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mission on Saint Catherine Island was the site of the martyrdom of two Franciscan Friars in 1597.\u00a0 Dr. Thomas believes that their grave has been recently identified, research is still being conducted.\u00a0 In the span of a few days in September, a total of five friars were martyred at different locations.\u00a0 Archaeologists have found no evidence of Guale animosity towards the Spanish missionaries, but have realized there were many disputes between the native inhabitants.\u00a0 Dr. Thomas argues that the Franciscans may be considered a peace corps that interceded between warring native groups.\u00a0 In 1597, Fray Pedro de Corpa who was stationed at Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Guadalupe de Tolomato Mission near present-day Darien, insisted that those baptized should be faithful to their spouses by living in monogamous relationships. \u00a0The heir to the local chief, Juanillo, openly took a second wife. \u00a0When confronted, Juanillo gathered a group of men and murdered Fray Pedro and the other friars who lived in nearby missions.\u00a0 Fray Miguel de A\u00f1on and Fray Antonio de Badaj\u00f3z were martyred at Saint Catherine Island.\u00a0 These five friars died as defenders of the sacredness of marriage.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5413\"
Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Saint Mary, site of the last Spanish presence in present-day Georgia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1984 Bishop Lessard of Savannah formally opened the beatification process for the Georgia Martyrs and the results of the investigation were presented to Rome in 2007. \u00a0Working with the Holy Name Province of the Franciscan Friars, the process has advanced at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints so these men may be counted as martyrs and blessed.<\/p>\n

The story of the Georgia missions has been neglected. \u00a0If told, it is often filled with overt negativity directed towards the Spanish and the Catholic Church. \u00a0Dr. Thomas believes that this history is important because it transcends historical biases and stereotypes while telling a story many do not know. \u00a0He argues that it helps involve descendant communities of the Guale, and puts history in the active voice. \u00a0The missions are not only something of the past, but they challenge our present understanding of history. \u00a0Christianity was first preached in Georgia by Catholic friars who linked coastal Georgia to the great Spanish empire of the 16th and 17th centuries.<\/p>\n

Fray Pedro de Corpa, pray for us<\/p>\n

Fray Blas de Rodr\u00edguez, pray for us<\/p>\n

Fray Antonio de Badaj\u00f3z, pray for us<\/p>\n

Fray Miguel de A\u00f1on, pray for us<\/p>\n

Fray Francisco de Ver\u00e1scola, pray for us<\/p>\n

All the pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La Havana, Cuba marked the Georgia coast.\u00a0 Beginning in 1568, almost two hundred years before James Oglethorpe founded the city of Savannah, fearless Catholic missionaries established a network of missions to evangelize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":1787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[375],"tags":[385,383,380,384,379,381,378,382],"class_list":["post-1781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-david-hurst-thomas","tag-franciscan-martyrs","tag-fray-pedro-de-corpa","tag-friars","tag-georgia-martyrs","tag-georgia-missions","tag-martyrs","tag-santa-catalina-de-guale"],"yoast_head":"\nTracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-26T15:30:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-26T15:33:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/04\/darien.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html\",\"name\":\"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-26T15:30:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-26T15:33:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs","description":"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs","og_description":"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2016-04-26T15:30:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-26T15:33:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/04\/darien.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html","name":"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-04-26T15:30:47+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-26T15:33:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"Long before the English colony of Georgia existed where Catholics were forbidden, Spanish missions linked to the cities of San Agustin, Florida and La","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/04\/tracing-the-footsteps-of-the-georgia-martyrs.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tracing the footsteps of the Georgia martyrs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}