Batesville craftsmen proud of work on Our Lady of America statue

This statue of Our Lady of America was displayed for veneration at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Indianapolis on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 in 2007 before it was restored by craftsmen at Weberding Carving Shop Inc. in Batesville. On May 24, it was placed on display at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. If approved by the U.S. bishops, the Marian statue will be permanently displayed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception adjacent to The Catholic University of America in Washington. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

Restored to radiance by craftsmen at Weberding Carving Shop Inc. in Batesville, a statue of Our Lady of America has a new, temporary home in the rotunda of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.

The Marian statue is displayed “on the very location where his holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, sat on his throne and greeted the faithful during his recent visit” on April 17, according to information posted on the cultural center’s Web site.

Our Lady of America’s statue was placed on display at the cultural center on May 24 and will remain there pending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ decision on a request for permanent placement at the nearby Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception adjacent to The Catholic University of America.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioner Al Langsenkamp of Carmel, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, in a letter written for the Our Lady of America newsletter and Web site, explains that the U.S. bishops “await the outcome of a process of discernment undertaken by … [Bishop] Leonard P. Blair of Toledo …, the diocese where [Precious Blood] Sister Mary Ephrem [Mildred Neuzil] lived out her last days on this Earth. Our Lady of America appeared to Sister Mary Ephrem on Sept. 26, 1956, at a site in the state of Indiana not far from Toledo, Ohio.” (See the Prayer to Our Lady of America, Patroness of Our Land)

In the letter, Langsenkamp notes that “Dr. Hugh Dempsey, deputy director, and the staff at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center welcomed the Our Lady of America statue [in May] that was first displayed in 2006 at the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in Baltimore.”

From Baltimore, the Marian statue was taken to the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis, St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan near ground zero then to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, N.J.

During the fall of 2007, the Our Lady of America statue was transported to churches in New Orleans, Houston and Milwaukee then to Indianapolis, where it was displayed for veneration at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 before it was taken to the Weberding Carving Shop for restoration in preparation for installation at the cultural center.

William J. Weberding made the first wood carving of the Our Lady of America statue during the 1960s as well as several replicas. His sons have worked on the current statue, which is made of fiberglass and stands more than 6 feet tall with the gold-plated metal crown.

“It’s an absolutely stunning statue,” St. Louis parishioner William Weberding Jr. of Batesville explained during a recent phone interview.

“We’re so proud of it,” he said of their recent restoration work on the Marian statue. “You don’t get too many chances to do things like that. It was really great. … We showed it to a lot of people.”

His brother, Tim Weberding, also a member of St. Louis Parish in Batesville, has restored the statue several times.

“It’s traveled around the country for several months and it’s been back here [for repairs] about three times,” Tim Weberding said. “We went over it 100 percent and touched up everything. They said to go over it with a fine-tooth comb so we did that and repaired the base then re-crated it for the trip to Washington.”

Tim Weberding said the craftsmen at his family’s company “take great pride in the work we do … because there’s only one way to do it and that’s the right way.”

He said his father made several wood carvings depicting Our Lady of America in various sizes from 18 inches to four feet many years ago, but family members don’t know their locations.

“Pilgrims from all over the world will see the statue in Washington,” Tim Weberding said. “It’s exciting. The statue is in pristine shape now in a place of honor at the cultural center. Someday we hope to see it there or at the basilica.”

Our Lady of America seeks to lead the world to peace and purity, according to information about this Marian devotion.

Sister Mary Ephrem said the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to her as Our Lady of Ameica on Sept. 26, 1956, the feast of the North American Martyrs, then again on Oct. 13, 1956, holding a small replica of the completed Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

“This is my shrine, my daughter,” Sister Mary Ephrem said that Mary told her during the apparition. “I am very pleased with it. Tell my children I thank them. Let them finish it quickly and make it a place of pilgrimage. It will be a place of wonders. I promise this. I will bless all those who, either by prayers, labor or material aid, help to erect this shrine.”

Sister Mary Ephrem also reported that Mary emphasized that her image should be displayed at the basilica with the title “Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin.”

The Marian apparitions reportedly continued during 1957 and 1958 with Our Lady’s instructions to Sister Mary Ephrem that people must reform and sanctify their lives with a focus on purity.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest Catholic church in the United States and North America, and one of the 10 largest churches in the world, according to the basilica’s Web site.

The late Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, then the rector of The Catholic University of America and founder of the shrine, initiated plans for the church in 1910 and established a committee to raise funds for its construction in 1914. The cornerstone was dedicated on Sept. 23, 1920, and construction began on Sept. 18, 1922.

Now members of the Blessed Virgin Mary Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation based in Indianapolis, look forward to the day when the Our Lady of America statue is installed and venerated at the national Marian shrine. †