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Month: November 2022

We Need You! Meet Our Annual Appeal Goal and Respond to the Call

November 28, 2022
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Do you fear for our Country? I do!

One of our most read posts is “The Rise and Fall of America”. It explores the root cause of the decline of our nation and explores the question “Must America fall?” The simple answer is no!  Heaven has a plan!

 

At the Our Lady, Patroness of America Center we want to respond to Heaven’s plan. Here, we are blessed to know that Heaven gives us hope and a way out of the decline. It is not too late to save our country and fulfill Heaven’s desire that America lead the world to peace.

But we must do our part. We need to respond to the messages and call of Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America. We need to bring Grace upon our Nation.

Those who come to the Our Lady, Patroness of America Center receive grace. If they participate in a tour, then they get firsthand exposure to Our Lady’s promise of extraordinary grace for pilgrims and our nation.
But few know of this great plan of Heaven to save our country. And even fewer will make it here to Rome City to experience Our Lady’s call – firsthand. THIS IS A PROBLEM!

In 2023 we will be starting outreach and programs to bring Our Lady’s message of hope and grace to more people than could ever make it to Rome City. And at the same time, we hope to be able to continue renovating the Oratory of the Holy Family as Bishop Rhoades has asked us to do.

second year in a row, our Board Is Matching GIFTs 2-for-1 UP to $300,000

With the generous 2-for-1 match from our Board, your donations are not just doubled, but tripled! Donate $100 and it becomes $300. 

Last year we exceeded the match limit! And our Board came through and added another $50,000. As president of the Foundation, I really want to make that call again to our board and ask for a larger match pool from our directors. I can’t speak for them, but I believe that request would be well received!

We need to raise $550,000 for 2023 to keep the momentum going here in Rome City and bring more souls to know of and respond to Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America.

Please, please bring this great plan of Heaven to America. Please make a generous donation today! Join in Our Lady’s work.

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2-for-1 Match – It’s up to us!

November 22, 2022
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Building on the success of last year’s 2-for-1 match the Foundation’s Board has once again committed taking our work to the next level! The 2-for-1 match is back! Like 2022 (in review), the board wants another year of large strides in response to Our Lady’s call.

2023 will be a pivotal year. Our focus has been on providing the essentials; water, heat, electricity and offering of Holy Mass in a somewhat appropriate space. In 2023 we will start to bring outreach and programming into focus, while we continue to prioritize liturgy and liturgical space improvements.

Holy Family on the Hill at Oratory of the Holy Family

Our Lady continues to lead us. She calls Bishop Kevin Rhoades to set the path and her priest sons to guide us along. As an example, when Bishop Rhoades renamed the chapel to the Oratory of the Holy Family, it caused us to dig into what this devotion reveals about the Holy Family, where humanity and Divinity co-existed in peace for 30 years. The Holy Family is where God’s nature and infinite love were made manifest in humanity. The example of the Holy Family is very rich. Through it are revealed ways of Grace that are available to us. Ways that bring us closer to the promises of Christ. 

Pilgrims enter Oratory at completion of 7 mile Pilgrim Walk
Pilgrims enter Oratory at completion of 7 mile Pilgrim Walk

And the priests!  Perhaps the greatest gift Our Lady has sent are the local priests who have made this work of Our Lady theirs too.  For the Sacraments that have come through them, the dozen who participated in the Bishop’s Mass and the Pilgrim Walk, envisioned and organized by Fr. J Steele, CSC, we are most grateful!  And our new Pastor, Fr. Louis Fowoyo is collaborating closely to build the richness of our programs and offerings.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades at the Oratory of the Holy Family, August 6, 2022

When Bishop Rhoades offered Mass on August 6th, 2022, he gave us many gifts. First, his presence as witness to his support and encouragement. Second, he established the chapel as an Oratory. And Third, he established that we would be graced with the True Eucharistic Presence of Our Lord in the Oratory. This is the goal. 

But we are not ready to receive this gift of Divinity. Because of the public nature of the Oratory, with pilgrims, programs, tours, and conferences it is not appropriate that Our Lord be reserved in the Oratory Sanctuary. For this we will be outfitting a Eucharistic Chapel just off the sanctuary for prayer in the presence of Our Lord. This is the same way it is done in the great Churches of the world like the Pope’s Cathedral, St. John Lateran in Rome.

At the conclusion of Mass in August, Bishop Rhoades called attention the Sanctuary of the Oratory pointing to the great need of renewal. We are ready to start. View below short video of his closing comments at Mass. He clearly painted the picture that it takes a community of the faithful to respond and act on this call of Our Lady. He calls out that so much has been accomplished, but there is so much more to do. He gives his thanks to this community for returning the Catholic presence to the Oratory.

We have already hired a liturgical architect and the next step is engaging a liturgical artist. Together, they will prepare a plan of renewal for discussion, refinement and ultimately completion.

This will be a multi-year program with timing dependent on funding. This year our hope is to prepare the sanctuary area for the next step. This first step will be building walls in the sanctuary in front of the existing walls to accommodate insulation and electrical. This wall will be the canvas for the liturgical art.

Bishop Rhoades has given this community a charge – to renew the Oratory as an inspiring and appropriate space for worship, prayer, sacraments, and learning. Now is the time to respond to Our Lady’s call and her hope for America. Please join with our Board so that together we can advance Our Lady’s plan. Please Give Today!   

Click here to donate!

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Save the Date! Bishop Kevin Rhoades to Offer Holy Mass

November 20, 2022
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SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, July 15, 2023, at 11:00 AM EDT, Bishop Kevin Rhoades returns to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Oratory of the Holy Family at the Our Lady, Patroness of America Center in Rome City, Indiana.  

This is the feast day of St. Bonaventure, Franciscan Bishop, Cardinal, scholastic, theologian philosopher and Doctor of the Church.  

Bishop Rhoades will finish what we had hoped to accomplish in 2022.  When he came last August to bless and rename the Oratory, we had hoped he would also have a new altar to consecrate.  That had to wait as an accident happened the day before when the altar top failed when being placed. 

Please plan to attend and show your support for the devotion to Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America. As a community we need to renew our appreciation toward Bishop Rhoades for establishing the Our Lady, Patroness of America Center and giving us the Oratory of the Holy Family.   

Please pray for Bishop Rhoades!  Please give him your support in prayer and in person on July 15, 2023.

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In Thanksgiving for the Blessings of 2022

November 9, 2022
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Year in review.

As Thanksgiving nears, it brings us to reflect on the generosity and support of our benefactors, pilgrims, and the local Church. The Our Lady, Patroness of America center has made great strides with your support and participation. Please accept our deepest appreciation and thanks. None of this is possible without your help! And without pilgrims it would all be in vain.

We often hear from pilgrims how much has changed since they were last here. This remark follows only a few months between visits. It is a great testament to what staff and volunteers accomplished this year. Here is just a brief recap of the highlights.

In February, we focused on the grave threat posed by a disintegrating water tower. Nearing 75 years old a recent inspection showed it needed substantial repair or dismantlement. We chose the later as we saw no need for the structure going forward. See details...

We also, hired an ecclesiastical architect and commissioned a new altar of sacrifice which was delivered in time for the August 6th First Saturday Mass. Unfortunately, the marble altar top was dropped during installation on August 5th. The new top and altar will be consecrated by Bishop Rhoades sometime in 2023.

As weather warmed and we had many pilgrims tell us how excited they were for Bishop’s Mass on August 6th.  We saw indications that the attendance would greatly exceed the capacity of the Chapel and our parking lot. This caused us to change priorities. We reclaimed land south of the Cemetery providing 400 additional parking spaces. We then focused on accommodating the pilgrims wanting to participate in this historic event. We rented an outdoor tent to shelter 400 pilgrims and then invested in streaming technology. We had 7 displays streaming the Mass in real-time to the overflow venues. We also outfitted the Oratory choir loft with a top-of-the-line Yamaha keyboard, choir microphones, horn instrument pickups and monitor speakers. The result was amazing! As Bishop Rhoades re-dedicated the Oratory, it came alive with hymns of joy and praise! The Oratory was back as a proper place of prayer, worship and Sacraments, all in honor of the Holy Family! The day unfolded in a way that was beyond our imagination.

In unplanned maintenance there were a few major repairs that came upon us. The sewer line servicing the Cape Cod home (used for visiting priests) collapsed and had to be completely replaced. Its heat and air conditioning also required replacement. The Victorian Home on the east side needed a new roof, which was also accomplished.

The Indiana Department of Transportation gave us a new intersection at the corner of State Road 9 and Northport. Having our main entrance closed for 4 months presented it’s challenged, but our pilgrims and volunteers made it through. And things are back to normal now. 

In conjunction with the road improvement, we also recovered our south lawn along State Road 9, all the way to the lake on the south end of the property. It’s beautiful! Locals and pilgrims alike comment about the welcoming nature of this beautification.

One of the more popular changes this year was the addition of water founts to make access to the healing spring water accessible without risk of fall or contamination.   The fount is fed directly from the source and does not go through ancient plumbing, now all brand new equipment.  The water that is available over the side of the hill goes through a 100-year-old pipe that we know is breaking down and risks introducing contamination.  We see multiple cars each day come and fill containers of this wonderful gift of God; clean, fresh and cool water that has generated many reports of healing spanning so many decades.

The stained glass in the Oratory got an up-close inspection for stability and safety.  We found the window frames and mountings in good shape.  The protective outer windows were re-glazed and painted.   All the trim on the exterior of the chapel except for the highest areas of the bell tower were treated with a wood hardener preservative and then painted.   The rose window on the bell tower at about 60’ high was found to be in bad shape.  One protective window had fallen out and many more were on the verge.   Our recovery experts went to work using state of the art epoxy wood hardening and restoration products.   The window frames were recovered to near original strength and shape with protective glass replaced as needed.  It was competed with re-glazing and painting.   It looks like new and will last for decades!

The clear highlight of the year was Bishop Rhoades Mass on August 6th, when he re-dedicated the chapel and renamed it to the Oratory of the Holy Family. This apostolate is so blessed to have his public support and his personal encouragement!

More than 750 pilgrims participated in the historic day!

See recap of Bishop Rhoades Mass on August 6, 2023

And then Came the surprise!

 

Fr. J. Steele, the pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Kendallville suggested that we do a Pilgrim Walk from Kendallville to the Oratory on the Anniversary of the devotion to Our Lady of America along the fishing line walking trail. In partnering with Fr. J, and our Pastor Fr. Louis Fowoyo, the event was planned. We were hoping that 100 pilgrims would participate. By the week prior we had a realistic expectation of more than 200 pilgrims. The walk started at a distance of 7 miles with 125 pilgrims. By the time the walkers reached the Oratory for Benediction, their ranks had grown to over 300! These pilgrims were praying for our nation and the intercession of Our Lady. More details…

However, none of these accomplishments matter except for how lives are touched with peace, healing, consolation and a deeper lover for Our Lady and her Son, Our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are humbled and elated by the stories and testimonies of people who are touched in a profound way and healed by God’s Grace. They leave here with the Joy and Peace of Christ. Our Lady has so much love for pilgrims and wants for us a deeper encounter with Her Son. We welcome the pilgrims; but volunteers, staff and benefactors are pilgrims as well. We look forward to the journey together, with you!

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