Discernment Beat: ‘Our Lady Of Light’

For years, since the early nineties, during trips to Ohio, we’ve heard about the supposed apparitions and revelations around Cincinnati.

They are known as “Our Lady of Light,” and they were one of a flurry that came out of that state and neighboring Kentucky, as well as Indiana (the “tri-state” area).

The seer was and remains anonymous. Phenomena included orbs and streaks of light outside a church, Saint Joseph, in Cold Spring, Kentucky (just across the Ohio border).

How did it begin?

September 1, 1991 – in a field in Indiana, it is explained, a beautiful woman appeared to five mothers and identified herself as “The Lady of Light.” One of the five mothers became known as “the Batavia (Ohio) visionary.”

“On July 15, 1993, I was called by an inward request from Our Lady to go to the replica of her Lourdes Shrine in Dayton, Ohio,” recalled the alleged visionary. “I went with several others there to pray. While we were saying the Rosary, a golden light formed near her statue and then it seemed the grotto disappeared, and it was like the sky. Then Jesus appeared in the light. He did not say anything but was just there for a few seconds and looked down at us. As He faded away, Our Lady appeared in the same golden light. She seemed to be floating on a cloud, slightly above her statue. Her head was bare and her long black hair moved as if in a breeze.”

As always, caution is in order. There have been controversies with this and other proclaimed revelations in Ohio, which was an epicenter of U.S. seers who exploded onto the scene in the wake of Medjugorje. The streaks of lights, when they are neon-like, can seem uncomfortably similar to Bayside, Queens (where such phenomena was also reported) — but also bears resemblances to phenomena witnessed at Mount Krizevac in Medjugorje and apparition sites such as one near Cuencha, Ecuador.

Thus, it is difficult to discern and prayer and fasting are always in order before personal involvement in the mystical.

There is no question about the sincerity and holiness of priests, such as Father LeRoy Smith, who were close to these situations, as well as those who have promoted the apparitions.

The messages?

In fact, some of the early ones focused on clerics.

“These times of testing are hard on God’s people, especially His priests,” was one from Mary in 1994. “Know that you are not alone in your trials. I am with you as I was with the first Apostles. Pray for each other and help each other to a better understanding of God’s truths.”

Our Lady also allegedly told the “Batavia seer” (so named after the town with which she was associated), that in this time of satanic attack: “My priests are now his targets to keep them from doing their work. All of my faithful souls are being attacked by Satan at this time, but he will be going with a vengeance after my ambassadors of this land.”

There were of course messages for the rest of us, as well.

“Be at peace,” was another in 1993. “Know that I requested that you arise at night to pray and to study the scriptures in order that I might lead you into holiness. You sanctify your spirit by sacrificing your time for God. Arising from your sleep for even a short time to pray is a pleasing sacrifice to the Father.

“You cannot walk the path of holiness and still cling to the ways of the world. In your prayers, you should release your worldly problems to the Father. Just as your body needs daily bread, your soul needs spiritual nourishment which only the Father can provide.

“To receive and retain this spiritual food, you must make your heart a pure vessel, for if the vessel is not pure, the contents will tarnish.”

That certainly seems like good advice.

For many are those, in our time, who exercise worldliness in the name of religion. (The fruit: rancor and division.)

As for the lights around the church: we recall Father Smith taking us around and showing where it occurred — what one book about the revelations, Personal Revelations, described as “breathtaking” luminosities and “balls of light” that “seemed to be bouncing everywhere and through the people there.”

Orbs of light are often reported at spots of the supernatural (both holy and the opposite, such as hauntings). We were told it was like cameras flashing all over. Take what is good, says Scripture of the mystical, and leave the rest.

Mysterious, for sure — and witnessed by many hundreds.

In 1993 — on Halloween — the Blessed Mother was said to have explained that “the destruction of the family is the master plan of the fallen angel to deceive God’s children and to corrupt souls.”

Certainly, and sadly, this has been realized.

Beyond divorce, adultery, and cohabitation, did anyone imagine, back then, that it would get to the point of widespread gay marriage, multiple genders, and transsexualism — and persecution of those who resisted it?

“Study the Holy Scriptures and make each day a day of prayer,” said Mary, as conveyed by the visionary. “I will be with you and will continue to lead and teach you.” The seer quoted Jesus as saying, “Woe to you, America, for you have turned your eyes away from God.”

(Yet, we celebrate the Fourth as if nothing untoward is happening.)

At the same time, the main focus must always be inward: on ourselves. “I invite you this day to reflect on the days of your life,” said Our Lady of Light. “This time given you on earth is a gift from the Father and it passes by very swiftly.

“All the earthly possessions that you have come to treasure even more than the love of your Heavenly Father shall pass away in time.

“Remember, my children, only what you do for God will last into eternity. Review your time spent every day. Is it for God or for you?”

[resources: Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center, Ohio]