Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help

In a quiet corner of Wisconsin's Northwoods, Belgian immigrant Adele Brise reported three apparitions of Mary in October 1859. Bishop David Ricken declared the apparitions worthy of belief on 8 December 2010 — the only formally approved Marian apparition in the United States. The shrine was renamed the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in April 2023.

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.

The shrine grew from the 1859 apparitions to Belgian immigrant Adele Brise, the survival of the chapel grounds in the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, and a long history as an immigrant Walloon Catholic site in northeastern Wisconsin. Episcopal approval came in 2010; national shrine designation followed in 2016; the 2023 renaming distinguished it from Belgian shrines.

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.

A quiet rural shrine in the Wisconsin Northwoods built over the apparition site of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States. The chapel crypt preserves the original tree positions; the surrounding grounds carry the memory of the 1871 Peshtigo Fire survival.

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.

Daily Mass, rosary at 10:45 AM, adoration from 12:45 to 3 PM, Divine Mercy chaplet at 3 PM. Feast of the Assumption on 15 August is the principal annual feast; the 8 October Peshtigo Fire anniversary brings all-night adoration. The annual Walk to Mary pilgrimage covers about 21 miles from Green Bay each May.

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.

A small shrine in rural Wisconsin that asks for time. Pilgrims move between the upper church, the apparition oratory, and the crypt that marks where Adele Brise saw the lady between two trees. The grounds host the outdoor stations of the Way of Lights in season.

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.

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.

Scholars of American Catholicism treat the shrine as both a religious site and an immigrant-community memorial, anchored in the 1850s–60s Belgian-Walloon settlement of northeastern Wisconsin. The 1871 Peshtigo Fire survival of the chapel grounds is documented historical fact; the theological interpretation of that survival is a matter of Catholic devotion. Bishop Ricken's 2010 decree is a rare instance of a U.S. bishop formally approving a reported Marian apparition.

Within Catholic devotion, the shrine centers on Mary as 'Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners' — the title by which the lady identified herself to Adele Brise — and on Adele's response of lay catechetical mission across the frontier. The sainthood cause for Adele Brise, opened by the USCCB, is being actively pursued.

Some popular accounts emphasize prophecy and end-times motifs in association with the Peshtigo Fire survival; these are not part of the Church's approved interpretation. Bishop Ricken's 2010 decree addresses the credibility of the apparitions and the spiritual fruits of devotion, not any specific eschatological reading.

Bishop Ricken's 2010 decree allows but does not compel Catholic belief in the apparitions. The Peshtigo Fire chapel survival is empirically attested; its causation is interpreted theologically. The shrine's status as the only formally approved Marian apparition site in the United States remains, as of writing, unique.

Half a day for chapel, crypt, apparition site, and outdoor stations; a full day for feast-day liturgies and the Way of Lights. The shrine is about 15 miles northeast of Green Bay; a car is required.

About 15 miles northeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin (4047 Chapel Drive, New Franken/Champion). A car is required — there is no public transit. Free parking is available on site. The closest airport is Austin Straubel International (GRB) in Green Bay.

No on-site lodging. Hotels and B&Bs available in Green Bay and the surrounding area; advance booking recommended for the Assumption feast and Walk to Mary weekend.

Standard Catholic shrine etiquette: modest dress for liturgies, silence in the apparition crypt where the original site is preserved, layered clothing for variable Wisconsin weather.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion welcomes pilgrims of all backgrounds. Expectations are those of any active Catholic shrine: covered shoulders and knees for liturgies, removal of hats by men inside the chapel, silence during Mass and adoration. The apparition crypt is regarded as the heart of the site; visitors are asked to keep silence there even when no liturgy is in progress. Wisconsin weather requires layered clothing and waterproof shoes for the outdoor stations, particularly in shoulder seasons.

Modest dress (covered shoulders and knees) for liturgies. Layered clothing for variable Wisconsin weather; comfortable walking shoes for the outdoor stations.

Permitted on the grounds and at the apparition site outside liturgies. Discreet inside the chapel and crypt; not during Mass or adoration.

Candles available in the apparition oratory. Donations accepted for shrine maintenance and pilgrim services.

Silence in the apparition crypt at all times. No flash photography during liturgies or in the crypt. No food or drink inside the chapel.

Sacred places within a half-day’s reach. Pilgrims often visit them together: walk one, stay for the other.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Empire, Michigan, United States

140.3 km away

Aztalan Mounds, Wisconsin

Lake Mills, Wisconsin, United States

188.2 km away

Norton Mound Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

228.4 km away

National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, Indian River, Michigan

Indian River, Michigan, United States

263.3 km away

Sources consulted when researching this page. Independent verification by readers is welcome.

1. 01National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributorshigh-reliability
2. 02Our Story — The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — National Shrine of Our Lady of Championhigh-reliability
3. 03What to Expect — National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — National Shrine of Our Lady of Championhigh-reliability
4. 04Adele Brise, seer of the only approved Marian apparition in the U.S. — Catholic News Agencyhigh-reliability
5. 05Worthy of Belief — Bishop Ricken's Decree — EWTN / Diocese of Green Bayhigh-reliability
6. 06Our Lady of Good Help — World Religions and Spirituality Project — Virginia Commonwealth Universityhigh-reliability
7. 07Shrine of Our Lady of Champion: New name for only U.S. officially approved Marian apparition site — The Dialoghigh-reliability
8. 08The story of Adele Brise, the seer of the only approved Marian apparition in the U.S. — Catholic Telegraph