Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America

Marion Amberg | Our Sunday Visitor

2022


Most of the world’s most recognizable Marian shrines can be found outside the United States in places such as Lourdes, France and Fatima, Portugal, but within the 50 states are a multitude of lesser-known gems devoted to Our Lady.

In Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America, author Marion Amberg has mapped out more than 50 spots dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in America that stretch from Massachusetts to California and Florida to Alaska.

Three of those are located in Ohio. The most recognizable to many pilgrims in the Diocese of Columbus would be the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, just outside the northern reaches of this diocese in the Diocese of Toledo.

The Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in North Jackson might be more familiar to inhabitants of the northeast corner of the Columbus diocese. The third Ohio shrine mentioned in the book resides in Garfield Heights and honors Our Lady of Czestochowa.

Amberg’s latest book follows on the heels of Monuments, Marvels and Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America in which she took readers on a journey to more than 500 holy sites throughout the nation, including several destinations in the Buckeye state.

“I’ve long been fascinated with Ohio’s deep Catholic roots ... the ‘bishop factory,’ Steubenville, Cincinnati’s legendary churches (especially St. Rose with the flood gauge) and, of course, Mary’s miracle shrines and chapels,” Amberg said in an email. “So many great stories in Ohio!”

Indeed, Amberg doesn’t just regurgitate basic facts and information about the various Marian spots. She includes interesting and insightful stories from each stop.

At the Our Lady of Czestochowa shrine in Garfield Heights, for example, Amberg relates an interesting historical anecdote that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope St. John Paul II, visited there in 1969 while in the United States. The section includes a black and white photo of a youthful-looking Wojtyla standing in front of the icon. While there, he joined Polish sisters in praying before the icon and singing hymns.

Amberg devotes eight pages to the basilica in Carey. She explains who Our Lady of Consolation is, the history of the shrine and some of the many miracles that have occurred there in more than 100 years. The brief description of the miracles will leave readers in awe at the intercessory power of Our Lady.

There are so many more captivating stories packed into the pages of this unique travel guide that readers certainly won’t become bored. The book does include its share of facts as well, including a tidbit that the Our Lady of Good Hope shrine in Champion, Wisconsin in the Diocese of Green Bay is the site of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States.

Amberg conveniently groups the shrines into seven geographic regions with a map of the states in each area and includes with each site at least one photo and the physical address, contact information and website.

The index in the back of the book groups the shrines and sites of devotion under their Marian titles (Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Prompt Succor and so on).

Not every place of Marian devotion in the U.S., including several spots in Ohio, made the book. An all-inclusive list would have ballooned the size of the book.

The combination of Amberg’s gift for storytelling and the book’s format make Mary’s Miracles a pleasurable, easy read. Pick it up and take it one chapter at a time or use it as a travel guide when planning a vacation or trip to a particular region of the country.

If a physical visit is impossible, the word pictures provided in Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America will suffice as the next best thing to being there.

Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America is available online and at Catholic book stores and gift shops.