Every few years as I made my way through Catholic grade school, we would take a field trip sometime in the fall to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (or, as it’s known locally, the Shrine). I didn’t really understand what the importance of the Shrine, but a break from school was always appreciated. I did learn quite a bit at the Shrine. It was there that I first learned to pray the Rosary, and my first memory of the Stations of the Cross is from the large outdoor arrangement on the grounds. When I was that young, I didn’t really enjoy going to Mass, but I always did love the classic Marian hymns we sang, like “Immaculate Mary” or “Hail Holy Queen.”
The climactic moment of any field trip (eventually I learned the word “pilgrimage”) was the descent into the crypt. The crypt is a small room with a few pews facing a large statue of the Blessed Virgin. On my early trips, I remember being more interested in watching the flickering votive candles than praying; however, the example of my teachers and chaperones devoutly kneeling did stick in my mind.
Once in middle school, the pilgrimages became annual. During sixth grade, I first learned the story of Adele Brise, the young Belgian immigrant to whom Our Lady appeared. Only speaking a few sentences, Mary told Adele, “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; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.” Adele went and did as Our Lady asked. She set up a school and chapel in the area and the Shrine continues her mission today. In fact, the middle school I attended was founded by religious sisters who worked with Sr. Adele.
The story about the Shrine I remember most vividly concerns the Peshtigo Fire. For those of you not familiar with North Eastern Wisconsin, the Peshtigo Fire happened on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 and was the deadliest wildfire in American history. An enormous chunk of Wisconsin one and a half times the size of Rhode Island was in flames. Confronted by the blaze, the sisters and the farmers near the Shrine did the only logical thing: they fled to Mary. They processed around the grounds of the chapel with a statue of Mary and prayed the Rosary. All around them for miles the fire had devastated the countryside; however, it only singed the outside of the fence around the Shrine. None of the Shrine’s grounds were harmed, and everyone who sought refuge there was safe. This local miracle impressed itself on my mind and is still one of my favorite stories to tell.
As I matured in my faith, I started to realize what a gift the Shrine is. When I was a kid, it seemed so natural and part of the religious landscape that I just assumed everyone had access to something like this. Now, I proudly remind my friends that the only approved Marian apparition in the United States is in rural Wisconsin, just 20 minutes from my house. Looking back, a good deal of my devotional life has its roots in the Shrine. Whenever I’m back in Wisconsin, I visit the Shrine regularly. Going down into the crypt and kneeling before the very spot Our Lady appeared brings such a powerful sense of the holy and coming home. Mary is always calling us toward her, toward her Son. I thank God for the graces He has given me through Our Lady and through her Shrine.
Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us.
Feature image courtesy of Royalbroil via Wikimedia.
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