Our Lady of America
July 7th 2012
Watercolor and Ink
8 by 11 inches

"Hail, Mary, White Lily of the Glorious and Always-Serene Trinity!
Hail brilliant Rose of the Garden of heavenly delights!
Hail, O You, by whom God wanted to be born
and by whose milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished!
Nourish our souls with effusions of Divine Grace! Amen."
Hail Mary of Gold~ St. Gertrude the Great



I finished my picture of Our Lady of America! I had been wanting to do this for many, many years, and I had even started another picture a long time ago that is…eh…rather unfortunate-looking. But anyway, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. I was trying to get it done by the Fourth of July, but that obviously didn’t end up happening. Ah well.

Anyway, so a brief description of what I did here. Sister Mildred (Mary Ephrem) Neuzil (August 2nd 1916 – January 10th 2000), a nun of the Congregation of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio, received many apparitions of Jesus and Mary in the 1950s, finally culminating into the propagation of this special devotion to Our Lady as the Immaculate Mother of America. I put Sister Mildred’s description of this particularly apparition down below, but I added a bit more detail-wise.

Firstly, I decided that for this image of Our Lady of America (since she is the patroness of our country under the title of the Immaculate Conception), I wanted to depict her with the traditional imagery of the Immaculate Conception, namely, the description in Revelations 12:1: "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." So Our Lady is standing in front of the sun, with a halo of twelve stars, standing on the moon, and crushing Satan (represented as a black snake) under her. The earth is below her, showing the United States (or, err…most of it. Alaska and Hawaii would have been a tad bit difficult to squeeze in there, aesthetically speaking). A halo of 50 stars (obviously representing the fifty states) surrounds her (Personally, it rather reminds me of Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9, when he says: “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”). The Holy Spirit descends down from Heaven to hover above her while He sheds the rays of His Grace and Mercy upon the world. Around the corners are four seraphim—with red, white, and blue wings (okay, and some gold too. )—adoring the Triune God, and also giving reverence to Mary as the Mother of God.

"Who is she that rises forth like the dawn,
fair as the moon,
pure and bright as the sun,
and as terrible as a many-bannered army?"
(- Song of Songs 6:10)

The appearance of Mary in this particular image corresponds more-or-less to the description of Our Lady of America. She appeared wearing a white robe, with a pure white mantle and a white veil. She wore a tall crown, bore a scepter comprised of three lilies, and had her hand held slightly above her Immaculate Heart, which was ringed about in flames.

And that’s about all I have to say!

Next, I think I’m going to paint Our Lady of Mount Carmel! I’ve been really excited about that one for a long time too!



This page has a good summary of Sister Mildred and the apparitions of Our Lady: [link]

And this has a good part of Sister Mildred’s account of the apparitions in her diary: [link]

Sister Mildred’s description of Our Lady of America from her diary:

The next morning, the feast of the North American Martyrs [September 26th], Mass had just been concluded and the Community thanksgiving was almost over. There were a few minutes left when suddenly Our Lady appeared before me, enveloped in a soft glow of light. I knew with unmistakable certainty that it was she, though she did not speak immediately. What I noticed was the smile on Our Lady's beautiful countenance and the lily she held in her right hand. She wore a white veil reaching almost to the waist and a mantle and robe of pure white with not a single decoration of any kind. An oblong-shaped clasp or brooch held the ends of the mantle together at the top. It was all gold, as was the high and brilliant crown which she wore. Her hair and her eyes seemed of medium brown. Her feet were bare, but these I did not always see, as they were sometimes covered by the moving clouds on which Our Lady stood. She continued to smile. Then I saw her heart appear, encircled with red roses, the symbol of suffering as it was revealed to me, and sending forth flames of fire. With her left hand Our Lady seemed to be holding up slightly the upper part of her mantle, so that her Immaculate Heart could be seen.

Then solemnly and distinctly, in calm yet majestic tones, I heard these words: "I am Our Lady of America. I desire that my children honor me, especially by the purity of their lives." She was very beautiful and her smile held me…Then I noticed the green color of the lily stem in her hand and the white sash or belt which she wore around her waist. It seemed to be made of the same material as the robe. It was narrow, very narrow, and no ends of it could be seen at all. As I had to hurry about my tasks, I could not give Our Lady all the attention I longed to, but every now and then I would direct a glance of love toward her. Our Lady stood there smiling as I had seen her in the chapel. All that day I was conscious of Our Lady's presence in a very special manner, in a way that was distinctly new to me.

On the afternoon of the same day, during the last half of the Holy Hour be-tween 4:00 and 5:00, the Immaculate Virgin spoke to me at length in these words:

“My child, I entrust you with this message that you must make known to my children in America. I wish it to be the country dedicated to my purity. The wonders I will work will be the wonders of the Soul. They must have faith and believe firmly in my love for them. I desire that they be the children of my Pure Heart. I desire, through my children of America, to further the cause of faith and purity among peoples and nations. Let them come to me with confidence and simplicity, and I, their Mother, will teach them to become pure like to my Heart that their own hearts may be more pleasing to the Heart of my Son."

The original image drawn by Sister Mildred: [link]

The statue made later: [link]



Prayer to Our Lady of America

O Immaculate Mother, Queen of our country, open our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus, your Divine Son. With Him, reign over us, O heavenly Lady, so pure and so bright with the radiance of God's light shining in and about you. Be our leader against the powers of evil set upon wresting the world of souls, redeemed at such a great cost by the sufferings of your Son and of yourself, in union with Him, from that same Savior, Who loves us with infinite charity.

We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care.

We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us.

We ask no special sign of you, sweet Mother, for we believe in your great love for us, and we place in you our entire confidence. We promise to honor you by faith, love, and the purity of our lives according to your desire.

Reign over us, then, O Virgin Immaculate, with your Son Jesus Christ. May His Divine Heart and your most chaste Heart be ever enthroned and glorified among us. Use us, your children of America, as your instruments in bringing peace among men and nations. Work your miracles of grace in us, so that we may be a glory to the Blessed Trinity, Who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.

May your valiant Spouse, St. Joseph, with the holy Angels and Saints, assist you and us in 'renewing the face of the earth.' Then when our work is over, come, Holy Immaculate Mother, and as our Victorious Queen, lead us to the eternal kingdom, where your Son reigns forever as King. Amen."
~ Sister Mildred’s Prayer to the Immaculata, October 5, 1956



September 27, 1956, Our Lady again appeared to me while I was at prayer. She held the world in her hands. From her eyes tears were flowing upon it, as though she longed to cleanse it from its guilt. It was then that I heard these words filled with sorrow and longing: “Behold, O my children, the tears of your Mother! Shall I weep in vain? Assuage the sorrow of my Heart over the ingratitude of sinful men by the love and chasteness of your lives. Will you do this for me, beloved children, or will you allow your Mother to weep in vain? I come to you, O children of America, as a last resort. I plead with you to listen to my voice. Cleanse your souls in the Precious Blood of My Son. Live in His Heart, and take me in that I may teach you to live in great purity of heart which is so pleasing to God. Be my army of chaste soldiers, ready to fight to the death to preserve the purity of your souls. I am the Immaculate One, Patroness of your land. Be my faithful children as I have been your faithful Mother. These are my words, O my daughter. Make them known to my children. I desire to make the whole of America my shrine by making every heart accessible to the love of my Son.''

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Virgin-Mother Most Pure, and Patroness of the United States of America, pray for us!