By Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle During this 250th anniversary of our country, American Catholics can take pride Our Own ‘Champion’ championshrine.org in Our Lady of Champion, the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States of America. On Dec. 8, 2010, Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin declared the 1859 apparitions to Adele Brice “worthy of belief,” where Our Lady appeared and “gave words of solace and comfort and a bold and challenging mission for the young immigrant woman.” Six years later, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops designated Champion, Wisconsin as a National Shrine. The site, formerly called Our Lady of Good Help, was renamed in 2023 to the “National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.” Thousands of pilgrims visit annually, seeking help, healing, and inspiration. And in major news, on Dec. 28, 2025, Bishop Ricken issued an edict formally announcing a diocesan inquiry into the life of now-Servant of God Adele Brice, opening the visionary’s cause for canonization. Chosen by Mary As with all Marian apparitions, we are immensely privileged because our Blessed Mother chooses to stoop low to the earth to comfort, teach, and warn her children. Continuously praying for the conversion of sinners, Mary, at times, hand picks her helpers, as she did in rural Wisconsin. The Queen of Heaven chose Adele Brice, born on Jan. 30, 1831, and who grew to be a cheerful, religious young lady, despite a childhood accident leaving her blind in one eye. On her First Holy Communion day, Adele promised the Virgin Mary that she would devote her life to becoming a religious teaching sister in Belgium. 24 Marian Helper • Spring 2026 • Marian.org
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