Father Nicholas Akindele stands with a statue of Rosa Mystica at Holy Family Parish in Davenport.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — The April intention by Pope Leo XIV is for priests in crisis. In response to this, Father Nicholas Akindele of Holy Family Parish in Davenport is encouraging the faithful to pray for intercession from Mary, through her title “Rosa Mystica,” (Mystical Rose). Her concerns, according to the priest, focus on consecrated priests and religious.
As a young boy in minor seminary in Nigeria (equal to high school in the United States) Father Akindele prayed the rosary every day with the community in the school’s chapel. The students concluded with the Litany of Loreto.
“One of the titles of Our Lady I was introduced to was ‘Mystical Rose.’ I didn’t think much of it until my experience as a priest has shown me how important that title is in the Church as ‘Mother of the Church’ and ‘Mother of the Mystical body of Christ,’” he said. “As a priest, my faith and holiness connect me to so many who cross my path. The life of a priest could become either a blessing or a curse; knowledge or ignorance. Surely God said in the past and definitely now says ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge’ (Hosea 6:4),” Father Akindele said.
He referred to lack of knowledge of salvation. “When Our Lady says ‘They have no wine,’ in John 2:3, it is safe to say the lack of wine of the Lord by priests and consecrated religious determines that of the laity,” he added.
In 1947, Mary appeared to Pierina Gilli in northern Italy, and again in 1966. The Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith at the Vatican issued a decree in July 2024 that the apparitions contain “nothing contrary to the Catholic faith or morals.”
In the 1947 apparition, Mary came with three swords. One symbolized the loss of priestly and religious vocations, Father Akindele said. The second means some priests and members of religious orders live in a state of mortal sin. The third sword refers to some priests and religious who commit the betrayal of Judas, according to the priest.
The three roses on her chest are intended to replace the “three swords of sin,” he said. The roses represent Mary’s desire for prayer, sacrifice and expiation.
Father Akindele said tens of thousands have left the priesthood over the years. Some have contracted civil marriages. Others live “lukewarm” lives — unwilling to “take up their cross. They criticize the pope and Church.” He noted some priests have lost their faith.
In order to promote devotion to Rosa Mystica, Father Akindele purchased a statue from Italy to honor her. In September 2023, it arrived at his office at St. Alphonsus Parish in Davenport — one of the parishes he served at the time. The parish’s secretary, Vickie Underwood (now Stoefen), helped him open the long awaited package. The statue was broken into many pieces. Father Akindele felt numb. That night Stoefen went home and talked with her parents, Diane and William Underwood, about what happened.
Diane went to Father Akindele the next day and said, “We’ll fix her.”
“They spend countless hours fixing the Queen of Heaven, Our Mother, who had been sent by God to come ‘fix’ our rot and ‘restore’ us — and even undertake a ‘spiritual surgery’ for our dear priests and religious,” the priest said. “God works in mysterious ways.”
The now-late Karen Dugan of Our Lady of the River Parish in LeClaire, presented a rose petal rosary to add to the hands of the fixed statue.
Before heading on a pilgrimage to Europe that fall, Father Akindele asked Christine Smith of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bettendorf, who has participated in St. Alphonsus and Holy Family events, to take the statue while he was gone. She asked what she should do with the statue. He asked her to pray. After spending time in eucharistic adoration, Smith came up with a plan.
Upon the priest’s return, the statue began going on “pilgrimage” to parishioners’ homes. It might be one, two or three days. “The statue has been to homes when there was brokenness in their own lives or someone they loved.” Others have welcomed the statue’s visit to pray and offer prayers for priests and consecrated religious and themselves as well. More than 60 families have had Rosa Mystica visit their home since the fall of 2023, Father Akindele said.
This year, Father Charles Becker will speak at Holy Family’s parish mission July 12-13 on the mission of Our Lady, Rosa Mystica. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago who leads prayer groups in Chicago devoted to Our Lady through her Mystical Rose title.
