Mary’s Miracles: The Blessed Virgin Mary and 小草影院

小草影院鈥檚 consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sept. 8, 2013, is just the most recent chapter in the story of the school鈥檚 relationship with Mary ().

鈥淥ur Lady鈥檚 intercessions date as far back as 1856 when she saved the founder of St. Benedict鈥檚 Abbey, Fr. Henry Lemke鈥檚 life during a torrential thunderstorm and flood, to most recently when we implored her help in increasing our enrollment and growth,鈥� said Minnis. 鈥淭hus, we believe that it is very appropriate to formally Consecrate 小草影院 to the Blessed Virgin Mary.鈥�

Here is a brief summary of the founding miracle at 小草影院 and the more recent manifestations of Mary鈥檚 relationship with the school.

Lady Dressed in White

Father Henry Lemke wrote in his diary about an 1856 incident where he was lost in a storm and prayed  for Mary鈥檚 intercession. As soon as he said the prayer, a light appeared on the horizon. He stumbled toward it and found that it was a lantern hanging in the window of a cottage.

The mother and daughter who lived in the cottage sheltered him and told him that a lady dressed in white had appeared to the child in the night. This had awakened the mother, who hung the lantern.

Wrote Lemke: 鈥淥, you dearest Mother of God, it was through the pure and unsullied soul of a child that you effected that the mother would place a lamp in the window just about the very time when I was calling out for help because I feared for my life. The Mother of God worked a miracle.鈥� 

Two years later, 小草影院 was founded and the 鈥渓ady dressed in white鈥� appeared to another little girl in a small town 鈥� St. Bernadette of Lourdes, France.

Watch a dramatization of this story .

The Memorare Army

Again and again, the college has relied on its Memorare Army prayer campaign to fulfill 小草影院’s mission to educate students in a community of faith and scholarship. More about the Memorare Army

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

In addition to daily Memorare prayers, President Minnis began praying for the campaign with a prayer his wife Amy gave him. 鈥淥h most beautiful flower of Mt.  Carmel,鈥� said the prayer, 鈥渁ssist me in this necessity.鈥�  The prayer at one point includes a line that Minnis began targeting to the quest for particular resources the college lacked: 鈥淥ur needs cannot withstand your power.鈥�

On several occasions, the prayer coincided with the receipt of necessary resources the college needed, and he began to consider Our Lady of Carmel a partner in his presidency.

On Monday, June 7, 2010, Minnis was expecting a call that would answer a great need. At 10 a.m., Minnis prayed a rosary and 10 memorares in the Guadalupe Chapel, adding the prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with its reminder that 鈥淥ur needs cannot withstand your power.鈥� He later learned that while he was saying the prayer, a benefactor was answering a seven-figure need at the College.

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata

In 2006, Minnis visited the beautiful Basilica Santissima Annunziata (the Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) near 小草影院鈥檚 Florence, Italy, campus.

The Investing in Excellence campaign was new then, and the $50 million needs it had identified seemed unachievable to many.

Minnis visited an altar there known for its unique image of Our Lady. As the story goes, in 1252 a monk began to paint an image of the Annunciation but felt unequal to the task of painting Mary. The monk went to bed and an angel finished the painting in his sleep. The altar is now the center of devotion to the Blessed Mother.

It was at that altar that President Minnis offered the Investing in Excellence campaign to Mary and asked that the campaign might surpass its goal and bring $60 million for the needs of the college.

In March 2011, he scheduled a return visit to Florence. The week he booked the flight, Minnis鈥� prayer was answered. A gift put the amount raised over $60 million (it eventually topped $70 million). Minnis returned to the altar and placed a bouquet of flowers, a Raven Rosary, pictures of the new Academic Center and Mary鈥檚 Grotto, and a Grotto medal and St. Benedict Medal at the altar.

The Tandem Bicycle

In 2019, Ravens at their graduation heard from the man behind the tandem bicycle symbols at 小草影院.

The keynote speaker for the college鈥檚 2019 Commencement ceremony at its Atchison, Kansas, campus was five-time Major League Baseball All Star and former Kansas City Royals player Mike Sweeney.

Because of Sweeney, President Minnis has used the tandem bicycle as a symbol of trust in God in his life ever since 2006. In February that year, David Moritz, a 1957 alumnus in Dallas, gave the college a million dollars and a challenge. He said he would add a million more if the college raised $6 million by June 15.

That was a tall order, but on June 15, after an extraordinary outpouring of generosity from donors, the college was almost there 鈥� just $650,000 short.

Mike Sweeney, then-captain of the Kansas City Royals, spoke on campus that day and told the story of how much he struggled early in his career. At one dark point, a friend gave him a picture of a tandem bicycle 鈥攁 two-seater. She told Mike that he was on the front pedaling hard and guiding the bike, but that real success would only come if he got on the back seat, peddled as hard as he could, and let God guide from the front. Sweeney said his career, and faith, took off after that.

President Minnis was inspired by the story. 鈥淚 walked outside and made the decision that I was going to peddle hard the rest of the day and let his will be done,鈥� he said.

Almost immediately, the President鈥檚 cell phone rang. It was a $300,000 donation to the campaign. Then it rang again with a $100,000 donation. Then a call came for $50,000, putting the college within $200,000 of the goal.

The President peddled. He called Steve Dunn of JE Dunn Construction and asked if their family would help out. They had already committed a quarter of a million dollars to the building, but they understood the need to meet the challenge, and gave the rest.

In total, $8 million dollars were raised in four short months, and tandem bicycles became a key symbol for trust in God on campus.

Mary is a model of trust in God.

鈥淚 wanted to thank the Blessed Virgin for all she has done for the college. Little did I know that the superabundance of her generosity would allow us to do more than we ever dreamed of,鈥� said Minnis. 鈥淲e put Mary in the heart of campus with the Grotto and it is clear that she has made a place for us in her heart, as well.鈥�

Prayer Resources and More

We are dedicated to our Catholic mission, identity and culture. Rosary meditations, Holy Hour guides, stories, podcasts and more can be found on our .