CHAMPION, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A holy place in Northeast Wisconsin is entering the next chapter of its 163-year history.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion announced its official name change Thursday to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
The chapel’s grounds attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world each year to visit the first and only approved Marian Apparition site in the U.S.
The shrine marks the spot of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s second and third apparitions to a Belgian woman, Adele Brise, in 1859.
“From that moment, this has become a place for those of us in Northeastern Wisconsin and for those more recently now, in the entire world, a place of peace where people can bring their sorrows, their hopes and meet God,” said Father John Girotti Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Green Bay.
Fr. Girotti said so far this year, more than 150,000 people have made the pilgrimage to the shrine.
In addition to the name change, the shrine received confirmation to celebrate an annual Solemnity Day every October 9 – the established anniversary day of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparitions to Brise. The inaugural Solemnity Mass of Our Lady of Champion will be celebrated at the National Shrine this October 9 at 11 a.m.
“It will be a day of highest honor at the National Shrine,” said Bishop David L. Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay. “This new Solemnity of Our Lady of Champion, although only celebrated on the grounds of the National Shrine at this time, is a day to remember the profound messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her unique presence in the United States.”
In 2010, Bishop Ricken declared the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparitions to Brise in 1859 as worthy of belief. At the time of the apparitions, the Wisconsin town’s name was Robinsonville. However, Adele suggested to change the town’s name to Champion — fulfilling a promise she made to the Blessed Virgin to serve in Champion, Belgium.
