Vespers for the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
6:00 p.m., September 8, 2008
Shrine of La Leche
St. Augustine, Florida

Please join us in celebrating Our Lady's birth. La Leche is the oldest Marian shrine in the United States, dating from the 17th century.
Come Early for the Good Seat!

We'll also be singing the Solemn Te Deum at the Landing Reenactment on August 30th at 9:30 a.m.
This is the chant Pedro Menendez heard sung by Father Lopez, who wrote: "On Saturday, the 8th, the general landed with many banners spread, to the sound of trumpets and salutes of artillery. As I had gone ashore the evening before, I took a cross and went to meet him, singing the hymn Te Deum laudamus. The general marched up to the cross, followed by all who accompanied him, and there they kneeled and embraced the cross."



Welcome to our website! 
Take the time to listen to a little chant and learn about us.

Want to know more about chant? Mark your calendar for the evening of November 17th, 2008 and come to an introductory workshop at Marywood Retreat Center.  No prior experience required. More details will follow here.

Gregorian Chant arrived in the Ancient City, as St. Augustine, Florida likes to call itself, on September 8, 1565.  The Te Deum was sung as Pedro Menendez de Aviles stepped ashore and claimed La Florida for Spain.  A chain of over 150 Franciscan missions stretched from St. Augustine up into Georgia and across to Tallahassee long before the famous missions of California.  Music traveled with the friars as they made their way through the flatwood forests and coastal marshes.  So we are part of a long tradition.