Contending For The Faith---Part 9

 

In St. Jude 1:3, we read, "Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." [Emphasis mine]. Contending For The Faith is a series of posts dedicated to apologetics (i.e.,  the intellectual defense of the truth of the Traditional Catholic Faith) to be published the first Monday of each month.  This is the next installment.

Sadly, in this time of Great Apostasy, the faith is under attack like never before, and many Traditionalists don't know their faith well enough to defend it. Remember the words of our first pope, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." (1Peter 3:16). There are five (5) categories of attacks that will be dealt with in these posts. Attacks against:

• The existence and attributes of God
• The truth of the One True Church established by Christ for the salvation of all 
• The truth of a particular dogma or doctrine of the Church
• The truth of Catholic moral teaching
• The truth of the sedevacantist position as the only Catholic solution to what has happened since Vatican II 

In addition, controversial topics touching on the Faith will sometimes be featured, so that the problem and possible solutions may be better understood. If anyone had suggestions for topics that would fall into any of these categories, you may post them in the comments. I cannot guarantee a post on each one, but each will be carefully considered.

NOTE TO MY READERS: This week's post is a defense of the First Thanksgiving, a decidedly Catholic one, comes courtesy of Lee. As Thanksgiving approaches this month, never let us lose sight of being thankful to God for having given us, unworthy as we are, the One True Faith during this time of Great Apostasy. I have been able to catch up on much needed things in my personal life, thanks to my guest posters--I am especially thankful for Lee and also Joanna From Poland. Please feel free to comment as always, and if anyone has a specific query or comment for me, I will respond as usual but it might take a bit longer for me to get back this week. 

God Bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

The First Thanksgiving

By Lee

Being a Traditionalist Catholic in America can be very difficult. Culture, custom, and history  have formed the nation with either Protestantism or a worldly care free influence. One particular holiday reflecting these trends in the American spirit is Thanksgiving. Abe Lincoln was the first President to get legislation passed to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the holidays act on June 28th, 1870 which included Thanksgiving. It then became a yearly appointed holiday and in 1885, Congress made Thanksgiving a federally paid holiday for all federal workers. By 1942, under Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thanksgiving was moved to the fourth Thursday in November and permanently observed on that day ever since.

Public, private, and Novus Ordo schools teach the general Protestant (Puritan) version of Thanksgiving and structure its traditions around it.

In the early 1600's of England, there were Congregationalists who did not believe that Church and State should be together as it was in England to form a Christian nation but rather that churches work autonomously without answering to a higher authority. This later gave them the name of Separatists.

These Separatists (AKA Pilgrims) could not tolerate the controversy surrounding their beliefs and so by 1620 as the story goes the Pilgrims embarked on a voyage across the Atlantic on the Mayflower with 120 passengers and by November of that year, landed on Plymouth Rock. After suffering many hardships during the first winter with disease, starvation, getting settled, and making peace with the natives; a year later 53 of the pilgrims who survived met up with 90 Wampanoag Indians from a nearby village. Squanto who spoke fluent English after learning it from being a captured slave in Europe served as a translator and guide. At the meeting, the pilgrims and the Indians had feasted together based on the harvest they both could gather, eating water fowl, deer, and other vegetables. Hence the first Thanksgiving or was it?

   

St. Augustine

The first true Thanksgiving was neither Protestant in origin, nor in the year 1621. It was in fact Catholic and took place 56 years earlier on the beautiful coast of La Florida (The land of flowers) on September 8th (The Blessed Virgin Mary's Nativity) 1565 under the leadership of Captain Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

What was the reason for the expedition? Word got out that the Huguenots from France occupied Fort Caroline, modern day Jacksonville Fl. At that time when Catholic's did not tolerate heretical doctrines, they fought to eradicate those who insisted on them because unlike the present day, Catholic's understood that without the true religion neither can one be saved, nor can a society function in proper order without first recognizing Christ and His Church. With this in mind, King Phillip II of Spain wasted no time and sent his fleet to recapture the fort and the colonization of that land which in previous years did not succeed.

Jean Ribault, who was the French captain in charge of securing Fort Caroline met with Menendez's crew at the mouth of a St. John's river. The two fleets met in a brief skirmish, but nothing happened. Menendez sailed southward and landed again on September 8. He formally declared possession of the land among the sounding of trumpets and artillery salutes in the name of King Philip II and officially founded the settlement he named Saint Augustine because the crew had first sighted land on his feast day 11 days earlier. At the landing spot, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, who had gone ashore the previous day went to meet Menendez. While chanting the Te Deum, he brought a cross to be reverently kissed by Menendez and those with him. Then the 500 soldiers, 200 sailors, and 100 families along with the Timucuan Indians gathered together for the first Catholic Mass offered in the New World. Afterwards, a feast between the peaceful Timucuans and Spanish took place. It is said that Timucuans brought turkey, deer, oysters, clams, as well as corn, beans, squash and fruits.The Spanish made stew with pork, garbanzo beans, onions, along with biscuits, olive oil, and wine.

While feasting and communicating with the Indians was short lived, a French attack on St. Augustine was thwarted by a violent squall that ravaged the French naval forces. Taking advantage of this, Menendez marched his troops overland to Fort Caroline on the St. John's river, about 30 miles north. The Spanish easily overwhelmed the lightly defended French garrison, which had been left with only a small crew of 20 soldiers and about 100 others, killing most of the men and sparing about 60 women and children. On September 20th, Menendez and his crew captured Fort Caroline and renamed it St. Matthew.

That month, Menendez sent a letter to the King letting him know the progress of the expedition. He stated: Let Your Majesty rest assured that if I had a million more, I would spend it all upon this undertaking, because it is of such great service of God Our Lord, and for the increase of our Holy Catholic Faith and the service of Your Majesty. And therefore I have offered to Our Lord, that all that I shall find, win, and acquire, in this world shall be for the planting of the Gospel in this land, and the enlightenment of its natives, and thus I pledge myself to Your Majesty. (See Woodbury Lowery, The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States: Florida, 1562-1574, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1911, pp. 161-162). 

With that promise in mind, the Dominicans, Jesuits, but most especially the Franciscans brought the word of God to the natives in the Spanish colony of Florida. The Jesuits only lasted six years which culminated in martyrdom for many of the missionaries in 1571. In 1574 The Franciscans arrived to take their place. By the 17th century, the Franciscans started 125 missions stretching up into Georgia all the way as far west to Pensacola. 26,000 natives were converted and baptized by 1655. The Spanish king decreed that the Indians be respected and cared for despite a few bad governors. 

86 Martyrs of the Florida Missions

What must not be forgotten is one particular occurrence that happened in the early 1700's.

Below is taken from the website Aleteia.org for which I take no credit:

The Martyrs of La Florida were a group of Native American and Spanish Catholics killed in Florida during the Spanish colonial expansion into what is now the territory of the United States, then still part of the Spanish Empire. During the 16th and 17th centuries, 86 Catholics – including priests and laity – were martyred by Native Americans and subjects of the British Empire...

The lead martyr of the cause is the layman Antonio Cuipa, the inija (second in command) of the Apalachee at the mission village of San Luis de Talimali. Educated by Spanish Franciscan priests serving the mission, Antonio spoke Spanish, Apalachee, and some Latin. He could also read and write. He had been brought up a Catholic and had a thorough understanding of theological doctrine. Married to another Apalachee Christian named Josefa, he had a daughter and a son, named Clara and Francisco. He deeply loved his Catholic faith, which he proved when he died a martyr.

The destruction of the Mission of San Luis de Talimali

Colonel James Moore was the colonial administrator who served as the governor of Carolina from 1700 to 1703. Moore is best known for leading the invasion of Spanish Florida during Queen Anne’s War, wiping out most of the Spanish missions. He captured and enslaved thousands of Floridian Apalachee, taking them with him to Carolina.

The first mission town Moore invaded was La Concepción de Ayubale, a mission near to Antonio Cuipa’s San Luis, on January 1704. As they heard Moore was attacking La Concepción, the men of San Luis quickly and heroically set out to go to their aid, knowing they had no chance to succeed at all.Thirty Spanish cavalry and four hundred Apalachee soldiers under the command of Captain Juan Ruiz de Mexia, Antonio Cuipa included, managed to drive Moore’s forces from Ayubale twice. Fray Juan de Parga, the Franciscan born in La Habana, a zealous priest and teacher who was fluent in Apalachee, administered the sacraments and preached a sermon to the men of San Luis, anticipating their martyrdom. He insisted on going with them. He wished, according to the Spanish governor's report, “to go and die with his children.” By nightfall, the Spanish and the Apalachee had run out of ammunition and surrendered. Moore butchered them.

Father Parga was killed on the road near Ayubale, and his severed head was brought to the council house. His body was later found and buried at the nearby mission of Ivitachuco. Those who were not killed in the spot were taken hostages by Moore’s forces, who tied them to posts and set them on fire. As they did this, Fray Angel Miranda, one of Antonio’s closest friends from San Luis, demanded to know how could Moore permit such atrocities. He simply said he had no control over his troops.

According to the report of the Spanish governor, Jose de Zuniga y La Cerda, many of the Christian Apalachee, Cuipa leading them, died as martyrs:

"During this cruel and barbarous martyrdom which the poor Apalachee Indians experienced, there were some of them who encouraged the other, declaring that through martyrdom they would appear before God and to the pagans they said, "Make more fire so that our hearts may be allowed to suffer for our souls. We go to enjoy God as Christians."

Conclusion

​​Why is the founding of St. Augustine Florida as the real first Thanksgiving in America hardly mentioned or recognized? It's because of the spirit of anti-Catholicsm which has swept across this land. Protestants and Freemasons have been in control of the government, schools, and local communities and so to commemorate their enemy, the Catholic Church, would be like Jorge Bergoglio commemorating Pope St. Pius X condemnation of modernism.

Let us be thankful to our Catholic ancestors who lived out their faith fearlessly and who trail-blazed, strove, and gave their lives up for the love of God and the salvation of souls despite all difficulties. Long live Christ the King and Our Lady, patroness of the Americas.