Acknowledgements

Humble thanksgiving to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom this work is dedicated, for the greater glory of God.

Special thanks to Paul Foster, original website developer, for his countless hours of gratuitous labor and patience.  In addition, I would like to recognize and thank all those who have helped me with adding content, especially Alice Steigerwald, Adam Keelan, and a few anonymous friends.

Thank you to the talented artist, Lea Ravotti, who was chosen by the Blessed Trinity to paint the image of Vessel of the Preborn Jesus in watercolor and in loving appreciation for her dedication to Preborn Jesus Ministry and her care of our Facebook page and Preborn Jesus shops. Also, behind the scenes is our faithful printer, Greg Savage, whose skill and expertise provide us with the highest quality prints that we make available to our customers, some of which are beautifully framed by friend, George Moore, with Countryside Frame Shop.  Don, at Minuteman Press, I thank for printing our holy cards and other items, has been most instrumental as well.

Heartfelt thanks to my son James, who drew the original pencil sketch of Vessel of the Preborn Jesus and gave it to me for my birthday on July 25, 2009. My heart is filled with love and gratitude to him and each of my sons for their encouragement, as well as to my family and friends who prayerfully support this apostolate.  I thank, with special fondness, my sisters and brothers in the Legion of Mary, and all consecrated to Jesus through Mary in these days.

In deep gratitude, I joyfully acknowledge, through the grace of God, all those involved in the unveiling of the second part of this ministry: First, the newly rendered statue of Mary, Ark of The New Covenant by carver Douglas Vasko, which has resulted in replica statues from Columbia South America through A.T.Merhaut, Inc. And, second, the unique set of oil paintings of Jesus-The Divine Mercy and Mary, Ark of The New Covenant by gifted artist James Sulkowski . Both Douglas and Jim were humble instruments in the hands of our Lord to show the world His Mother, and our mother, under the title, Mary, Ark of The New Covenant.  

The original carved statue of Mary, Ark of the New Covenant would not be the magnificent piece of art that it is without the dedication to the project of A. T. Merhaut’s employee, Adam Miller to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.  Adam contacted artist Mary Birkos who did a beautiful job painting the statue in rich Mediterranean colors. Creative rosary designer, Arasely Rios from Seraphic Designs deserves to be acknowledged for adorning Preborn Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary on the carved statue, with Swarovski crystals that make them truly beautiful! Thank you to Pittsburgh Trophy Co. for providing the gold plate with the words from the book of Revelation, describing the Blessed Virgin as The Ark of The New Covenant. 

Of immeasurable value was the book, A Scientist Researches Mary, Ark of the Covenant (One Hundred One Foundation, 1996) by Dr. Courtenay Bartholomew. Thank you, Courtenay, for your insight and expertise but mostly for your friendship linking our love for Jesus and Mary from Pennsylvania to Trinidad with mutual friend Catherine Schroeder who works zealously for the kingdom.

In addition, I must also recognize Dr. Scott Hahn, whose book, Hail, Holy Queen (Doubleday, 2001) was the instrument our Lord used to show me that Mary is the New Ark.  Thanks to Rick Meland for introducing me to Dr. John Bergsma, who helped me research a plausible explanation (found in our “Ark” pamphlet) for the correspondence between the gemstones in Mary’s crown and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Dr. Mark Miravalle’s expertise on Mariology was also of tremendous value. 

Special thanks to the holy, humble priests who gave, and continue to give, spiritual direction to me and who pray for this small apostolate, as well as all of you in the Mystical Body of Christ who have prayed for me, and supported me with Preborn Jesus Ministry, from rosary makers Pat and Margie, to pamphlet designers, and those who promoted the image, statue, and ministry nationally and internationally, most notably my dear sister in Christ, Pat Polachek.

With continued prayerful acknowledgement, I thank Kathy Crawford, Tricia Hughes, and Alice Steigerwald, benefactors of the statute project, as I ask the Lord to bless you for every kindness to me and all those who will be inspired through Preborn Jesus Ministry.
 
 Added to this list of acknowledgements are several people whom I would like to mention who work on the beautiful vestments of Mary, Ark of The New Covenant, although one wishes to remain anonymous. These talented women are: Jessie Salinas, Elizabeth Morgan and Sue Newman. Sue’s sister, Jane Pariente helped with the vestments that were gifted to Pope Francis in 2015.

We are most humbled to share with all of you, our public thanksgiving and acknowledgement to the Most Rev. Jeffrey M. Monforton, Bishop of Steubenville, Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio for granting an imprimatur to our prayer, "O Mother of Divine Grace, Vessel of the Preborn Jesus and Ark of The New Covenant" on August 25, 2015. The prayer is printed most frequently, but not exclusively, on our prayer card with our statue of Mary, Ark of The New Covenant.
 
 Mostly, I am forever grateful to my dear husband Scott, who has supported me with the selfless giving of his time, talents, prayers, and love. And to our daughter, Melissa Marie, whom we miscarried on March 25, 1987, who prays from heaven.


Everything,
Most especially love,
To Jesus through Mary,
His Ark,