With hurricanes descending upon Florida, I am reminded to pray to these new saints. Also interesting to note, when a group is placed before us for sainthood, the leader of the band is not necessarily the one whose name is chosen. The Church chooses the one who will represent a particular segment of society. Such is the case for the following.
ANTONIO CUIPO was an Apalachee Indian from San Luis Mission, in present-dayTallahassee
ANTONIO CUIPO was an Apalachee Indian from San Luis Mission, in present-day
Franciscan friars Juan de Parga Araujo and Tiburcio de Osorio were killed by Indians working with the English along with Antonio and other Indian converts.
Antonio Cuipa was a leader among the Apalachee people, a carpenter and a catechist for the Franciscan friars. He was slain in 1704 at the mission of La Concepcion de Ayubale by the English and Creek forces of English Col. James Moore.
While not a missionary, Antonio is significant because he and his fellow converts are the fruit of a 150-year effort to preach the Gospel to the natives in this part of the New World .
A second generation Catholic, Antonio was responsible for the upkeep of the common buildings of San Luis de Talimali, the largest and most important of the Apalachee Spanish Missions. He was a husband and father, and played guitar. Having accompanied the Franciscans on visits to non-Christian villages, he began to imitate and adapt their practices of evangelism. Bringing maize cakes mixed with honey and reed pipes as gifts, he would then proclaim the faith in the very language of those he encountered.An English governor in the Carolinas recruited a large number of Creek Indians and began a series of raids into La Florida , wiping out Catholic communities throughout what today is northern Florida
On January 25th, 1704, Antonio participated in an attempt to defend the Catholic Mission of La Concepcion de Ayubale from a force of Carolina Colony soldiers and Creek warriors seeking to collect slaves and eradicate the faith from the land. He was tortured and killed, tied to a cross alongside two other Apalachee.
While encouraging his companions and admonishing their assailants, it was reported by eyewitnesses of the events that the Virgin Mary appeared to him, consoling him in his last moments. His last words were that his body was falling to the earth, but that his soul was going to God.
The killing was partly political to push the Spanish out of Florida
The American martyrs quickly came to the attention of Rome Tallahassee Spain established Oct. 3 as a day to commemorate the Florida Erie , Pennsylvania , initiated a cause for canonization of 106 North American martyrs, including some in Florida
It is only now that the cause of these early martyrs is being reconsidered.
"It is significant that the passage of time has allowed us to discover that it was not only foreign missionaries who laid down their lives for Christ in La Florida St. Augustine