Our Lady of Champion

Adele and the lady in white

Adele was born in Belgium in 1831 and came with her family to Wisconsin. The shrine’s account describes three encounters in October 1859. In the first, a lady dressed in white stood silently between two trees. Adele saw her again on the way to Mass, then asked her priest what she should do.

On the return journey she saw the lady once more and followed the priest’s counsel by asking who she was and what she wanted. The answer identified her as the Queen of Heaven praying for sinners. The shrine commemorates the final encounter on 9 October.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — The apparition account

Prayer and the teaching of children

The words preserved in Bishop David Ricken’s decree give Adele a twofold mission: prayer for the conversion of sinners and instruction in the faith. Mary calls her to confession, to offer Communion for sinners, and to gather children for teaching. The instruction reaches the foundations of Catholic life: the catechism, the Sign of the Cross, and approaching the sacraments.

The decree also records Adele’s sustained obedience to the Church and her willingness to undertake this work at personal cost. The message asks for a generous response from someone who feels small before the task. Its encouragement is inseparable from the work: she is sent with the assurance of help.

Bishop David L. Ricken — Decree on the authenticity of the 1859 apparitions

A mission that became a lifetime

Adele began by going from house to house to teach. A first chapel was built in 1859, and a larger one followed in 1861. In 1864 she and companions formed a community of Franciscan tertiaries; a school and convent developed beside the chapel. Saint Mary’s Boarding Academy formally opened in 1869.

The shrine’s history records the preservation of the chapel, school, convent, and their grounds during the devastating fire of October 1871. Teaching continued afterward. Adele died on 5 July 1896, leaving a work that others carried on. Her fidelity gives the apparition an enduring human witness: the task entrusted in a brief encounter was lived through many years of prayer and service.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — Historical timeline

Holy and constant devotion

The call to conversion and patient service accords with the qualities Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort gives to true devotion. In True Devotion, §108, he says that it leads a soul to avoid sin and imitate Mary’s virtues: humility, faith, obedience, prayer, purity, charity, patience, and the other excellences of her life.

In §109 he adds that devotion is constant. A soul may lose the feeling of fervour and still remain faithful. If it falls, it rises again with its good Mother’s help. This is a fitting light in which to consider Adele’s perseverance, and to approach our own responsibilities with confidence rather than discouragement.

Montfort’s account keeps the purpose clear. In §62, devotion to Mary is directed toward finding Jesus, loving him tenderly, and serving him faithfully. Passing on the faith, offering prayer for sinners, and returning to the sacraments all belong within that movement toward her Son.

St. Louis de Montfort · True Devotion, §§108–109: holy and constant devotion · St. Louis de Montfort · True Devotion, §62: finding Jesus through Mary

The mission continues

The shrine continues to describe its mission in terms of conversion, teaching the faith, and care for the sick and elderly. It welcomes pilgrims to prayer and to the sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick. The place remains centred on the Christian life that Adele was asked to serve.

Its name, Our Lady of Champion, identifies the place where that mission took root. The older title, Our Lady of Good Help, remains part of its history and expresses the confidence with which generations have brought their needs to Mary. Her care invites a generous answer, especially where the faith must be received, explained, and lived in the ordinary circumstances of a family or parish.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion — Its mission