CHAMPION, Wis. (OSV News) -- A Marian shrine in rural northeast Wisconsin, the only shrine in the United States to be designated by the Catholic Church as an approved Marian apparition site, is changing its name.
During a press conference April 20, Green Bay Bishop David L. Ricken announced the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help will now be known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
Bishop Ricken also announced that the national shrine will begin celebrating an annual Mass with the liturgical rank of solemnity every Oct. 9. Bishop Ricken will celebrate the inaugural Mass of the Solemnity of Our Lady of Champion on that day at 11 a.m.
Oct. 9 is the anniversary of Mary's second and third apparitions to Adele Brise in 1859. Brise was a young Belgian immigrant living in Kewaunee County, and the apparitions occurred some 18 miles northeast of Green Bay.
Bishop Ricken said the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the Oct. 9 solemnity on Dec. 15, 2022.
"Therefore, at the shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Champion, the anniversary of her apparition will be celebrated as a high, holy day of solemnity each year on Oct. 9, thus nurturing the devotion to the Virgin Mary," he said.
"On Oct. 9, we will celebrate a special, beautiful Mass right here on the grounds, where we really thank the Blessed Mother for all she has done and all she is doing. From now on, that will be our central feast day celebration in honor of Our Lady of Champion," Bishop Ricken said.
"There are so many beautiful things that have happened here over the years, and this new stage of calling her by the title of Our Lady of Champion will make it more concrete," he added.
Bishop Ricken then unveiled a logo with the shrine's new name.
Prior to Bishop Ricken's declaration, Father John Girotti, vicar general of the Diocese of Green Bay, told reporters that the numbers of pilgrims to the shrine "have grown exponentially."
"This year alone, we have experienced 150,000 people who have come here," he said. "Already, this place is one of the most frequented locations in the state of Wisconsin, with people outside of our area coming to worship, to pray."
Today the shrine remains the first and only officially declared site of a Marian apparition in the United States," added Father Girotti. "It remains what it always has been: a place of healing, a place of peace, a place of holiness, a place where we can take the challenges of life to God and ask God to bless us and help us."
Bishop Ricken said the shrine's name change and solemnity celebration are significant to Catholics around the country because it "might attract more pilgrims."
"Why would we be interested in more pilgrims? Because this is a great message, and when people come here, they feel the sense of the Blessed Mother's presence and she always leads us to Jesus," he added. "Her whole mission in life was to lead people to Jesus and she constantly does that right here. We want to share that good news with people from throughout the country, so they know this is a refuge, it's a wonderful place to come to find peace and to be able to pray with a lot of other Christians and people of even no faith."
Bishop Ricken, who declared on Dec. 8, 2010, that the Marian apparitions to Brise were worthy of belief, told OSV News he was humbled to be part of the shrine's history.
"I realize the longer I'm here, the more blessed I am to be a part of this and to serve in the role of bishop and to help others to get to know about this place," he said. "People just say it's a huge place of consolation and peace for them, so to be able to do this with little things from my perch really is humbling."
The story of Our Lady of Good Help
Adele Brise was 28 when Mary appeared to her three times in October 1859. The first appearance took place while Brise was carrying a sack of wheat to a grist mill about four miles from Robinsonville, Wisconsin, now known as Champion.
A few days later, on Oct. 9, as Brise walked to Sunday Mass in Bay Settlement, about 11 miles from her home, Mary appeared to her again. After Mass, Brise told the pastor what she had seen. He told her to "ask in God's name who it was and what it desired of her," according to a historical account found on the shrine's website.
On the way home from Bay Settlement, Mary again appeared to Brise. When Brise asked who the woman was, Mary responded, "I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same."
She told Brise to "gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the cross and how to approach the sacraments."
Brise devoted the rest of her life to teaching children. She began a community of secular Franciscans and built a school next to the shrine. Brise's father, Lambert, built a small chapel near the spot of the apparitions. When a brick chapel was built in 1880, the trees where Mary appeared were cut down and the chapel's altar was placed over the spot.
A school and convent also were built next to the chapel. The current chapel was dedicated in 1942 under the title of Our Lady of Good Help. Today, the shrine, which sits on six acres of farmland, receives thousands of visitors each year.
Brise died July 5, 1896, and was buried in a small cemetery near the chapel. Although she was sometimes photographed in a habit, she never took vows as a religious.
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