On October 9, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion celebrates the 164th anniversary of the second and third apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Adele Brise, the approved Marian apparitions in the United States. Although this birthday feast has long been an annual event, this is the first year that the liturgy is celebrated as a solemnity.
“This is the first of what we hope will be an annual birthday party of Our Lady of Champion on the shrine grounds,” Bishop David L. said. Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who announced last April that the annual Mass would be celebrated at the liturgical rank of solemnity.
Archbishop Ricken said the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the Solemnity of October Nine on Dec. 15, 2022.
“It takes a lot of time, because it is a privilege that the Holy See grants after some years of practicing and observing the culmination of life and the practice of a shrine committed to Our Lady,” he told OSV News. “This solemnity will be celebrated in one place at this time, at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Champion. “
Bishop Ricken announced last April that the national shrine would be relocated from Our Lady of Bon Secours to Our Lady of the Champion. The so-called repositioning would help others link the Blessed Mother to the place and network in which she appeared to Adele Brise.
Brise, a 28-year-old Belgian immigrant, when the apparitions occurred about 18 miles northeast of Green Bay. The first took up position while on her way to a grain mill to grind grain. The last two positioned themselves a few days later, as I walked to and from Sunday Mass.
The ninth of October anniversary is part of a three-day birthday component that begins with the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7. On this day, a Mass follows at 11 a. m. with a rosary procession around the sanctuary grounds and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Oct. 8 is the anniversary of the Great Peshtigo Fire, which ravaged northeastern Wisconsin in 1871 and killed between 1,500 and 2,500 people. Local farmers rushed to the shrine, where Adèle Brise led a rosary procession through the grounds. Shortly after midnight, it began to rainfall and the chimney went out.
The sanctuary was spared, while the surrounding domain suffered extensive fire damage.
To commemorate the occasion, pilgrims gather in the chapel of the sanctuary on October 8 at 7 pm to listen to the reading of the “Miracle of Fire”. This is followed by a candlelight procession around the shrine, rebuilding the miracle. The day ends with a rosary and worship throughout the night.
On October 9, Bishop Ricken celebrates the inaugural Mass of the Solemnity of Our Lady of Champion at a. m.
According to Don Warden, director of operations, the shrine is preparing to welcome another 3,000 people to the solemn Mass. He said a maximum of Wisconsin bishops and between 50 and a hundred priests will attend. Due to the expected crowd, the misa. al open-air, the Chapel of the Apparitions, is celebrated.
“One of the hardest things to plan for us, especially with this type of event, is how many more people will be here,” Warden told OSV News. “We estimate 3,000. We know we can exceed 1,000 or underestimate to 5. 000. No we have any idea. “
The shrine regularly welcomes more than 2,000 people at the annual Mass celebrated Aug. 15, which marks the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. More than 8,000 people visited the shrine for this year’s March to Mary on May 6, Warden said.
Father of Mercy Jose Aytona, rector of the shrine, believes that the substitution of convocation and solemnity will have very little effect on the shrine itself.
“I think most of the adjustments are operational,” he said. “Liturgically, it will be the same. . . It is a Marian Mass in honor of Our Lady of the Champion, but it is like Our Lady of Fatima or Our Lady of Lourdes, like the day of the supper proper. It will be a solemnity, so there will be a Gloria and the Creed. “
The renaming of the shrine will allow visitors to identify the apparition and location, Father Aytona said.
“In terms of change, it’s more about the brand. It’s not that the apparitions have replaced or that the message of the apparition has replaced. “
According to Warden, exposure gained through the shrine following the replacement of the call and solemn designation led to increased traffic to the shrine’s website, championshrine. org.
“We’re 40% ahead of last year” in terms of exclusive visitors to the site, he said. This means that new visitors need to know more about the sanctuary or need data to plan a trip.
Some 200,000 pilgrims have visited the shrine this year, surpassing the peak of about 175,000 before the COVID pandemic.
Although October 9 marks the 164th anniversary of the apparitions, Our Lady of Champion was not officially identified as the first and only approved Marian apparition site in the United States until 2010.
People still think this happened in the Wisconsin countryside, Warden said.
“It’s a question that often comes up: ‘Why, when this happened a year after Lourdes, why did it take so long for the Church to approve it?'” he said. Obviously, we don’t know the answer for sure, but I think it’s because that’s how Heaven sought it. “
“Although the apparition took place in 1859, many believed it for decades,” Bishop Ricken added. “In practice, the local population considered it original and frequented it often, on a daily basis, in many of them. “
“This allocation was not approved without delay because it was not expected to be approved for another 150 years,” Warden added. “Just seeing the things that are happening right now, in terms of how Our Blessed Mother is making her appearance and message known here at Champion, leads us to that this plays a special role at this time in the life of the church.
He said, “Notre Dame gives us opportunities that make this the moment. “
According to ancient accounts, the Blessed Mother’s message to Brise was twofold:
Father Aytona says he wondered, “Will this position ever be like that of Fatima, Lourdes or Guadalupe?
“I guess not, because the events are not as significant as what happened at Cerro del Tepeyac, where Our Lady gave Juan Diego the impression with a symbol that you can literally see,” he said.
“There is no water here to heal, as in Lourdes. No there is nothing tangible that we can touch or see,” he said, unless God has something else in store.
But the brilliance of the Champion offers pilgrims an environment in which they can obtain this gift from God that is beyond all comprehension. The priest said, “It will be a quiet and continuous place where other people can delight in peace. “
Catholic Shrines, Sanctuary, Wisconsin