The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios holds a distinction that most visitors do not expect to find in Florida: it is the oldest Marian shrine in the continental United States, established in the early 1600s when Spanish settlers in St. Augustine began their devotion to the Virgin Mary at this location. The shrine traces its origins to 1565 when Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded St. Augustine at this site. In the early 1600s, Spanish colonists and newly converted Native Americans established a formal devotion here to Our Lady of La Leche y Buen Parto - Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery - a Marian devotion focused on motherhood, pregnancy, and childbirth. The devotion came from Spain, where a similar shrine had existed in the city of St. Augustine's namesake, and it took root deeply in the life of the colonial community. The current chapel is a small, ivy-covered structure seating approximately 30 people, built in 1914 as a replica of earlier chapels on the same site dating to the 17th century. It houses an exquisitely carved statue of Mary nursing the infant Jesus - the image at the heart of the La Leche devotion. The chapel atmosphere is one of extraordinary quietness and intimacy despite the fact that it sits within one of the most-visited historic sites in Florida. In October 2019 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elevated the shrine to national shrine status, recognizing its historical and spiritual significance to Ame