Champion, Wisconsin: National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (only approved Marian apparition in the U.S.A.)
About Adele Brise & the Apparition:
Adele Brise arrived in Wisconsin from Belgium, with her family, in 1855. She had left Belgium reluctantly (she was 24 at the time), but did so on the advice of her spiritual director. Sister Adele began a school and soon, a chapel, and a community of women formed to help teach religion.
Adele had three separate apparitions of the Blessed Mother, beginning on October 9, 1859. Initially frightened, by the third apparition, she finally had the strength to ask the Blessed Mother what she wished of her. The Blessed Mother replied “Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation“.
The Miracle:
It is interesting to read accounts of the great Peshtigo Fire where almost all of the town was destroyed……except for the chapel. As the fire approached (and would surely have wiped out both the building and the people in it), Adele led a procession with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary around the chapel. The fire stopped just a short distance from the Chapel and it was saved.
About the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help:
The Shrine at Champion, Wisconsin is the first and only Marian shrine in the United States that is on the site of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
While the Bishops of Green Bay had given full support of the Shrine throughout its history as a place of prayer and pilgrimage, the Apparitions had never received formal Church approval until December 8, 2010, when Bishop Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay gave official approval.
Reading from his decree, the Bishop stated, “I declare with moral certainty and in accord with the norms of the Church that the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October of 1859 do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful.”
The grounds are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily and the Shrine from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.
The Shrine offers daily Masses & Confession. Visiting priests may con-celebrate Masses with permission. There is also a gift shop and cafe. Among the items available on the website is a video about Sister Adele.
Traveling to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help:
Address: 4047 Chapel Drive, Champion, WI 54229
GPS coordinates: 44° 35′ 27.3048” N, 87° 46′ 25.4676” W
Tel: +1 (920) 866.2571
e-mail: use contact form on their website
Click here for the official website of Our Lady of Good Help shrine in Champion, Wisconsin
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