New Book Features Mary's Miracles in America

You don’t need to travel abroad to visit a miraculous Marian shrine. You’ll find Mary’s miracles all across our land: in wee chapels and grand basilicas, in hillside grottos and on a tiny island. In Cold Spring, Minnesota, Mary averted a locust plague and then eradicated the species. When the rag-tag American army defeated the well-fortified British navy at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 — a battle that lasted all of 30 minutes — the victory was ascribed to Our Lady of Prompt Succor. After a Colorado church fire, a multi-pointed crown of soot appeared over a painting of Mary, just like it belonged there.

These riveting stories and dozens more — including four in the Southwest — are told in Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America, a new book from OSV. Written by Marion Amberg, author of the award-winning Catholic travel guide Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles (OSV, 2021), Mary’s Miracles features maps, color photos, and testimonies galore of Mary’s intercession. No prayer petition is too big or too outrageous for “Miracle Mary.”

Our Lady intercedes for the sick, stops fires in their tracks, drills for gas, and is one tough real estate agent. At Carey, Ohio, Mary the Wonderworker helped catch a thief who confessed to robbing over 7,000 churches. During World War II, the congregations of four unrelated parishes gathered weekly, sometimes daily, to pray the “War Rosary.” Every soldier at these four parishes came home alive.

Ave Maria!

“Where Mary is revered, miracles follow,” states Amberg, who discovered a centuries-old Marian miracle in her family lineage while researching the book.

In addition to being a travel guide, the book also serves as a personal retreat with Mary for readers wanting to learn about her many titles and mystical lore. Why does a statue of “Our Lady of the Plague” in St. Louis, Missouri, have a blue blemish at the corner of her mouth? How did Our Lady of the Rockies at Butte, Montana — the third tallest statue in America — get to be so tall? Why is Mary a “holy roller” in Fairbanks, Alaska? The answers are in the book!

Mary’s Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America is available from OSV (osvcatholicbookstore.com) and online booksellers and at Catholic bookstores and gift shops.

For a review copy, contact Zach Silka at [email protected].