High Springs, Fla. – Bishop Felipe Estévez will officially dedicate the Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in a Mass on Tuesday, Oct. 11 – a diocesan feast day for Our Lady of La Leche approved by the Vatican in 2012.

The small shrine will be filled to capacity with invited guests. Overflow seating will be available at St. Madeleine Sophie Catholic Church where they plan to live-stream the Mass so all can participate.

The shrine was blessed by Bishop Estévez on Dec. 5, 2015 and since then more than 800 individuals and 25 pilgrimage groups have visited the shrine located at 17155 NW U.S. Highway 441 in High Springs.

The devotion to Our Lady of La Leche has special significance in the diocese, which encompasses 17 counties of North Florida. It is the oldest devotion to Mary as the “Nursing Mother” in the United States, dating back to 1577. For more than 400 years, Our Lady of La Leche has drawn pilgrims and visitors to the shrine in St. Augustine where they sought her intercession for a safe pregnancy and delivery, for the gift of fertility, for healing, for families as well as in thanksgiving for prayers answered.

The Santa Fe Shrine, grounded in the rich traditions of the shrine in St. Augustine, provides people living in the western counties of the diocese and others traveling to Florida, a place for pilgrimage and spiritual renewal.

The events on Oct. 11 in High Springs include:

• The feast of Our Lady of La Leche begins with morning Mass at 8:30 celebrated by Father Sebastian George, CMI, at St. Madeleine Catholic Church, 17155 NW U.S. Highway 441 in High Springs.

• At 3 p.m. there will be a Mass for pilgrims in the Shrine Chapel presided by Father Arnaldo Bazan.

• At 6:30 p.m. Bishop Estévez will bless the new Marian Grotto on the shrine property.

• At 7:00 p.m. Bishop Estévez will celebrate Mass and dedicate the Shrine Chapel, which is by invitation only due to space. Additional seating will be available at St. Madeleine’s Church where the dedication Mass will be live-streamed for those without an invitation.

• A reception will follow in the Family Life Center at 8:30 p.m.

The events are open to the public. For additional information, call (386) 454-2358 or email: stmadeleinecc@windstream.net.