Shortly before the United States Bishops’ Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 12th and13th, Jack Ames, Director of Defend Life, called me and told me that he was organizing Rosary processions on each of those days with some of the bishops.
I told Jack that I would try to make our Visitation Image of Our Lady of America available for the processions. The Image was in the custody of faithful Guardian Mary Ann Harold in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the founder of radio station WQPH 89.3, Queen of Perpetual Help, an EWTN affiliate. She calls it “the smallest radio station on the planet.” Mary Ann volunteered to personally drive the nine-hour trip to the Conference with the Image and brochures and holy cards of Our Lady of America to distribute.
On Tuesday the 12th, as a very cold and damp wind blew off nearby Baltimore Harbor, the Rosary was led by Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia.
On Wednesday the 13th, the Rosary was led by Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas. He was joined by Bishop Joseph Coffey of the Archdiocese of the Military Services.
The intentions of the Rosaries were for the solemn procession and permanent display of the statue of Our Lady of America in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC as a special safeguard for our country, as Our Lady has requested.
On November 15, 1956, Our Lady asked Sister Mildred, the mystic, to draw a picture of her first appearance and requested that a statue be made according to this likeness and that it be placed, after being solemnly carried in procession, in the National Shrine. Our Lady wishes to be honored there in a special way as “Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin.”
Our Lady promised that the placement of her statue in the National Shrine would be a safeguard for our country, and the placement of her image or statue in the home would be a safeguard for the family.
On November 13, 2006, a new large statue of Our Lady of America was publicly displayed for the first time at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their Concelebrated Mass Room in Baltimore, Maryland. I personally drove it there in a truck and trailer over the Allegheny Mountains from Indiana to Baltimore.
Archbishop (now Cardinal) Raymond Burke requested the display of this statue at the Conference for the benefit of all of the bishops. On November 15, 2006, he personally blessed this new statue. This blessing occurred precisely on the 50th anniversary of the request that Our Lady of America made on November 15, 1956, to be placed and honored in the National Shrine!
Read more about the statue here.
As they prayed the Rosary on Wednesday, Mary Ann and Jack with some others saw the Miracle of the Sun. This phenomenon is somewhat like the Miracle of the Sun that occurred at Fatima on October 13, 1917. As at Fatima, Mary Ann and Jack saw the sun spinning in the sky and were able to look directly at it. Our Lady must have been pleased with their Rosaries.
Perhaps you would like to host a Visitation of the image of Our Lady of America. Learn more here.
Please sign the Petition for the Solemn Procession and Placement of the Statue of Our Lady of America in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here.
