Cincinnati, fondly called The Queen City, has a history rich in Catholic tradition. Up to 1829 there was practically no immigration to the West. In after years the fertility and wealth of the country lying between the Eastern mountains and the Mississippi directed thither the tide of incoming Europeans. The Irish famine of 1848, and political disturbances in Germany about the same time, sent large numbers of Irish and Germans to America. Friends had preceded them, and glowing accounts of the agricultural possibilities of Ohio attracted many to the Ohio Valley. Steamboat facilities after 1830 and railroads after 1838 contributed largely to increase the population. The Civil War did not retard materially the progress of religion.
The hills and valleys of Cincinnati, along with the Ohio River that curves it way thru, reminded the brave new German inhabitants of their native homeland, Bavaria.The city would become the largest destination for those settling in America.
They wasted no time in the building of churches. Bringing from their homeland all the wealth and talent of spiritual artistry. Some of the most treasured churches in the country were dedicated to God and His Mother. Gothic and Romanesque structures graced the inland city and their spirals soared high. Treasured works of art embellished these places of worship and reflected the love the new America had for God.
One of the most cherished is The Immaculata
Built in 1859 just before the American Civil War for the German congregation in the city's Mt. Adams neighborhood. Archbishop John Baptist Purcell decided to build the church while praying during a severe storm at sea. He promised God that if he survived, he would build a vigil church dedicated to The Mother of God under her title Immaculata,on the city's highest point. The church has served since 1860 as a pilgrimage church, where on Good Friday the faithful ascend eighty-nine steps from the level of the river to the front door of the church. First wooden steps were put up, and then in 1911, the city of Cincinnati helped the church build concrete steps.
It is from this hill that The Immaculata keeps watch over her children. Archbishop Leibold called it The Holy Hill. What prayers have been answered in this pilgrim shrine dedicated the Our Lady's Immaculate Conception. Perhaps in advance Our Lady of America prepared Cincinnati to invoke her intercession for our country and one day she would respond to the love that was shown to Her here. For high above the main alter hangs a famous painting of The Immaculataby Johann Schmitt.
There is a scroll that stretches the canvas. Written in German it is a request made to The Virgin by Her petitioners, it reads
O Maria, ohne Suende empfangen, bitte fuer die Bekehrung dieses Landes, Amerika.
(Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for the conversion of this country, America.)
For The United States consecrated to Her Immaculate Conception it is prophetic.
A theme that would be repeated decades later to Sr. Mary Ephrem.
