Our Lady of Ephesus, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

On this date in 2003, Giuseppe Bernardini, Archbishop of Izmir, Turkey, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, dedicated an oratory to Our Lady of Ephesus in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Turkey having recently refused to participate in the American invasion of Iraq, Bernardini prayed, "May Our Lady of Ephesus bring peace to the world.” Located in the rear of the crypt church, the mosaic of Our Lady of Ephesus is based on Vermont resident Elizabeth Moore Fraser's vision during her 1959 pilgrimage to Ephesus, Turkey, where many believe Mary spent her last days. Praying at Mary's House for her disabled nephews, Fraser heard Mary say, "the reward for suffering is so great that even if you were told you wouldn’t know." Many years later, she engaged artist Robert Smith to paint the Blessed Mother as she had seen her. The mosaic reproduces that painting, which hung in the Shrine's office foyer.  (Information from Dan Lynch, jkmi.com/mary.htm; Our Lady of Ephesus House of Prayer, ourladyofephesushouseofprayer.org/ephesus_story.html; and other sources. Photo by Mary Ann Daly.)    

Also commemorated this date: