Catholic: American seer was sent into 'dark exile' after cloister split with modern nuns

Spirit Daily ^ | J+M+J 26 June A.D. 2002 | Michael Brown

[Siobhan]

It is nothing you will read in the diocesan newspaper. It is nothing you will see on network TV, or in The Boston Globe. It was certainly not an issue under discussion at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas. But here is a fact: the bishops of the United States were granted prescient warnings of the coming Church crisis by the Blessed Mother in apparitions to an Ohio nun named Sister Mildred Mary Ephrem Neuzil, and had the bishops listened to what the Virgin requested, they would have staved off or at least greatly lessened the recent damage.

The Blessed Mother's request to Sister Neuzil was straightforward, as reported here many times, and as sent to all the bishops: make the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington a place of special pilgrimage, dedicated to "purity" (as well as to our youth) and place a statue there representing Our Lady of America.

It did not seem like an outlandish request. It would not have taken much. It was a call to goodness (the Virgin fretted to Sister Neuzil about humility in the priesthood), and it was issued in an apparition that had the strong support of Archbishop Paul F. Leibold of Cincinnati, who promised Sister Neuzil he would work at installing the statue and who had a medal of Our Lady of America struck, along with a large plaque that hung in the chancery.

That's first-stage ecclesiastic approval -- and while there are several older cases whereby chapels were build in association with a vision or miracle, it was the first time an apparition had reached that level in the United States.

But Archbishop Leibold died before completing this mission, and the apparition has since been set aside or ignored by a Church hierarchy that, at least in the U.S., has grown cold toward apparitions. "Tell the Bishops of the United States, my loyal sons, of my desires and how I wish them to be carried out," the Blessed Mother had pleaded as long ago as 1957 to Sister Neuzil -- who then set forth a relentless campaign trying to dedicate a statue of youth and purity right up to her death in 2000.

Sister Neuzil herself became a victim of the rampant psychology, liberalism, and modernism that all but stripped the Catholic Church in America of its supernatural nature. In the end a move by her order toward secularism and away from "old-fashioned" traditions -- including cloister living -- sent her and several other nuns into a tailspin that ended with her death in a lonely house-turned-tiny-cloister in Fostoria, Ohio.  

Such is obvious in Sister Neuzil's personal letters, starting in the late 1970s. It was during this time that the order to which Sister Neuzil belonged headed in a direction that put nuns in apartments, replaced habits with modern dress, and began to make life difficult for Sister Neuzil and six others who were living in a cloister within the order.

Suddenly, that cloister, home to the American apparitions, faced extinction.

"For the past 21 years we, the Contemplative Sisters, have attempted to live our monastic, contemplative way of life within the Congregation of the Sisters of the Precious Blood," said a letter signed by the seven cloister nuns, led by Sister M. Florecita. "Through the years it has become progressively more difficult for us to live out our way of life from within the framework of policies and norms intended for the entire Congregation. The difficulties we have encountered along the way have brought us to question whether or not we are trying to do an impossible thing: namely, to live one way of life from within another way of life."

Tensions between the cloister and the "active" community burst forth in the late-1970s to the point where the cloister was forced to leave a monastery they had spent years renovating and move into the lonely, spare quarters in Fostoria, Ohio, where Sister Neuzil lived until her death on January 10, 2000. "There is no way we can recover the monastery, as it has been sold to a lay person," lamented Sister Neuzil in a letter dated March 3, 1982, describing the situation in a previous letter as "the darkness of my exile." 

It was all in the atmosphere of changes that swept the entire Church -- and that is now coming into special focus amid Church scandals. The underlying disease, indicated the Blessed Mother, was pride, a pride that in many cases caused priests to resist her grace. This the Virgin had warned about as far back as 1959. Years later, in 1981, Our Lady of America, speaking to the now-isolated Sister Neuzil, warned that a "web of evil" had therefore ensnared the priesthood. 

Had the requested dedication taken place, the Blessed Mother, in all likelihood, would have empowered (as she often is empowered by consecration) to prevent many abuse situations that have specifically targeted our youth as well as priestly purity. Instead, the request has been set aside and there is no representation of the Virgin of America in our own national shrine, which does have altars dedicated to apparitions that occurred in far-off places like Croatia and India -- leaving the U.S. as the only major country in the West with no fully recognized apparition of Mary. 

We believe this lack of devotion has severely hurt the Church in the U.S. A dedication to the Virgin's purity -- to her immaculate nature -- would have afforded a shield of protection. We also believe that had such a discussion taken place in Dallas, had the bishops finally installed her under the requested title, had they consecrated the nation to her purity, they would have transcended the crisis and sent the Church's enemies into a tailspin.

[Siobhan]

More articles on Sister Neuzil and her visions may be found through this link.

[Siobhan]

Little known American nun who had visions of Mary and who suffered greatly through the liberalization and devastation of her order after Vatican II.

FYI

[RobbyS]

Clericalism is the cause of all this. The irony is that "progressive"priests/nuns who denounced those within the hierachy who opposed their reforms have never hesitated to violate the rights of the laity.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The Church was captured by modern American counter-culture during the 1970s.

We are seeing the results of the worst elements within the Catholic community (activist liberals) seizing control of institutions and religious orders, subjecting almost everything to a frenzied revolution of iconoclasm, liturgical minimalism, dissent, goofy socialism, alternative lifestyles, and weirdness in general. Much that goes on in AmChurch has very little to do with authentic and orthodox Catholicism. AmChurch reflects Catholicism about as accurately as the PC, multicultural, liberal extremists in the Democratic Party represent the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, the language of relativism on homosexuality is about the same.

[Catholicguy]

"But here is a fact: the bishops of the United States were granted prescient warnings of the coming Church crisis by the Blessed Mother in apparitions to an Ohio nun named Sister Mildred Mary Ephrem Neuzil, and had the bishops listened to what the Virgin requested, they would have staved off or at least greatly lessened the recent damage"

I was looking on the links section to read where the Bishop officially declared these were supernatural events. I didn't find any.

Are there any links to information verifying this apparition was officiallly approved?

[Catholicguy]

I see Michael Brown is leading pilgrimages to Medj. Hasn't the Vatican and at least two local Ordinaries, among others, called for a cessation of pilgrimages to Medj and haven't two consecutive Bishops declared, in writing, that the alleged "seers" thee are liars and that there is no evidence of Mary appearing there?

Personally, I take what this gentleman says with a mine full of salt.

[Siobhan]

I don't know, Catholicguy. I myself have nothing to do with Medjugorge. I have ordered a little book about this Sister's visions, and it is supposed to carry the hihil obstat of the late Archbishop of Cinci. I'll let you know when I get it if there is any more info.

[Siobhan]

nihil not hihil

[Theresa]

"I see Michael Brown is leading pilgrimages to Medj. Hasn't the Vatican and at least two local Ordinaries, among others, called for a cessation of pilgrimages to Medj and haven't two consecutive Bishops declared, in writing, that the alleged "seers" thee are liars and that there is no evidence of Mary appearing there? "

I don't know about all of that. My understanding is that the apparitions have not been declared either true of false. Until they are priests, and bishops cannot lead pilgrimages to Medg. Because that would give the impression that the Church has said the phenomenon there are officially approved and they are not. I think a lay person can lead pilgrimages there but may not give the slightest impression that the Church is sponsoring him in doing so. Something like that. Check this out and see if you agree with how I understand it. It's EWTN's explaination http://www.ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm

[sitetest]

Dear Theresa,

Thanks for the link. Very enlightening.

sitetest

[WriteOn]

That sux.

I've never seen that site before. Looks amazingly like Drudge. I'm bookmarking it for perusing. Thank you.

[Catholicguy]

"I don't know about all of that. My understanding is that the apparitions have not been declared either true of false"

Mgr. Pavao Zanic, Bishop of Mostar "For a short description of the falsehoods aboit Medjugorje, we would need two hundred pages...speaking of Vicka, Marija and little Jakov when they viisted him Jan 14, 1982 "It was clear to me they were lying."...April 4, 1982 anothewr visit with the "sers." "It was clear to me that Vicka was lying, and thios was proof enough for me not to trust her statements. Marija and Jakov also participated in this lie...So we can conmclude that Marija has consciously spoken falsehoods on the first or second occasion. She has lied, and this she sttributes to Our Lady. It is evident she (Marija) is a toy in Fr. Vlasic's hand...These are original fonts (Ivan's Diary) yet they are full of naive statements, clear falsehoods and aabsurdities. They are good proof of the fact thatthe "seers" do not see Our Lady or receive messages from her..What have they done to you, Our Lady! For nine years they have been dragging you along as a tourist attraction. They have been speaking with you whenever it plesed them, as if you were a bank teller. They have fabricated messages, and they say that you come and appear there, but beyond their own arguements they have nothing to prove what they say is true....Unfortunately, this false sensation will bring great disgrace and scandal upon the Church. Those who lead the events are not converting, even though the threat of the abolition of the Province bu the General hangs over them....

From "medjugorge After fifteen years" by Michael Davies There are many more damning statements in this book, but I will link to another site where one can read for themselves

[Catholicguy]

Medjugorje Documents link

about:blank

http://members.tripod.com/~cho nak/documents/

[Catholicguy]

The statement I quoted from that was reproduced in the book I cited, is posted on that link under "recent additions"

[Siobhan]

Unfortunately, in today's climate one wonders whether or not to believe a bishop at all....

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Interesting post. I've never heard of this before. I've always felt a little left out here in America because we don't have any Lourdes or Fatimas. We could surely use some Divine help and inspiration now.

[Catholicguy]

Have these two Bishops beeen accused of nefarious activities? It appears to me it is the "seers" who are not trustworthy.

But, your post points to a fear that I have about all these alleged messages, apparitons etc. I think they do tend to undermine the Hierarchy as established by Jesus. If Mary really has appeared over 26,000 times at Medjugorje, then it must mean that the Bishops and the Pope have been rendered superfluous and we can rely on Heaven directly.

Mary, the seers say, contradicted the Pope about a priest he had suspended a divinis. Now, just how many folks are there, do you think, that will think Mary does oppose the Pope and has authority over him?

These false apparitions have mushroomed since the 1960's and people do seek for signs and that is not spiritually healthy. The last thing we need is more confusion and diffusion and confused lines of authority within the Body of Christ

[Catholicguy]

Marija Pavolic, one of the supposed "seers," had a series of "visions" upon request. I suppose you could contact her or her agent.

She was in Alabama, she stayed with Terry Colafrancesco, and, at his reequest, had 53 consecutive days of visions in a field he had purchased for $400,000.00.

"A Mr. Cyril Auboyneau, Miss Pavolic's translator, confirmed that Colafrancesco asked fro a vision in the filed; "Terry wanted a vision in the field under that tree -
he prayed abpout it. So we asked Marija to ask Our Lady is she would appear in the field on Thanksgiving Day. Our Lady said she would appear in the filed."

Mr. C headed Caritas, a promoter of Medjugorje. So, the Rolling Stones were wrong when they sang "You can't always get what you want." You can....

[Siobhan]

My point is that in today's environment in America, who are people more likely to believe as truthful -- a group of teenagers or a Catholic bishop? A group of teenagers (even if hysterical, delusional, or diabolical) will have the upper hand. The automatic prestige that attended a bishop's pronouncements is no more. And in any dispute for the time being, ordinary folk will believe that the bishop is the problem and not the alleged seers.

The apparitions have always upset the hierarchy of the Church ..... 3rd secret of Fatima, anyone?

The big problem, the dead elephant in the living room, is that most Catholics do not get a substantial diet of real preaching and holiness of life from their clergy. Because we do not receive solid challenging teaching in line with the Catechism and the teaching of the Holy Father, many are drawn to alleged seers, messages, and apparitions. Why? I suspect it is because the average Catholic is desperate for evidence that God is alive and hasn't forgotten about them -- evidence they do not experience in their parish as they try to sift through liturgical belly dancers, cinammon buns for the Eucharist, rainbow banners, sashes, and chasubles, and Father "Light-on-his-feet" swishing about the sacristy....

[Siobhan]

We could surely use some Divine help and inspiration now.

We sure could, and that is why we need to be careful and cautious about alleged apparitions, and redouble our faithfulness to God through the clear means of Grace he has given us. As Fr. Benedict always says, "If you want a miracle, go to Mass. If you want a message, read the Bible"