The Pilgrims Page: Shrines in La Crosse and Champion, Wisconsin honor Our Lady

Our first stop this month is Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse, Wis. The idea for a Marian shrine was made possible by Bishop Raymond Cardinal Burke, a small group of people and a generous gift of land. There’s a lot to see. The church is spectacular, with the various paintings of saints and a beautiful baldacchino over the altar. You can visit the shrine of the unborn, pray the stations of the cross in the wooded path, pray the rosary on another path, light a candle at the giant votive chapel, and spend time browsing religious gifts in the bookstore. Visit their website at guadalupeshrine.org.

Our second stop is to the only approved Marian apparition in the United States, formally known as Our Lady of Good Help and now has official recognition from the Vatican to be called The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. The story of the shrine goes back to Oct. 9, 1859, when Adele Brise was walking to Mass, and she saw a beautiful lady. The lady was silent and the apparition quickly disappeared. On the way home from Mass, the lady appeared again. Adele described her as “a beautiful woman, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long, wavy, golden hair fell loosely over her shoulders.”

The lady identified herself as the “Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversions of sinners.” She asked Adele also to pray for sinners and said, “If sinners do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them.” Then Our Lady asked, “What are you doing here in idleness while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?”

Adele grew up in Belgium and had wanted to join an order of nuns who worked in the missions, but when her parents decided to immigrate to Wisconsin, she was not able to do so. Adele asked Our Lady what more she could do. The Queen of Heaven responded, “gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.” Adele responded, “But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?” Our Lady said, “Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments. That is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”

Our Lady disappeared and Adele realized she had just received her vocation. She did not feel worthy, and she knew she lacked proper education, but with this call and a love for Jesus, she set out to fulfill the mission. Other women joined her, and a community of Third Order Sisters were formed, calling themselves The Sisters of St. Francis. This lay group of sisters was recognized by the bishop and were given permission to wear religious habits. Sister Adele had a small wooden chapel built and dedicated it to Our Lady of Good Help on the site where she saw Our Lady. The property expanded in the following years to include a school.

On the eve of the 12th anniversary of the apparition, a great fire broke out in the town of Peshtigo, some 60 miles away. It spread and destroyed everything in its path and was heading toward the property. The people in the surrounding area ran to the chapel and begged for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Help. The next morning, the people found the fire had subsided by the gift of rain. Everything was destroyed except the six acres of property that were consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Records indicated that even the wooden fence around the property was charred on the outside, but not touched on the inside. Today you can visit the place where Adele saw Our Lady marked by a Marian altar in the crypt of the main church. Visit the website at championshrine.org.