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OUR LADY OF AMERICA - NEWSLETTER
February 11, 2008
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
"Who is She who comes forth
like the morning rising,
fair as the Moon, bright as the Sun,
terrible as an army set in battle array?"
[Song of Solomon 6:10]
Our Lady of
Lourdes
The Immaculate
Conception
Few may realize the intimate connection between the apparition of
Our Lady of Lourdes The Immaculate Conception and the appearance
of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of America.
The day before Our Lady appeared under the title of Our Lady of
America, she appeared first to Sr. Mary Ephrem in the person of
Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception. On September
25th, 1956 Our Lady (as the Immaculate Conception) said to Sr.
Ephrem: "
"I am pleased, my child, with the love and honor my children in America give to me, especially through my glorious and unique privilege of the Immaculate Conception. I promise to reward their love by working through the power of my Son's Heart and my Immaculate Heart miracles of grace among them. I do not promise miracles of the body, but of the soul."
Here she establishes that the love and honor that America gives to Her as the Immaculate Conception will be rewarded through the power of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But this is not the beginning of the story. That started a little less then 200 years before, shortly after our country was founded!
Archbishop Carroll -
First Bishop in the United States
On November 6, 1789, Archbishop Carroll
was appointed as the first Bishop of the United States of
America. He was named Archbishop of Baltimore and hence
established Baltimore as the Primacial See for the United
States. As one of his first acts as Bishop he consecrated
his territory to the Blessed Virgin Mary, thus establishing that
special devotion to Our Lady which She referenced
in Her apparition as Our Lady of Lourdes on September 25th,
1956.
Americas first Cathedral
National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Furthering
this initial consecration, the Sixth Provincial Council of
Baltimore on May 10, 1846 decreed that the Blessed Virgin
Mary Conceived Without Sin is chosen as the patron saint of
the United States, making it official that the Immaculate
Conception and the United States of America are very closely
linked in Salvation History.
Furthering that consecration and in recognition of the
importance of the Immaculate Conception to
the salvation of souls the American Bishops in Council May
5-13, 1849 informed the Holy
Father that the faithful in the United States and the bishops
would be pleased if the Holy Father would declare the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception an article of faith (Dogma).
Subsequently, The Holy Father, Pope Pius IX on December 8,
1854 decrees the Immaculate Conception an article of faith,
meaning that in order to be a Catholic, you must accept that
the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without sin. For more
information on the Dogma please see this article by Fr. Vincent
Wiseman O.P.
This Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was then confirmed
in the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. On March 25,
1858 the proclamation of the Dogma is confirmed by Our
Lady herself to Saint Bernadette
Soubirous.
"I went every day for a fortnight, and each day I asked her who she was–and this petition always made her smile. After the fortnight I asked her three times consecutively. She always smiled. At last I tried for the fourth time. She stopped smiling. With her arms down, she raised her eyes to heaven and then, folding her hands over her breast she said, 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' Then I went back to M. le Curé to tell him that she had said she was the Immaculate Conception, and he asked was I absolutely certain. I said yes, and so as not to forget the words, I had repeated them all the way home." ~St. Bernadette
America's devotion
to the Immaculate Conception continues into the 20th Century
when around 1914 the U.S. Bishops started the construction of the
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington
D.C. This was to be our national shrine and a
gift to Our Lady. In the end, such a grand project
would require more than 50 years to complete and
it faced many obstacles along the
way. The Great Depression, WWI and WWII
proved as great challenges to the
faithful striving to complete this Shrine.
As a result many generations of faithful Americans participated
in this great gift to Our Lady.
Following is the account of Our Lady's message where she
talks about the National Shrine which is still
under construction. From the messages of October
13,
1956:
Today the Holy Virgin appeared to me as I was
working in my room. Our Lady was very beautiful, and she was
again smiling in
her heavenly way. She was dressed in the same manner as when I
first saw her, except that her Immaculate Heart did not
appear.
Instead of the lily, she held with both hands a small replica of
the finished Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. She then
began
to speak. Her presence overwhelmed me with its holiness. I was
compelled to stop my work, for it was impossible to go on. I
then knelt down and wrote Our Lady's words as she
desired:
"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."
When completion of
the Shrine became doubtful, the task is taken on by
Archbishop Noll , the
Bishop of Fort Wayne - South Bend, IN. He leads the
program with tireless fund raising, driving the Shrine
towards completion. He is known as the Apostle of the
Shrine and as a result of his efforts the Shrine
is completed in 1959.
Archbishop Noll
Apostle of the
Shrine
Unfortunately, Archbishop Noll did not live to see the
completion of the Shrine as he died on July 31, 1956.
As Bishop of Fort Wayne he would vacation at his family's
home on what became known as Bishop's Island in Sylvan
Lake next to Rome City Indiana. This was very
near the Precious Blood Sanitarium just North of town. The
summer before his death he was unable to make it to the
island so he stayed at the Precious Blood facility
and was given the room next to the chapel.
It was later that same year in the chapel next to where
Archbishop Noll spent his last summer on earth, that the Blessed
Virgin Mary first appeared to Sr. Mary Ephrem, initially as Our
Lady of Lourdes and then as Our Lady of America. It is
believed that Our Lady chose Rome City to honor Archbishop Noll
and all those who worked for completion of the Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception.
On September 26th, 1956 the Blessed Virgin Mary
first appears to Sr. Mary Ephrem as Our Lady of
America. She chooses the feast day of the North American
Martyrs to recognize the great faith of those eight
missionary saints that came to this country to bring here the
Catholic Faith and then made the ultimate sacrifice. She
chose the diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend to honor Archbishop
Noll, all the American Bishops and the faithful who from the very
earliest days of our country recognized and called upon the
Immaculate Conception to protect and guide us.
Our Lady said in Her very first words:
"I am Our Lady of America. I desire that my children honor
me, especially by the purity of their lives. I am Our Lady of
America. I desire that my children honor me, especially by the
purity of their lives." Pray that we
continue to honor the Immaculate Conception with our purity
and that we recognize that very special gift which has
been given to our country through She who is Our Lady of
America.
Our Lady of America, Lily of Purity, intercede for our country during the coming elections. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from the Most Holy Trinity a president and other political leaders who will support life, who will change the laws to make abortion in any form illegal, and who will protect the life of each individual at every stage. Our Sweet Mother, intercede for us that our next president will be a man of God who will help the United States become a country of great purity and high morality. A country that will uphold family life and influence other countries throughout the world to love God above all, to serve Him and to live for Him alone.
Our Sweet Mother, time and again you
have given us your gracious assistance and thus we humbly and
gratefully acknowledge you as Queen of America. Intercede for us
now, as we beg for the end of abortion in our country and for the
uprising of a culture of life. We place our hope and our
confidence in you! Our Lady of America, pray for us and may Our
Eternal Father shine His light upon this country and the whole
world. Amen.
This prayer comes to us from the Poor Clares of
Perpetual Adoration, Our Lady of the
Angels Monastary in Hanceville, Alabama.
From the messages:
On the eve of the feast of the North
American Martyrs, September 25, 1956, as I was making the Holy
Hour from 7:00 to 8:00
p.m., I was conscious of the distinct and special feeling of the
presence of Our Lady. She stood by my side and spoke to me. I
felt, rather than saw her, though I did see a part of her white
gown and a small portion of her blue sash. I was under the
impression
that she came as Our Lady of Lourdes, and she herself confirmed
this. Our Lady promised that greater miracles than those
granted at Lourdes and Fatima would be granted here in America,
the United Stares in particular, if we would do as she
desires.
These are the words she spoke to me at this time:
"I am pleased, my child, with the love and honor my children
in America give to me, especially through my glorious and
unique
privilege of the Immaculate Conception. I promise to reward their
love by working through the power of my Son's Heart and
my Immaculate Heart miracles of grace among them. I do not
promise miracles of the body, but of the soul."
Although it might seem like we have
no good choices to lead the world to peace in this upcoming
election, the promise of Our Lady of America is for miracles of
the soul, i.e. conversions. May we pray that the soul who
is most open to Heavenly Grace be granted the victory through our
prayer and the intercession of Our Lady of America.
August 5th Procession at the Shrine of the Most Blessed
Sacrament
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