{"id":2332,"date":"2017-01-18T15:53:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T20:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2017-01-18T15:53:33","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T20:53:33","slug":"sacred-place-coast-georgia-blood-martyrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2017\/01\/sacred-place-coast-georgia-blood-martyrs.html","title":{"rendered":"Sacred Place on the Coast of Georgia: The Blood of Martyrs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"DSC01281\"<\/p>\n

Twelve palm trees mark the location of Georgia\u2019s first church, a mission dedicated to Saint Catherine.\u00a0 \u00a0Destroyed 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The Spanish successfully established colonies and missions along the eastern coast of Florida and Georgia in the sixteenth century.\u00a0 Though this territory collectively called \u201cLa Florida\u201d 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.\u00a0 Fearful of British attacks and unfriendly natives along the coast, the Spanish had an interest in colonizing the region.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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Royce Hayes (back), longtime superintendent of Saint Catherines , explains the graves that were found at the Fallen Tree Site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.\u00a0 Most Guale natives not only embraced Christianity but also welcomed European goods such as glass beads, metal tools, various cloths and other luxury items.\u00a0 \u00a0The friars lived among the Guale without any military presence, giving evidence to the good relations between the Guale and the missionaries.<\/p>\n

Friar Luis Geronimo de Or\u00e9 (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.\u00a0 Juanillo, who was the heir to a Guale chiefdom, opposed the Friar Pedro de Corpa\u2019s fidelity to Christian teaching on marriage and killed him.\u00a0 Juanillo and the men he assembled continued to the other missions with the intention of killing all friars.\u00a0 Before arriving to Saint Catherines Island, Juanillo ordered the chief of the island to execute the two friars stationed there,\u00a0Father Miguel de A\u00f1on and Brother Antonio de Badajoz.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 The friars refused to believe the rumors of coming murder.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The oldest church in Georgia was a witness of the martyrdom of two of the five Franciscan Georgia Martyrs killed in 1597.<\/p>\n

\"DSC01294\"<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 The mission church continued to operate until a 1680 attack by British slave traders and Westo Indians from South Carolina.\u00a0 Though the attack was thwarted, the Guale soon preferred moving south than succumbing to slavery.\u00a0 The mission was abandoned.<\/p>\n

In the 1980s, three centuries after its destruction, archeologists under the direction of Dr. David Hurst Thomas discovered the remains of the mission church.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It is also a reminder of the deep and vibrant faith of the Guale Indians, many of which are buried there.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"DSC01308\"<\/p>\n

The beautiful Saint Catherines Island contains a little-known yet significant treasure.\u00a0 The twelve palm trees enclose a site for pilgrimage and remembrance.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The twelve palm trees encircle a sacred place, a holy place, on the coast of Georgia.<\/p>\n

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We got very close to this beautiful bald eagle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On the very small boat heading back to the mainland after spending a wonderful day on the island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twelve palm trees mark the location of Georgia\u2019s first church, a mission dedicated to Saint Catherine.\u00a0 \u00a0Destroyed 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.\u00a0 Located on an island still only accessible by boat fifty miles south of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":2338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[208,73,379,508,509],"class_list":["post-2332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-catholic-church","tag-georgia","tag-georgia-martyrs","tag-saint-catherines","tag-spanish-missions"],"yoast_head":"\nSacred Place on the Coast of Georgia: The Blood of Martyrs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twelve palm trees mark the location of Georgia\u2019s 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