Wednesday, September 01, 1999
Thousands gather for vision of Mary
BY WALT SCHAEFER and TOM McCANN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
People gather on the lawn outside Holy Spirit Center in Norwood for evening mass.
(Saed Hindash photos)
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NORWOOD — On a hillside next to an old seminary here, thousands gathered Tuesday night to pray and perhaps glimpse the Virgin Mary or feel her presence.
Organizers estimated that 20,000 people filled the lawn of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center on Moeller Avenue near Montgomery Road. Throughout the day Tuesday, the crowd built in numbers until midnight, the hour of the expected visitation.
At midnight, after a 20-minute Rosary with lights dimmed, the center's director and spiritual leader, the Rev. Leroy Smith, said, “Let's welcome Our Lady.”
Many in the crowd said they saw flashes of light punctuate the darkness. After a few minutes, the crowd began signing “Silent Night,” many waving white handkerchiefs above their heads.
Thomas Parlove of Waterford, Mich., prays in front of a statue of Mary.
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“I don't think it was an outright miracle that occurred here,” Nancy Davenport, of Fairfield, said early today. “It's just so many people praying together just gives me lots of faith.”
It was the fifth gathering of faithful at the center. Believers began gathering for visits from Mary in 1992 at St. Joseph Church in Cold Spring, after a Batavia woman whose name has not been made public said Mary had spoken to her. Mary directed believers to the Norwood center in 1994, according to the Batavia woman. The visionary said Mary has told her that Tuesday was to be her last visit to the center.
Pat Carter, of Beavercreek, Ohio, likened the display to a laser-light show.
“I know it was a manifestation of the Divine,” she said. “People always want to see something spectacular and call it a miracle. But just having so many people together was a miracle for me.”
Patty Stefano of Indianapolis and Ed Thomas of Crosby, Minn., pray.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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Father Smith, 73, a retired priest from the Diocese of Covington and former pastor at St. Joseph in Cold Spring, said he has no doubt Mary's presence has been real.
“It is a phenomenon I can't explain. Who can explain miracles? I think she is appearing because ... the world is in pretty bad shape and she wants to bring people back to Christ and a Christian way of living,” Father Smith said earlier in the day.
“I remember the very first time at Cold Spring. It was real,” Father Smith said. “There were lights on that occasion that I have never seen since. Everything lit up. The buildings, the trees — just boom — then, Our Lady. They have a picture of Our Lady on top of the bell tower. You can see her very plainly. There is no statue up there.”
However, Father Smith emphasized, Catholics are not bound to believe in such visions. “These are all personal ... private revelations. You never have to put any stock in private revelations. So, there are people who say they don't believe. That's their prerogative — even as Catholics,” he said.
Those who came Tuesday believe.
“It's a matter of faith for me,” said Ed Rapp, 70, Mary Rapp's husband of 42 years. “Some don't believe in this and I do. It's that simple.”
Karen Messina, 55, of Fairfield County, Conn., made her fourth pilgrimage to Norwood on Tuesday.
“I come here to give devotion to Mary, and I truly believe she is appearing and giving her message for the world — prayer, peace and reconciliation,” she said. “I have seen the lights and I believe she is being manifested in them. But the important thing is that this brings thousands of people together in prayer and is a demonstration of faith. Despite the scoffers, we are here, willing to profess our belief.”
As the sun descended and the hours leading to midnight dwindled, thousands swarmed the center's front lawn, sending up the Rosary in a booming chant.
Mary Englebrink of Ross has come here for seven years to see the lights believed to flash through the crowd.
“I always see it,” she said. “It's a supernatural light that bathes everyone. It's not cameras. It's not anything natu ral.
“It's the blessed lady surely appearing to us.”
Many came not to see miracles, but to pray and talk among this group of fast friends.
“Even if nothing happens, at 1 a.m., when it's all over, you say, "Yes, I'm glad I came,'” said Al Ehrman, of Delhi Township, who arrived at 9:30 a.m. and recited the Rosary and meditated for much of the day.
“Some people see lights shining, fantastic things, but that's just gravy on the potatoes for me. The whole thing for me is being with these lovely people in prayer by the thousands. That's what makes it worthwhile.”
John Kropp said he was an athiest for 39 years and only recently converted to Catholicism. The Columbus man said he converted because he thought God helped him lick alcoholism.
“All that I feel today, what I'm experiencing, means 10 times as much to me because I never experienced it before. If you never have something, once you finally have it, it's a miracle.”
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