“Our Lady of Light in the United States = In the year 1991 Our Lady of Light appears to a group of five mothers, one of which continues to have visions and is identified as the Batavia, Ohio visionary.6 The appearances of Our Lady of Light to the Batavia visionary continue up to 1999. Throughout this period, the visionary and the messages of the Blessed Mother were supported by Fr. T. Donald Rinfret, Fr. Leroy Smith, Fr. Lawrence Sweeney and Mother Teresa.” – Excerpts taken from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/marian.midwest/history
Today’s Pilgrim Train ventured a little over two hours south to Our Lady of the Light Mission ∙ Physical Address: 919 East 200 North ∙ Beaver, Utah ∙ Phone: 435-586-8298 • Mailing Address: Christ the King Catholic Church ∙ 690 South Cove Drive ∙ Cedar City, Utah 84720. Before Our Lady of the Light Mission was dedicated on May 17, 2008, the Catholic families in Beaver had to travel almost an hour to Cedar City for mass. The mission is only open for Mass, on Saturdays at 6:00 PM and changes to 7:00 PM after Memorial Day. Please call to verify mass times before visiting.
Our Lady of the Light Mission is located on a main road that leads directly into the Fishlake National Forest and the South Fork Beaver River runs just alongside of the road with many places to picnic. The mission building is wedgewood blue with white trim and a brown barn-style roof. There are a few pine trees along with a white cross and a locator sign near the road. A statue of Mary sits on a raised garden bed to the left of the entrance. There are a few steps that lead to the white entrance door and a handicap ramp to the right.
Upon entering the mission and to the left is the restroom and a kitchen is situated along the back wall. There is one aisle that leads to the altar. The first six rows of seating are very nice dark wooden pews and the last three rows are white cushion chairs. White paint covers the walls and ceiling which showcases the Stations of the Cross and carries the light. Exquisitely detailed Stations of the Cross line three of the walls. The altar is located in a very large alcove. Since it was the fifth Sunday of Easter, the linens that cover the altar and drape the tabernacle are in white. An intricately carved crucifix is just behind the altar table with bouquets of white flowers below on each side. There are windows on each side of the altar back wall that allow more light to illuminate the altar. The podium is to the left of the altar, opposite the preparation table. Our Lady of the Light statue is left just outside the alcove. She is surrounded by lovely flowers and a small statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
It was a blessing to meet Tom Giesing, a gentleman, veteran, fourth degree Knight of Columbus and a parishioner of Our Lady of the Light Mission. He made sure I felt like a part of the mission family and introduced me to other parishioners, Msgr. Robert Bussen, and gave me a little history of the area. Gracious God, give us generous hearts so we may know the joy that comes from helping others. Let our commitment to stewardship be a sign of our love for you. Amen