Our Lady of America...

Our Lady of America...

Our Lady of America

Our Lady of America is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary based on private revelations reported by Sister Mary Mildred Neuzil (then using the name Sister Mary Ephrem) of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood. Devotion to Our Lady of America was approved and promoted by Paul Francis Leibold, Archbishop of Cincinnati for the specific group of people who sought private healing through this Marian title.^[1] However, the Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has not officially recognized or approved the alleged apparitions according to the personal diary of Sister Mary Ephrem.

It was on the eve of the feast of the North American martyrs, September 25, 1956, that Our Lady appeared to Sr. Mary Ephrem. In 1938, Sister began to have what seem like mystical spiritual experiences. She thought little of them, presuming all religious have them. As these visits took on the nature of a specific program of devotion to Mary which Sister was asked to propagate, she then turned to Monsignor Paul F. Leibold. Monsignor Leibold, later Archbishop of the Cincinnati, Ohio Archdiocese, would be her spiritual director from many years until 1972, when he suddenly died due to an aneurysm. Archbishop Leibold had become so convinced of the authenticity of this message that he approved Sister's writings and placed his imprimatur on the design of the medal. Our Lady had asked Sister to have struck a medal that would bear the image of Our Lady of America on the front and the symbol of the Christian Family and the Blessed Trinity on the back.

Our Lady promised great miracles would be granted here in America if we do as She desires. Sister Mary Ephrem stated that Our Lady called herself Our Lady of America in response to the love and desire that reached out for this special title in the hearts of her children in America. For example, Our Lady repeatedly spoke approvingly about the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. This title is a sign of Our Lady's pleasure in the devotion of her children of America towards her, and this visit is a response to the longing, conscious or unconscious, in the hearts of her children in America.

"It is the United States that is to lead the world to peace, the peace of Christ, the peace that He brought with Him from heaven," Sister Mary Ephrem quoted The Virgin as saying. "Dear children, unless the United States accepts and carries out faithfully the mandate given to it by heaven to lead the world to peace, there will come upon it and all nations a great havoc of war and incredible suffering. If, however, the United States is faithful to this mandate from heaven and yet fails in the pursuit of peace because the rest of the world will not accept or cooperate, then the United States will not be burdened with the punishment about to fall."

"Weep, then, dear children, weep with your mother over the sins of men," said Mary. "Intercede with me before the throne of mercy, for sin is overwhelming the world and punishment is not far away."
"It is the darkest hour, but if men will come to me, my Immaculate heart will make it bright again with the mercy which my Son will rain down through my hands. Help me save those who will not save themselves. Help me bring once again the sunshine of God's peace upon the world."

"If my desires are not fulfilled much suffering will come to this land. My faithful one, if my warnings are taken seriously and enough of my children strive constantly and faithfully to renew and reform themselves in their inward and outward lives, then there will be no nuclear war. What happens to the world depends upon those who live in it. There must be much more good than evil prevailing in order to prevent the holocaust that is so near approaching. Yet I tell you, my daughter, even should such a destruction happen because there were not enough souls who took my warning seriously, there will remain a remnant, untouched by the chaos who, having been faithful in following me and spreading my warnings, will gradually inhabit the earth again with their dedicated and holy lives."

On October 13, 1956, Our Lady again appeared as Our Lady of America, but instead of a lily in her hand, she held, with both hands, a small replica of the finished Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. "This is my shrine, my daughter. I am very pleased with it. Tell my children I thank them. Let them finish it quickly and make it a place of pilgrimage. It will be a place of wonders. I promise this. I will bless all those who, either by prayers, labor, or material aid, help to erect this shrine." According to Sister Mary Ephrem, Our Lady often emphasized her desire that the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., be made a place of special pilgrimage and that she be honored there under this image and this title "Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin."

Strong warnings were repeated by Our Lady throughout 1957 and 1958, and there after, indicating that the hour grows late and Sister must tell the Bishops of the United States of Our Lady's desires and how she wishes them to be carried out. Our Lady spoke: "Unless my children reform their lives, they will suffer great persecution. If man himself will not take upon himself the penance necessary to atone for his sins and those of others, God in His justice will have to send upon him the punishment necessary to atone for his transgressions."

In August 1957 The Blessed Virgin said; "What am I to do, child of my heart, when my children turn from me? The false peace of this world lures them and in the end will destroy them. They think they have done enough in consecrating themselves to my Immaculate Heart. It is not enough. That which I ask for and is most important many have not given me. What I ask, have asked, and will continue to ask is reformation of life. There must be sanctification from within. I will work my miracles of grace only in those who ask for them and empty their souls of the love and attachment to sin and all that is displeasing to my Son. Souls who cling to sin cannot have their hands free to receive the treasures of grace that I hold out to them."

The Blessed Virgin Mary has promised that her statue as Our Lady of America once placed in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception would be a safeguard for our country, and her picture or statue honored in all homes, a safeguard for the family. She also promised that the medal would be a safeguard against evil for those who wear it with great faith and devotion.

Prayer to Our Lady of America

Distinction of Title

In the course of approving the writings of Sister Mary Ephrem, Monsignor Paul F. Leibold considered the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title, "Our Lady of America" (basically referring to the United States of America), as distinct from her title, "Empress of The Americas" (referring to Our Lady of Guadalupe, as declared by Pope Pius XII in 1945, as having patronage over all the American nations). Our Lady of America (in the singular) focuses primarily on the United States of America as revealed in 1956.

Does the Message of Our Lady of America contradict Fatima?

On the surface and to some degree It does appear to conflict yet common sense indicates that if America does her part in praying the Rosary and ultimately accepts the call to repentance than America will have done her part in trying to "maintain peace". However, thus far, I have not found any specific teaching that contradicts the infallible teaching of the Church. Ultimately, we do know that Russia will be consecrated "late" after war will have already broken out and thus we can conclude that Our Lady's wishes in this particular message(s) will not have been taken seriously. "If, however, the United States is faithful to this mandate from heaven and yet fails in the pursuit of peace because the rest of the world will not accept or cooperate, then the United States will not be burdened with the punishment about to fall." Does this mean that our punishments will be mitigated?

 Peace comes thru Russia not America.

It was stated that America should lead the world unto peace and yet we know thru Fatima that ultimately peace will not come until after the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart. Thus peace will truly come thru Russia yet what shall be the "consequences owed to America" for not taking this call to conversion very seriously? Was war averted during the first Cold War only now to be rekindled due to man's increased sin especially here in America? In my initial review of this purported Marian devotion I find it intriguing but nevertheless in the end we know what to do. I shall study it more extensively in the future. Therefore, let us be armed with the Rosary and wear our Scapular. Let us do penances, corporal works of mercy and each day grow in virtue thru the grace of God. I would say to have "at least" some reservation concerning this specific devotion in this time of crisis of the Church with all the "newness" being propagated but we can never go wrong in devoting our hearts and lives to the Queen and Empress, our Blessed Virgin Mary! If anyone has further information and/or elaboration on some of the possible concerns please leave it in the comments section of this blog, thank you. America, nevertheless needs Our Lady therefore, let us not detract from the "sound message" of Fatima and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart.

Position of the Roman Catholic Church

A booklet containing the contents of the revelation, and bearing the Imprimatur of Archbishop Leibold, Sister Mary Ephrem's spiritual director, was published in 1960 and again in 1971.^[1] A distinction must be made between the devotion to Our Lady of America itself, and the claimed apparitions said to have initiated it. In 1963, as Archbishop, Leibold, then an auxiliary bishop of Cincinnati, granted his Imprimatur to the text of a prayer Sister Mary Ephrem had written in honor of Our Lady of America, and to the design of a medal. While a number of church officials have indicated support for the devotion, finding nothing against church teaching, no decision has been rendered as yet with regard to the supernatural origin of the reported apparitions of Our Lady to Sister Mildred Neuzil. ^[4]
Reports and claims of healings upon the grounds at Rome City, Indiana have not been verified and approved by the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cincinnati has stated that the Devotion to Our Lady of America, as a matter of private revelation, has not been canonically approved despite the claims of some individuals.

Regarding Our Lady of America

Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke Archbishop of St. Louis

In a letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Burke, then the Ordinary of St. Louis, Missouri, now Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, revealed the results of his review of the history and canonical status of devotion to Our Lady of America. See the original letter. May 31, 2007 — Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary To the Bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Dear brothers in Christ, During the November meeting of our Conference of Bishops, you may have had occasion to view the statue of Our Lady of America, which was displayed in one of the meeting rooms; and to receive one of the Our Lady of America prayer cards or other information about Our Lady of America, which was available, thanks to the devout lay faithful who made the arrangements for the display of the statue. The faithful involved in the promotion of the devotion to Our Lady of America have asked me, some months ago, to review the history and present state of the devotion to Our Lady of America, in what pertains to its canonical status. Finally, I am able to give them a report of the results of my study, which I want also to communicate to you. The devotion to Our Lady of America has its source in private revelations to Sister Mary Ephrem (baptized Mildred) Neuzil, who was born in 1916 and was professed, in 1933, in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, which has its generalate in Dayton, Ohio. She later became part of a contemplative branch of the same congregation. The contemplative branch was located at Our Lady of the Nativity Convent at New Riegel, Ohio. After the suppression of the contemplative branch in 1979, the Sisters who were members took up residence in Seneca County, Ohio. From the time of the suppression, Sister Mary Ephrem used her baptismal name, Sister Mary Mildred Neuzil. Sister Mary Ephrem (Mary Mildred) died in 2000. One of the Sisters survives and continues to live in Seneca County, Ohio. Having reviewed the correspondence between Sister Mary Ephrem and her spiritual director of many years, Monsignor Paul F. Leibold, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, who later became the Bishop of Evansville and, then, Archbishop of Cincinnati, it is clear that the devotion, as proposed by Sister Mary Ephrem, received his approbation. In addition to the correspondence by which Monsignor Leibold declared the approval of the devotion, he also carried out the first of Our Lady of America's requests, made through Sister Mary Ephrem, namely, he had a medal struck with the image of Our Lady of America on one side and the coat of arms of the Christian family on the other. The coat of arms symbolically represents the substance of the private revelation received by Sister Mary Ephrem, namely, the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the Christian home, which is the source of life and unity in the family. The coat of arms points to the purity and selflessness of love in the family, because of the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, the model of which is the Mother of God, under her title of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of our nation. In a particular way, Our Lady of America expressed her desire that the United States of America, through her intercession, be devoted to the purity of love. She identified herself to Sister Mary Ephrem as "Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin." In the consecration of our nation to our Blessed Mother, made in 1959 at the National Shrine and renewed, in our name, by Bishop David Ricken on November 11, 2006, the Saturday before the November meeting of our Conference of Bishops, our Blessed Mother is addressed as "Immaculate Virgin." The contents of the private revelation received by Sister Mary Ephrem were published in a booklet, first in 1960, and, again, in 1971. Both of these editions were published with the Imprimatur of Archbishop Leibold. A final edition, with some new contents, was published in 1989. The new contents were added at the direction of Father Edmund Morman, S.V.D., the last chaplain of Our Lady of the Nativity Convent at New Riegel. Father Morman was sadly killed in an automobile accident on February 17, 1986. As Archbishop of Cincinnati, Archbishop Leibold commissioned a wooden plaque with the image of Our Lady of America, which he gave to the cloister at New Riegel, at which it was displayed for many years in a public area. He had the wooden plaque created for the specific purpose of its use in processions at the New Riegel convent. Archbishop Leibold also authorized the Weberding Woodcarving Shop at Batesville, Indiana, to carve a statue of Our Lady of America. The statue was carved for Our Lady of the Nativity Convent at New Riegel, Ohio, at which public devotions to Our Lady of America were regularly celebrated. Other bishops have permitted the public display of a statue of Our Lady of America for devotion. For instance, the late Bishop William G. Connare of Greensburg permitted a statue to be displayed at the Carmel of the Assumption at Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Also, a statue of Our Lady of America was carried in procession in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on several occasions by the Apostolatus Uniti and other groups. On May 31, 2006, a statue of Our Lady of America was enthroned at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama, by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. The statue which was enthroned at Hanceville is the very same statue which Bishop Connare authorized for public devotion at Latrobe. A specific request of Our Lady of America was that her statue be placed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. There is a providential connection between Sister Mary Ephrem and the late Archbishop Bishop John Francis Noll of the Diocese of Fort Wayne, who is celebrated as the Apostle of the National Shrine. The principal apparitions of Our Lady of America to Sister Mary Ephrem took place in the chapel of the Precious Blood Sisters Convent in Kneipp Springs Sanitorium, near Rome City, Indiana. Archbishop Bishop Noll, who died in 1956, maintained a summer residence at the Sanitorium, within a few hundred feet of the place of the apparitions. While the National Shrine is the largest shrine in the world at which there was not a previous apparition, the private revelation to Sister Mary Ephrem very much confirms the mission of the National Shrine. The prayer attached to the devotion also received the imprimatur of the then Monsignor Leibold, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Archbishop Leibold was Sister Mary Ephrem's spiritual director from the time that he was Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati until he died in1972. Archbishop Leibold was always clear that the approved devotion had its origin in private revelation received by Sister Mary Ephrem over many years. What can be concluded canonically is that the devotion was both approved by Archbishop Leibold and, what is more, was actively promoted by him. In addition, over the years, other Bishops have approved the devotion and have participated in public devotion to the Mother of God, under the title of Our Lady of America. Although the devotion to Our Lady of America has remained constant over the years, in recent years the devotion has spread very much and has been embraced by many with special fervor. Seemingly, as has been suggested by Father Peter Damian Mary Fehlner, F.I., in his homily of August 5, 2006, at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, the moral crisis of our time, which demands a new teaching and living of the virtue of purity, has found an especially fitting response of loving care from the Mother of God in her message to Sister Mary Ephrem. Some have raised with me the canonical question regarding the status of Our Lady of the Nativity Convent in Seneca County, Ohio, which has been the residence of any remaining member of the suppressed contemplative branch of the Congregation of Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. In response, I observe that the canonical question has no bearing on the devotion or its approbation. As one deeply devoted to fostering the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe in our nation, I have wondered about the relationship of the devotion to Our Lady of America to the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Archbishop Leibold, in fact, raised the question with Sister Mary Ephrem. Sister Mary Ephrem responded that Our Lady of Guadalupe is Empress of all the Americas, whereas "Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin," is the patroness of our nation, the United States of America. The two devotions are, in fact, completely harmonious. As our late and most beloved Pope John Paul II reminded us, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America and Star of the "New Evangelization", draws all of the nations of America into unity in carrying out the new evangelization. Our Lady of America calls the people of our nation to the new evangelization through a renewed dedication to purity in love. I hope that the above may be of some help to you in responding to questions regarding the devotion to Our Lady of America. May the Immaculate Virgin intercede for the intentions of our dioceses and our nation. With fraternal gratitude and esteem, I remain Yours devotedly in Christ, (Most Rev.) Raymond L. Burke Archbishop of Saint Louis St. Joseph and Our Lady of America