Josyp Terelya and Our Lady of America

Josyp Terelya was born to the scions of ancient aristocratic Ukrainian Catholic families, Myhajlo Pojda and Margaret Falys, on October 27, 1945 in the heart of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains. The Russian armies had rolled into western Ukraine and Transcarpathia, imposing their Soviet regime and atheistic communism on the people. Myhajlo and Margaret had already joined the ranks of the communist overlords. Josyp had been adopted by his paternal grandmother, and carries her maiden name, Terelya shortly after his birth. He grew up in the underground Catholic Church. With the death of both sets of grandparents he returned to his parents home. Here began the confrontation between his Catholic religious faith and the atheism of his parents.

This marked his life. Divine Providence had chosen him for his life mission to be a witness to Christ and the Catholic Church. His early training in the underground was completed in Soviet prisons and lagers in the 22 years, for months and five day of his imprisonment. It was in this period that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him in the Vladimir prison in Moscow in 1970 and 1972, outlining to him his future destiny as a witness of Christ. He saw the Virgin again in Hrushiw in May, 1987. In September of that year he was exiled to the west.

Josyp commented on his journey to the West with a reporter: "In the West I have had the opportunity to speak with many members of the media. They asked me, "how on earth did you survive 23 years of concentration camps and prisons?" I answered, "prayer". They do not understand me. The journalists demand that I tell them how I was tortured and how I was beaten. They need sensationalism. I tell you truthfully that they would beat us and deprive us of food, yet these things would not scare us. A person who prays can be free, with God, even in prison. I was detained in a solitary confinement cell for a period of 7 years. They would give us 300 grams of broth, 4 grams of fat and 22 grams of meat. Yet, as you can see, I am standing here in front of you. I am alive. I made a Rosary out of bread and I considered myself lucky when I had a chance to pray, because if you were caught praying you would be punished. We had to hide our little crosses and Rosaries made of bread because for this you could be severely beaten.

Everyone knew that I was the son of a cabinet minister, everyone knew who my parents were. I was in a special prison where they kept foreigners. There I had the opportunity to meet American officers who were imprisoned during the Vietnam War and being detained even to this day.

Several years ago (2003), I was asked to speak at a Marian conference by the Bishop of Evansville, IN. It was at this conference that I met Josyp. Even though he spoke very little English, we were able to sit and talk with the aid of his interpreter, Bishop Roman Danylak. Josyp was most interested in Our Lady of America and the events surrounding Rome City, IN.

Josyp was an artist and he told me he had painted his own image of Our Lady of America which was now in the hands of a private collector. He wanted more photos of the actual site of the apparitions so he could do a complete collection of the series of apparitions that the bishops consider to be the "central" apparitions and messages of Our Lady of America. .
He said he felt a great sense of urgency with Our Lady's messages because so much was at stake for the United States and the entire world if we did not do as She asked. He said it was imperative that Her image be enthroned in the National Basilica as soon as could be made possible by the American Bishops.

When I asked Josyp what he considered to be the greatest threat to the enthronement of Our Lady of America, he said the greatest obstacle at this moment was not educating the bishops so much as it was the people who were attempting to control the devotion and were holding it back. He said they had made threats to him for even painting the image of Our Lady of America, as he envisioned it, and offering it to the public. He was quite upset over the attempts to suppress the growth by this small group who he felt were acting selfishly in an attempt to control "every facet of this beautiful diamond" for the sake of money.

Since then, I was only able to exchange a few brief notes with Josyp. He remained hopeful that Our Lady's image would be enthroned soon and children the world over would come to know the purity desired by Our Lady for Her children....ALL of Her children!

These are words he shared with us: "My children, my beloved children of America, remember, the America of cowboys, banks and houses of prostitution and immorality is disappearing. A new America of holy followers of Mary is coming. You see them, these are the followers of the saintly Padre Pio, St. mother Frances Xavier Cabrini. Do not take as a model for your mind the sign of the spider of wealth. Watch and listen to the voice of my followers. One of these is My Pope (Pope Benedict XVI), love him, love my church and be with me my America! Amen and My blessing upon you."

Rest in Peace Josyp! You did good!

You can read more about Josyp at: http://josypterelya.org/intro.htm