A Quick Recap of the OLOA Apparitions in Rome City, IN

Just outside of the small lake community of Rome City, Indiana, rises a picturesque campus facility built by the Sisters of The Precious Blood in the early 1900’s as a sanitarium. It was here that they practiced a form of medicine called “The Water Cure” based upon the teachings of Msgr. Sebastian Kneipp, a German priest, who had developed a large following in the late 19th century for his methods of using spring water and herbal compounds to aid in the treatment of a variety of maladies. Kneipp Springs, as this facility was named, was typically booked to its capacity during the summer months with visitors seeking the calm and restful spa-like treatments in a devoutly Roman Catholic setting. Holy Mass was said by a cadre’ of visiting priests throughout the day in its spacious church and solemn processions were held each week around the magnificently stone-carved stations of the cross and grotto areas that encircled what is commonly referred to by visitors as “Holy Family Hill”.

It was here that the only United States apparitions of the Virgin Mary to be granted any form of Episcopal approval began on September 25, 1956 when a young nun, Sr. Mildred Neuzil, was visited by the Virgin Mary, dressed as Our Lady of Lourdes, while she was praying in the chapel at Kneipp Springs. In her book of messages that were approved by Archbishop Paul F. Leibold, she wrote that "Our Lady promised greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima would be granted here in America, the United States in particular, if we would do as she desires." She asked that a statue be built and placed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. to honor her as "Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin". She promised that if her instructions were heeded Our Lord would provide all the grace necessary for our country to return to purity of heart, and avoid the justice that mankind is bringing down upon himself.

During the ensuing weeks, Sr. Neuzil was visited again by The Virgin, these times appearing as “Our Lady of America” with repeated urgings to honor her with a special devotion to her Son, Jesus with “the purity of their souls”.

These apparitions are the only ones in the United States to have reached the second level of confirmation by the Catholic Church. The first level occurred in 1961 when Bishop Leibold approved a medal to be struck commemorating the events and the second was in 1963 when he gave his imprimatur to the prayer 'To the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States'. The third and final confirmation may be happening very soon in one of two ways: it can be approved by Pope Benedict XVI, or it can be approved by a vote of American Bishops.

Although there is growing belief and consensus among American Bishops that confirmation will happen someday, some American Catholics feel a greater sense of urgency to finalize the confirmation as quickly as possible. These people feel that America may be running out of time and that, as a nation, we could be at the threshold of a major catastrophic event that may forever change the way we live our lives. If they are correct, it will present this country with the greatest spiritual emergency it has ever experienced. Priests may become prisoners of the confessionals.