Our Lady of America and the Present U.S. Situation

The next day Our Lady appeared with tears in her eyes, because of the ingratitude of so many sinful men, and asking that her children in America comply with her requests to cleanse their hearts in the Precious Blood of her Son and to live in His Heart, and to take her that she might teach them to live in purity of heart. She concluded thus:

Shortly after, in early October, 1956, St. Joseph also appeared to Sister Mary Ephrem and in illustrating how he participated in the mystery of the Immaculate Coredemptrix confirmed the meaning of the above.

It is perfectly clear here the link between purity of heart or sanctity and fruitful participation in the passion and Cross of the Savior, and that this link is concretely established through the maternal mediation of the Immaculate Coredemptrix.

In this context Sister Mary Ephrem was inspired to compose the prayer to Our Lady, Patroness of our land, to be found on the last pages of the booklet Our Lady of America.

The following month Our Lady taught Sister this prayer: "By thy holy and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, deliver us from evil." Our Lady then asked Sister to draw a picture of her first appearance and have a statue made according to its likeness, to be placed, after being carried in solemn procession, in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., there to be honored in a special way as Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin.

During 1957 Our Lady made many warnings about the urgency of carrying out her requests, noting that the time was short, but persecution and punishment would be long for lack of compliance, and for some eternal. The Bishops in particular were to be informed of her desires and urged to carry these out. In particular Our Lady stressed the need of prayer and penance on the part of all. Peace will come as promised, but not until the children are purified and cleansed of defilement, their lives reformed and clothed with the garment of grace. The Rosary is to be a family prayer, but prayed devoutly and with meditation on each mystery. In this context, on November 22-23, 1957, Our Lady identified herself as "Our Lady of the Divine Indwelling, handmaid of Him Who dwells within."

On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 1958, Our Lady stressed in particular the centrality of the Cross and the need to participate in the sufferings of Christ in order to contribute to that interior renewal of life and the purification of hearts so much desired by Jesus. Our Lady described herself as "the Mother of the sacred humanity, and it is my special work as Coredemptrix of the human race to help souls reach the sanctity of the Father in eternal union by showing them how to put on Christ, to imbibe His Spirit, and thus become one with Him."

Our Lady then indicated that St. Joseph would come for his feast that year, and so he did, marvelously explaining the mystery of divine fatherhood represented by him in relation to Jesus and Mary, and so underscoring the link between the renewal of family life based on the mystery of Mary's purity and the indwelling of the divine Trinity. On the evening of the feast (March 19, 1958) St. Joseph said: "The Holy Trinity desires to honor me that in my unique fatherhood all fatherhood might be honored." Only by way of a reform of family life based on the immaculate purity of the Virgin Mother can the dignity and role of the man as head of the family be secured, particularly in an age where so much is calculated to degrade fatherhood and so destabilize the family and society.

Throughout the rest of 1958 and 1959 Our Lady continued to exhort and warn about the urgency of her requests. "See, I weep, but my children show me no compassion. They behold the sword in my heart, but will make no move to withdraw it. I give them love, they give me ingratitude. Weep, then, dear child, weep with your Mother over the sins of men. Intercede with me before the throne of mercy, for sin is overwhelming the world and punishment is not far away."

The third group of messages (1960-1964) begins with the request of Our Lady, 4 April, 1960, that Sister Mary Ephrem write the then Archbishop of Cincinnati, Karl Alter, that he strike the medal of Our Lady of America. This request of Our Lady was only carried out by his successor as Archbishop, Paul Leibold (1969-1972).

Our Lady insisted upon this first step, most probably because of the symbolism of the medal. One side bears the image of Our Lady of America, that is of the Immaculate Virgin Coredemptrix, Patroness of America. Around the image are the words: "By your Holy and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, deliver us from evil," an aspiration profoundly expressive of the mystery of the Immaculate Coredemptrix whose preservative redemption is the means of our liberative or deliverative redemption.

On the other side is the Coat of Arms of the Christian Family. The divine indwelling is represented by the Triangle and the Eye on the red shield of the Precious Blood through which sanctifying grace was made possible to fallen man. The sanctification of the family through the imitation of the Holy Family is represented by the Cross and two lilies, on each of which is depicted a burning heart. The flaming sword is a symbol of Divine Love, so necessary to attain union with God, while the Rosary indicates a most profitable means of drawing closer to the Holy Family, through devout meditation on the various Mysteries. The scroll above bears the inscription: "Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto" and the one below: "Jesu, Maria, Joseph." These aspirations are simply explanations of the whole theme, and are also acts of praise to the Trinity and the Holy Family.

This medal is to be worn with great faith and fervent devotion to Our Lady for the grace of intense purity of heart and for the particular love of the Holy Virgin and her divine Son.

With the death of Archbishop Leibold in 1972, and the subsequent suppression of the contemplative branch of the Precious Blood Sisters, all promotion of the messages so profoundly and simply synthesized in the Medal effectively ceased. Between 1980 and January 3, 1984, date of the final message, Our Lady often spoke with Sister Mary Ephrem, lamenting the fact that nothing was being done to renew that faith so precisely described by the Medal, and for the sake of which the Medal is to be worn. The Virgin Mother further warned that the time remaining to do penance for world peace and to avoid a nuclear holocaust was very short, that her efforts to avert human catastrophe were being frustrated by teachers of false doctrine, by persons in high places in the Church disobeying the Pope, by those promoting false spirits rather than the Spirit of Jesus.

During the final appearance of Our Lady, Sr. Mary Ephrem asked her whether there would be a nuclear war. The question no doubt was prompted by earlier warnings concerning the role expected of America in the plans of the Immaculate Coredemptrix for peace. She had more than once pointed out that the role of America was precisely that of leading the nations in the restoration of family life, based on the purity of Mary and Joseph. If America cooperated wholeheartedly as a consequence of the initiative of the American Bishops taken to promote devotion to the Immaculate Coredemptrix under the title Our Lady of America, and the rest of the world accepted this, no nuclear holocaust would occur. If America did its part, but the world failed to respond, America at least would be spared. But if Mary's love for America continued to be met with ingratitude and refusal on the part of the majority to do penance and reform, particularly on the part of the clergy, then America would suffer more than others.

Here is how Our Lady replied in 1984:

Sister Mary Ephrem writes, "From this final message I received the very strong impression that Our Lady was telling us that She had done everything She could do to help and warn us. Now it was up to us. Whatever happens we will have brought on ourselves, so whatever we decide and do now is our responsibility."

In the face of the worldwide disaster which could be the first and immediate result of a nuclear conflict between two forms of tyranny, Islam and the secularized western nations, the relevance of the messages of Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Coredemptrix, are perfectly evident. These messages concern renewal of family life based on the purity of Mary and Joseph and on their love for Jesus, a renewal effected through a loving embrace of the Cross. That the world as a whole, including large numbers of Catholics and other Christians, has neither accepted or acted on these messages, or knows nothing of them because they have not been proclaimed from the rooftops, is a tragic fact, a further reason for doing as soon as possible all that Our Lady asked, beginning with the reconsecration of America to the Immaculate under the title Our Lady of America, the wearing of the Medal, to be followed by a genuine life in the Spirit of Jesus after the example of the Holy Family, and in a sense as part of the Holy Family.

Let this renewal include first of all a repudiation of contraception and the contraceptive mentality, abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage and all that directly attacks and undermines the sanctity of the family, the dignity of fatherhood, the exalted vocation of motherhood and sanctification and salvation of every child conceived of woman. Only such a program can eradicate the root of that inhuman terrorism overtaking the world and bring that much yearned for peace. Let all pray that our Bishops will take the lead in this as the Immaculate so much desires.

This article was taken from the official website of Our Lady of America. For more information please see www.ourladyofamerica.com.