National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion facts for kids
Quick facts for kids National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion |
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| 44°35′26.3″N 87°46′24.8″W / 44.590639°N 87.773556°W | |
| Location | Champion, Wisconsin |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| History | |
| Status | National shrine |
| Founded | 1861 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Green Bay |
| Our Lady of Champion | |
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Statue of Our Lady of Champion
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| Location | Champion, Wisconsin, United States |
| Date | October 1859 |
| Witness | Adele Brise |
| Type | Marian apparition |
| Approval | December 8, 2010 Bishop David L. Ricken Diocese of Green Bay |
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion is a special Catholic place dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. It is located in Champion, Wisconsin, near Green Bay. This shrine stands where a Belgian woman named Adele Brise reported seeing Mary in 1859.
On December 8, 2010, Bishop David L. Ricken officially approved the apparition. This made it the first time the Catholic Church in the United States approved a Marian apparition. The shrine was also recognized as a special place for pilgrimage and prayer. Later, on August 15, 2016, it became a national shrine. Its name was then changed to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. On April 20, 2023, the name was updated again to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
Contents
The 1859 Apparitions
Adele Brise was born in Belgium in 1831. She moved to Wisconsin with her family in 1855. In early October 1859, Adele said she saw a woman dressed in white. The woman stood between two trees and was surrounded by a bright light. Adele described her as wearing dazzling white clothes with a yellow sash. She also had a crown of stars above her blond hair. Adele was scared and prayed until the vision disappeared. When she told her parents, they thought it might be a lost soul needing prayers.
The next Sunday, October 8, 1859, Adele saw the woman again. This happened while she was walking to church. Her sister and another woman were with her, but they did not see anything. Adele asked her priest for advice. He told her that if she saw the woman again, she should ask, "In the Name of God, who are you and what do you wish of me?"
Later that same day, Adele saw the woman a third time. She asked the question the priest told her to ask. The woman replied, "I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same." Adele was also given an important job. She was told to "gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation."
Adele Brise was 28 years old when she had these visions. She spent the rest of her life teaching children. She first walked from house to house to teach. Later, she opened a small school. Other women joined her work. They formed a group of sisters, following the rules of the Third Order Franciscans. Adele herself never became a nun officially. She passed away on July 5, 1896.
The Chapel's History
Building the First Chapels
The very first chapel was a small wooden building. It was 10 feet by 12 feet. Adele's father, Lambert Brise, built it where the apparition happened. A woman named Isabella Doyen gave the land around this spot. In 1861, a bigger wooden church was built. It was 24 feet by 40 feet. This chapel had a special message written on it. It said, "Notre Dame de bon Secours, priez pour nous." This means "Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us." This is how the shrine got its first name.
Many people started coming to the site. The chapel quickly became too small. So, in 1880, a larger brick chapel was built. Bishop Francis Xavier Krautbauer dedicated this new building. A school and a convent were also built there in the 1880s.
The Peshtigo Fire Miracle
On October 8, 1871, a huge firestorm started near Peshtigo, Wisconsin. This fire spread quickly through forests and towns. It burned everything in its path. Almost 2,000 people died in this terrible fire. Some people believe the fire jumped across Green Bay and burned parts of the Door Peninsula.
When the fire threatened the chapel, Adele Brise refused to leave. Instead, she led a procession to ask the Virgin Mary for protection. The land all around the chapel was destroyed by the fire. But the chapel itself and its grounds, along with everyone who took shelter there, were unharmed. This fire burned about 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km2). It is known as the deadliest wildfire in recorded history.
The Chapel Today
The building you see at the shrine today was built in 1942. Bishop Paul Peter Rhode helped with its construction. He dedicated the new building in July 1942. It is built in a Tudor Gothic style. The upper part, called the Apparition Chapel, can hold about 300 people. There is also a smaller Apparition Oratory downstairs for prayer. This lower area has many crutches left behind. These were left by people who came to pray and felt better.
Outside the shrine, there is a path for a rosary walk. There are also Stations of the Cross. The biggest yearly event at the chapel is on August 15. This is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. People celebrate with an outdoor Mass and a procession around the shrine grounds.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Champion became nationally known when the apparitions were approved. This happened after a two-year investigation by Bishop David Ricken on December 8, 2010. It was the first and only apparition approved by the Catholic Church in the United States. Bishop Ricken noted that past bishops had supported the shrine by holding services there for many years.
On August 15, 2016, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops named the shrine a national shrine. Because of this, its name was changed to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. On April 20, 2023, the name was changed again to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
See also
- Shrines to the Virgin Mary
- List of shrines
