Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion sits among farmland and forest about fifteen miles northeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the site where Belgian immigrant Adele Brise reported three apparitions of a lady 'clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist' in October 1859. The lady identified herself as 'the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners' and asked Adele to teach the children of this 'wild country' the catechism.

Adele dedicated her life to that mission, walking up to fifty miles between Belgian-Walloon homesteads. On the night of 8 October 1871 — twelve years after the apparitions — settlers carrying a statue of Mary processed around the chapel as the Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest wildfire in United States history, swept the region; the five-acre site was spared while everything around it burned. Bishop David L.

Ricken of Green Bay declared the apparitions worthy of belief on 8 December 2010, the only such approval ever granted in the United States. The USCCB designated the site a national shrine in 2016, and in April 2023 it was renamed the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion to distinguish it from Belgian shrines also dedicated to Our Lady of Good Help.

What gives this site its weight is not architecture but the unusual specificity of its claims. The apparition site itself is small — the chapel crypt marks where two trees, a maple and a hemlock, framed the lady's appearance to Adele Brise. The 1871 Peshtigo Fire, in which the chapel's five acres were spared while the surrounding region burned, is one of the most empirically documented anomalies in American Catholic devotional history; the grounds carry that memory.

The shrine's location — among Belgian-Walloon dairy farms in the Wisconsin Northwoods, off any major highway — keeps it remote. Pilgrims who arrive outside feast days often describe a 'hidden' shrine that rewards patience: deep quiet, long Wisconsin light, and the continuity of devotion running back to the 1860s immigrant community.

The original chapel was built in 1859 by Adele Brise's father, Lambert, on the apparition site between the maple and hemlock trees. Adele founded a community of Belgian-immigrant teaching sisters and a schoolhouse that became the seed of a wider Catholic mission across the Wisconsin frontier.

From the 1859 family chapel, the site grew through a larger wooden church (1861), the current Romanesque-Gothic shrine (1942), and eventually the apparition oratory and crypt that preserves the original tree positions. The Diocese of Green Bay assumed administration in the twentieth century. Episcopal approval in 2010, national shrine status in 2016, and the 2023 renaming have all increased visitation while the surrounding landscape has stayed agricultural.

Pilgrim testimony and answered-prayer tradition

Our Lady of Champion publishes pilgrims' accounts of healings and other answers to prayer attributed to Mary and Adele Brice. Its Graces Received page expressly distinguishes these testimonies from miracles formally investigated and declared by the Church. The accounts show why people come with illness and uncertainty, while keeping the status of those reports clear.

These accounts describe religious traditions and reported experiences. They do not promise a cure or replace medical care.

• Graces received — National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion

Arriving at the shrine, most pilgrims begin in the upper Romanesque-Gothic church, then descend to the apparition oratory and the crypt where the original tree positions are preserved beneath the chapel floor. The space is small and quiet, with room for personal prayer or candle-lighting. Outside, the grounds include outdoor stations, a Marian rosary walk, and the gift shop.

On feast days — particularly the Assumption (15 August) and the apparition anniversary linked to the Peshtigo Fire (8–9 October) — the grounds fill with pilgrims, statues are processed, and the all-night adoration of 8 October draws Catholics from across the Midwest. Outside feast days, the site is often nearly empty; Wisconsin winters in particular bring deep silence and snow cover across the outdoor stations.

The upper church, apparition oratory, crypt, gift shop, and outdoor stations are all within easy walking distance on the five-acre property. Free parking is available; the site is car-access only — there is no public transit.

Adele Brise (1831–1896), born in Belgium and emigrated with her family in 1855, was carrying wheat to the gristmill in early October 1859 when she first saw a lady standing between a maple and a hemlock tree. Frightened, she said nothing until the figure appeared again the following Sunday on her walk to Mass.

On the third apparition — the canonical narrative places this on or about 9 October 1859 — she asked, as her confessor had instructed, 'In God's name, who are you and what do you wish of me?' The lady answered: 'I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more.

Make a general confession and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners… Go and fear nothing. I will help you.' Adele was instructed to teach the children of this 'wild country' the catechism, how to make the sign of the cross, and how to receive the sacraments. She spent the rest of her life walking the Belgian-Walloon settlements, sometimes covering fifty miles in a single missionary circuit.

Twelve years later, on the night of 8 October 1871, the Peshtigo Fire — the deadliest wildfire in United States history, killing more than 1,200 people — swept the region. Settlers carrying a statue of Mary processed around the chapel in prayer; the five-acre site was spared while everything around it burned.

Roman Catholic Marian devotion in the Latin Rite tradition, anchored in the 1850s–1860s Belgian-Walloon immigrant settlement of northeastern Wisconsin and now administered by the Diocese of Green Bay.

The Feast of the Assumption (15 August) is the principal annual gathering, with a historic 11 AM Mass, rosary procession with the statue of Mary, confessions, and Brown Scapular enrollment. The anniversary of the Peshtigo Fire (8–9 October) is observed with all-night adoration and hourly rosary processions. The annual Walk to Mary in early May covers about 21 miles from the Cathedral of St.

Francis Xavier in Green Bay to the shrine — a pilgrimage that has grown steadily since its inception.

The Diocese of Green Bay administers daily Mass (11:30 AM, additional Masses on Wednesday evenings and weekend mornings), daily rosary at 10:45 AM, adoration from 12:45 to 3 PM, and the Divine Mercy chaplet at 3 PM. The sacrament of reconciliation is available daily. A pilgrimage coordinator on staff assists groups planning visits.

Many pilgrims plan a visit around morning Mass and the rosary, descending afterward to the apparition oratory and crypt for personal prayer. For a longer visit, the outdoor Way of Lights and rosary walk are best experienced in mild weather (May through October). The 8 October all-night adoration is one of the shrine's most distinctive observances.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion is held in different ways by different communities — as the only Vatican-recognized Marian apparition site in the United States, as a memorial of the Belgian-Walloon immigrant settlement of northeastern Wisconsin, and as a site of empirically attested survival during the 1871 Peshtigo Fire.

Continue through the atlas by country, tradition, physical form, or a focused search that combines this place’s strongest context.

Explore other sacred places in the region. Proximity does not establish access or travel time; check each place’s guidance.

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Aztalan Mounds, Wisconsin

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Norton Mound Group

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Sources consulted for this page. Source categories describe the publication, not a guarantee that every claim is verified. Traditional accounts and outside interpretations may differ.

1. 01National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributorsencyclopediaCore history: apparitions of 9 October 1859, the three visits to Adele Brise, school and chapel founding, 1871 Peshtigo fire, 2010 approval, 2016 national shrine status, 2023 renaming.
2. 02Our Story — The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — National Shrine of Our Lady of ChampionofficialOfficial narrative of Adele Brise, the apparitions, the Peshtigo Fire survival, and the shrine's history.
3. 03What to Expect — National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — National Shrine of Our Lady of ChampionofficialVisiting hours 7am-7pm, Mass schedule, daily rosary 10:45am, adoration 12:45-3pm, Divine Mercy at 3pm.
4. 04Adele Brise, seer of the only approved Marian apparition in the U.S. — Catholic News AgencynewsUSCCB vote on Brise's sainthood cause; key biographical details and message of the apparitions.
5. 05Worthy of Belief — Bishop Ricken's Decree — EWTN / Diocese of Green BayofficialFull text of Bishop David L. Ricken's 8 December 2010 decree declaring the apparitions worthy of belief.
6. 06Our Lady of Good Help — World Religions and Spirituality Project — Virginia Commonwealth UniversityacademicScholarly treatment of the shrine, Belgian immigrant community, and apparition history.
7. 07Shrine of Our Lady of Champion: New name for only U.S. officially approved Marian apparition site — The Dialognews20 April 2023 renaming from 'Our Lady of Good Help' to 'Our Lady of Champion' to distinguish from Belgian shrines.
8. 08The story of Adele Brise, the seer of the only approved Marian apparition in the U.S. — Catholic TelegraphnewsBelgian-Walloon immigrant background, lay teaching mission, biography.
9. 09Graces received — National Shrine of Our Lady of ChampionofficialSupports the attributed account or visitor practice in the healing section; not evidence of clinical efficacy.