In the words of Jillian Olsen, “If you really want to surprise your guests at the dinner table this year, ask them where the first Thanksgiving took place. They’ll probably say Plymouth, Massachusetts when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Tribe shared a harvest in 1621. But they’d be wrong. It was actually in St. Augustine, Florida about 56 years prior to the one you learned about in school growing up.
Late Florida historian Michael Gannon is credited with finding documents that supported the state’s claim to holding the first-ever Thanksgiving.
“Not until 56 years later would the Pilgrims in Massachusetts observe their famous Thanksgiving. St. Augustine’s settlers celebrated the nation’s first Thanksgiving over a half-century earlier,” Gannon said, per the Florida Historical Society.
“This was the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent European settlement in North America,” according to the National Parks Service.
To this day, the first Thanksgiving is commemorated by a 250-foot cross that stands at the Spaniards’ original landing site.
ORDER OF HYMNS
Traditional Mass
Processional Hymn: Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145: I will praise Your Name forever, Lord by Francesca LaRosa
Recording: https://youtu.be/pCZ0WSoKgMU?si=Bb6kmbm9xb9QfmNX
Gospel Acclamation: 1 Thes: In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Offertory Hymn: Goodness of God
Recording: https://youtu.be/n3t6CdeiN1M?si=_8o9aSbg401cKa7v
Mass Setting: Mass of Light
Communion Hymn: Holy God We Praise Your Name (Contemporary Version)
Recording: https://youtu.be/FARrp5BZx0A?si=xXwzntETFoMx6Zqs
Communion Anthem: Thankful by David Foster
Recording: https://youtu.be/_TEqgU4LpnA?si=41O_7kst6vqF7Y-o
Recessional Hymn: Let There Be Peace on Earth
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Sheet Music
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Slides
DARREN MATIAS | Musician 