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 Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. Devotion to Our Lady of America was approved and promoted by Paul Francis Leibold, Archbishop of Cincinnati.^[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 (Mary Mildred).

History

The devotion to Our Lady of America has its source in a personal diary by Sister Mary Ephrem in which she describes apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary she claims to have experienced some time prior to 1956.^[1] 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 known statue of Our Lady of America has also not been approved by the Catholic Church as a devotional religious icon, as accordingly prescribed by Roman Canon Law.^{[citation needed]}

Apparition

In 1938, Sister Mary Ephrem allegedly experienced seemingly mystical spiritual experiences. These messages of Our Lady of America were said to have taken place between September 25, 1956 and November 15, 1956 in the Our Lady Mother of Mercy Chapel in Rome City, Indiana. According to Sister Ephrem's personal diary, where the alleged apparitions are based, these visits requested devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked Sister Ephrem to propagate them. She then turned to Monsignor Paul Leibold. Monsignor Leibold, later Archbishop of the Cincinnati archdiocese, who would be her spiritual director until 1972.

Archbishop Leibold became so convinced of the alleged apparition that he approved Sister's writings and placed his Imprimatur on the design of the medal. However, private revelations such as diaries are not required an Imprimatur according to Roman Catholic canon law. It is also said that Sister Ephrem was asked to 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.

The Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared to Sister Mary Ephrem up to the date of her death on January 10, 2000. Most of the apparitions occurred at no less than three3 separate and distinct apparition sites located in and around the city of Fostoria, Ohio. Sister Ephrem detested the location at Rome City, Indiana and stated that, when there, she felt as though she had been surrounded by a "ring of evil." The sanitarium at Rome City was eventually closed by the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The Sisters of the Precious Blood thereafter sold the Rome City property to a cult.

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.

Sister Ephrem and other contemplative sisters eventually separated from the congregation of the Sisters of the Precious Blood and formed an autonomous congregation, the Contemplative Sisters of the Indwelling Trinity, which survives to the present day even though they never received approval or have been recognized by the local Toledo, OH Bishop.

Now in the Philippines, in the Chapel of Our Lady of America now in Baguio Cathedral in Baguio City and some main Catholic churches and parish churches in Baguio City, La Trinidad, Benguet in Northern Luzon and Quezon City in Metro Manila with the other devolties from the local Filipinos to praying to the church of Our Lady of America here in the Philippines.

See also

• Marian apparitions

The Contemplative Sisters of the Indwelling Trinity (CIT) and the Our Lady of the Nativity Convent have been given special status by Pope Paul VI, who has designated them a PAPAL ENCLOSURE, subject only and directly to the authority of the Pope. The local bishop has absolutely no authority over this religious Congregation.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Burke, Raymond (2007-05-31) ((letter to United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)). Regarding Our Lady of America. http://www.ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/burkeolamer.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-23. 

External links

• Official website for the devotion
• Catholic News Service article

Notes