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Thursday, November 23, 2023

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA ABOUT 100 YEARS BEFORE THE PLYMOUTH THANKSGIVING!


AND THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN THANKSGIVING FEATURED THE CELEBRATION OF THE ULTIMATE THANKSGIVING, THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS—TRIDENTINE VERSION, NOW FORBIDDEN OR KIND OF!



HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Back in 1621, the colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Native Americans shared an autumn feast, which is often referred to as the first Thanksgiving. However, historians in Florida have said otherwise. 

According to the National Park Service, the first-recorded Thanksgiving took place in St. Augustine in 1565 when Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and hundreds of Spanish settlers founded St. Augustine in La Florida. This occurred decades before the Pilgrims stepped foot in New England. 

As soon as the Spanish settlers were on shore at St. Augustine, they celebrated a "Mass of Thanksgiving," where Menendez also invited the native Seloy tribe -- who originally occupied the site -- as guests.

To this day, it's believed the Spaniards and Native Americans ate cocido, a stew made from salted pork, garbanzo beans, and garlic seasoning, and accompanied by hard sea biscuits and red wine.

“If the Seloy contributed to the meal from their own food stores, then the menu could have included turkey, venison, gopher tortoise, mullet, drum, sea catfish, maize (corn), beans, and squash.”

2 comments:

Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh said...

Several years back, the National Geographic published a piece called "American's Forgotten Century," referring to the 100+ years that Europeans, mostly Spanish, were present in North America before the arrival of the Puritans.

I recently came across a book titled, "Americas Forgotten Colonial History," by Dana Huntley. From the description: "That’s the narrative of American colonial history known to one and all. Yet there are 150 years – six or seven generations between Plymouth Plantation and the 1770s – that are virtually unknown in our national consciousness and unaccounted for in our American narrative."

Even that source speaks only to the time from Plymouth Rock (1620) to the American Revolution. As they say, the history is written by the victors, in this case, the British.

Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh said...

Oh, and I like the placement of the canon in the masthead photo. It was used, no doubt, by traditionalists among the Spanish explorers to enforce rigid adherence to the rubrics...