The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios will celebrate the 461st anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 101 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine.

The annual observance commemorates the events of Sept. 8, 1565, when Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine and Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales celebrated the first Mass of Thanksgiving in what is now the United States. Those historic events marked the establishment of the nation’s first parish and the beginning of the Church’s mission in what is now the United States.

The celebration includes historic reenactments, remarks by the St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, a Mass of Thanksgiving and a procession to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. For more information, call (904) 824-2809 or visit www.missionandshrine.org.