Tuesday, August 31, 1999
Faithful awaiting visit by Mary
Thousands expected in Norwood
BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NORWOOD — An estimated 15,000 people are gathering today at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center for what many believe is a visit from Mary, the mother of Jesus.
This will be the eighth gathering since the event began and will be the last for a while, said the Rev. Leroy Smith, a retired Catholic pastor and the center's president and spiritual director.
People began setting up chairs Monday, staking out a place on the lawn of the 13-acre center near Moeller Avenue and Montgomery Road. Others will arrive today on chartered buses from around the Tristate and as far as California.
They come for a day of prayer, Mass, confessions and Communion services, and a healing service. At 11 p.m., Father Smith will lead the crowd in praying the rosary, and around midnight will “welcome Our Lady,” he said.
“She told us she was coming as Our Lady of the Lights,” he said. “Sometimes the lights are more evident than others. Some don't see anything. Some people think I have strobe lights on the roof, and that's silly.
“A lot of things happen. Some see Mary. Some just see the lights. Some just have a spiritual experience.”
Those who come for today's event “are very fervent. They're in prayer all day,” said Nancy Brockman, a center volunteer.
The Catholic Church has given no official sanction to the event.
The visits are said to have begun in 1992 after Mary began communicating with a Batavia woman, Father Smith said. The woman, whose name has not been publicized, told Father Smith in June that this would be Mary's last visit at the center.
“She said Mary said it was the will of the Father,” Father Smith said Monday. “I think we will continue to gather on Aug. 31 and will have some kind of service.”
Father Smith is the retired pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cold Spring, where the visits are said to have begun. The gatherings were moved in 1994 to the center, a former seminary.
Police will direct traffic beginning at 9 p.m. until about 1 a.m. Moeller Avenue will be closed for bus parking.
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