USA – Land of Our Lady

The month of July brings us the birthday of our nation, July 4.  It is a time for all things American- the Red, White and Blue, fireworks, picnics, gatherings of families and friends, patriotic songs and memories of the history of our founding.  In the midst of all of these celebratory efforts, we often forget one person who was constantly present here even before our nation was founded – the Mother of God.  How so? Let’s take a look at a few examples of her presence.
           
On May 17, 1846, the bishops of the United States gathered in the primatial See of Baltimore for the Sixth Provincial Council.  In the course of their deliberations, they came to a profound decision.  They proclaimed the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception Patroness of our nation.  This decision was ratified the following year by Blessed Pope Pius IX.  John Carroll, the first bishop of the American hierarchy and of Baltimore, had already entrusted his diocese to the Immaculate Conception some years before.  A that time his diocese encompassed the territory of the thirteen original colonies.  However, love for Our Lady began in the New World centuries before the intervention of the bishops  in her honor.  We could say that her entrance in our history began with its discovery.
           
We remember that the flagship of Christopher Columbus bore her name, Santa Maria (Holy Mary).  Even though the Santa Maria did not reach the shores of the present day United States, her bow pointed north toward our nation as she traveled through the Caribbean Sea.
           
Then there was her gracious appearance on a hill outside Mexico City in 1531.  Her dramatic entrance into the history of the Americas under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe brought many people to the Catholic Faith.  She continues to endear her to countless people today throughout the Americas and beyond.
           
In the City of St Augustine, Florida, founded on September 8, 1565 (the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady) a devotion to her under the title of Our Lady of La Leche (Our Lady of the Milk) developed at the Nombre de Dios Mission.  The beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin nursing the Infant Jesus became very popular especially with couples seeking to conceive a child.  Her shrine there remains to this day a popular place of pilgrimage.
           
In 1638, King Louis XIII of France consecrated his person and his kingdom to the the Mother of God.  Included in his kingdom was all of New France from present day Canada south to the Mississippi River Valley.  It was truly her land.
           
Father Jacques Marquette, zealous French missionary, traveling with Louis Joliet, French explorer in 1673 named the river we know as the Mississippi, the River of the Immaculate Conception. 
             
We should not forget that the City of Los Angeles is really named for Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Angels (Nuestra Senora de los Angeles). 
           
The granting of the charter for the Colony of Maryland (now the State of Maryland) to Cecilius Calvert on June 20, 1632 by King Charles I as a safe haven for Catholics to worship in the English colonies, caused this territory to be named for Queen Henrietta Maria, his Catholic wife.  Perhaps Maryland, in the minds and heartsof the Catholic settlers, was named also for the Queen of Heaven.
           
We cannot forget that the apparition of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin to Adele Brise in October of 1859 is the only approved Marian apparition in the United States.  She told this young daughter of Belgian immigrants that she was the Queen of Heaven and she instructed  her “to teach catechism to the children, to pray, to do penance, to sacrifice and to frequent the sacraments”.  This timeless message from heaven would serve the waves of immigrants that were to come even to our own time. 
           
These are just a few examples of how this land of ours has the loving maternal embrace of the Mother of God around it.  During our celebrations in honor of the country that we love so much, we should turn to our Mother and our Patroness and ask her to intercede with her Son for our nation. We must beg her to pray that our culture and our nation may hold fast to its roots of faith in God and the keeping of His commandments for the sake of our children and to ensure a bright future for all.  We should have great confidence that Our Mother who has shown up time and again in our history will continue to guide and protect us in the years to come if only we heed her motherly pleas.

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh