Thanksgiving is a national holiday typically observed with turkey, family gatherings, parades, and reflections of gratitude. But the first time Thanksgiving was technically celebrated, it actually began with a spiritual feast: the celebration of Holy Mass — the liturgy of the Word and of the Eucharist, which in Greek literally means thanksgiving.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers arrived Sept. 8, 1565, on the shore of Seloy to found the city of St. Augustine in what is now Florida, according to the National Park Service’s (NPS) webpage on the Castillo de San Marcos national monument.
“As soon as they were ashore,” the webpage states, “the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving.”
According to the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, historian Michael Gannon wrote that after this liturgy, the settlers’ chaplain, Father Francisco Lopez, “stipulated that the natives from the Timucua tribe be fed along with the Spanish settlers, including Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the leader of the expedition.”
“It was the very first Thanksgiving and the first Thanksgiving meal in the United States,” Gannon wrote.
The NPS webpage states that while it is unclear what was served at that first Thanksgiving dinner, it likely included a stew made from salted pork, garlic seasoning, and garbanzo beans, paired with wine and biscuits. If the Seloy Native Americans also shared food at the dinner, the meal may have had turkey, venison, corn, squash, and catfish.
“This was the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent European settlement in North America,” NPS states. “It took place just 300 yards north of the Castillo de San Marcos, at what is now the Mission of Nombre de Dios. This event is commemorated today by a 250 foot cross which stands on the original landing site.”
The diocese noted that similarly, in April1598, Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate declared in Texas that a day of thanksgiving would be observed with Mass.
Richard DeClue, a theology professor at the Word on Fire Institute, wrote in a 2024 article that the word “Eucharist is derived from the Greek word eucharistein, which means ‘thanksgiving.’”
“This word is used in the New Testament in a way that recalls ‘the Jewish blessings that proclaim — especially during a meal — God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification,’” he wrote, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1328. “This sacrament is called the Eucharist precisely because it is a thanksgiving offered to God for these gifts.”
DeClue urged the faithful to recognize the gift of Christ’s Eucharistic presence in Mass and participate in the liturgy with deep “gratitude and sincerity of heart.”
“The Eucharist truly is the sacrifice by which we give thanks to Almighty God for saving us from death and giving us new and eternal life,” he wrote. “As such, it is infinitely more important than our venerable federal holiday.”
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