I have had many recent requests for images of Our Lady of La Leche so others can purchase them . Living in St Augustine is such a blessing being the Nation's Oldest City. So I have decided to put up specific Our Lady of La Leche images suitable for either purchasing the digital image to be able to print your own banner for a pilgrimage or you may order prints directly from my website and they will be printed by a professional lab and shipped to you. The purchased images will not have the transparent watermark. But will have a my website in the corner. 

A brief history of OLLL from the website:

In the early 1600s, the Spanish settlers of St. Augustine established the first Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United States. The original chapel and several reconstructions were damaged by storms and attacks. The chapel was rebuild in 1875 by Augustin Verot, first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. It too fell to the ravages of a major hurricane.

The present chapel was reconstructed in 1915 and enshrines a replica of the original statue of Nuestra Señora de la Leche y Buen Parto – Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery. Throughout its existence, the Shrine has remained a comforting place of prayer for mothers-to-be, for families, for special intentions and for those seeking to strengthen their faith.

As you walk through the historic grounds at the Mission, you will be retracing the steps of America’s first founding fathers more than 400 years ago. It was here that Spanish explorers founded our nation’s first permanent community and pioneer priests first planted the cross of Christianity. This is the site where western culture and Christian faith took root in our country.

We ask that, while enjoying the grounds, you kindly respect the fragile conditions of the gravestones as well as the quiet, prayerful atmosphere of the Shrine Chapel. A form is available in the Gift Shop for any comments or suggestions you may have. God bless you on your way.

Novena Prayer to Our Lady of La Leche                                                                                                  

Lovely Lady of La Leche, most loving Mother of Jesus, and my mother, listen to my humble prayer. 

Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need.  To you only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul.  Yours was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior.

Intercede with Him now, my loving mother, that in accordance with His will (mention your request). 

This I ask, O Lady of La Leche, in the name of your Divine Son, my Lord and Savior.  

Amen

V. O Mary, conceived without sin.                                                                                                                   

R. Pray for us who have recourse to you.                                                                                                      

Our Lady of La Leche pray for us.

Here is the link to the gallery and a slide show 

- See more at  http://missionandshrine.org/

As many of you may know I am also on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisaolschewskephotography/ . I posted a special photo from a birth , it was a random photo I captured as the father kissed the mother of his newborn son. It was really simple and sweet yet the love evident. After a very long difficult labor. 

My photo was shared on another Instagram page (actually two to be exact )  HERE :https://www.instagram.com/p/BDmL-Hsx91A/?taken-by=dontforgetdads by Fatherhood Without Fear aka Don't forget the dads (BIRTH WITHOUT FEAR owner's husband ) I was pretty stoked! 

My quote from instagram "When a man/husband becomes a father it is so beautiful to see the love grow for the mother of his child"

When a man/husband becomes a fatherLisa Olschewske Photography "When a man/husband becomes a father it is so beautiful to see the love grow for the mother of his child"

On Wednesday March 23, 2016 at The Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine there was The Mass of Holy Chrism. The Celebrant was The Most Reverend Felipe Estevez, Bishop of St Augustine. 

From Wikipedia a brief explanation of what Chrism is: 

Chrism is essential for the Catholic Sacrament of Confirmation/Chrismation, and is prominently used in the sacraments of Baptism andHoly Orders. Those to be confirmed or chrismated, after receiving the laying on of hands, are anointed on the head by the bishop orpriest. In baptism, if the person baptized is not to be immediately confirmed or chrismated, the minister anoints them with chrism. Newly ordained priests are anointed with chrism on the palms of their hands, and newly ordained bishops receive an anointing of chrism on their foreheads. It is also used in the consecration of objects such as churches and altars.

Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, chrism had to be used to consecrate patens and chalices as well. The Sign of the Cross would be made with the chrism on the interior parts the chalice and paten where the Eucharist would rest; the Cross would then be smeared to cover the entire interior parts. The chalice and paten would need to be consecrated with the chrism again if they were re-gilded. This ritual could only be performed by a Bishop or a priest with the faculties to do so. According to the rubrics, a simple blessing suffices. However, it is still permitted that the bishop performs the consecration with chrism.

Chrism is made of olive oil and is scented with a sweet perfume, usually balsam. Under normal circumstances, chrism is consecrated by the bishop of the particular church in the presence of the presbyterium at the Mass of the Chrism, which takes place in the morning of Holy Thursday. The oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick are also blessed at this Mass.

These holy oils are usually stored in special vessels known as chrismaria and kept in a cabinet known as an ambry. When the oils are distributed to a priest for him to use in his ministry they are kept in a smaller vessel with three compartments, known as an "oil stock". There is also a type of oil stock that is shaped like a ring, to make the anointing easier. The "jewel" of the ring is a container with a removable lid.

The Holy Ampulla or Holy Ampoule (Sainte Ampoule in French) was a glass vial which, from its first recorded use by Pope Innocent II for the anointing of Louis VII in 1131^[4] to the coronation of Louis XVI in 1774, held the chrism or anointing oil for the coronation of the kings of France. Said to have been discovered by Hincmar the Archbishop of Reims when the sepulcher containing the body of Saint Remi was opened in the reign of Charles the Bald and identified with the baptism of Clovis I, the first Frankish king converted to Christianity; it was kept thereafter in the Abbey of Saint-Remi, Reims and brought with formality to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims at each coronation, where the emphasis was on the anointment rather than on the crowning.^[5] Some remains of the content of the ampoule, destroyed in 1793 by French revolutionaries, were placed in a new reliquary made in time for the coronation of Charles X^[6] and are kept since 1906 at the Archbishopric of Reims.^[7]