Our Lady of Good Help

Our Lady of Good Help refers to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a young Belgian immigrant woman, Adele Brise, near the settlement of Champion in the woods of northeastern Wisconsin in October 1859. The Virgin appeared as a lady clothed in dazzling white, and identified herself as "the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners." She charged Adele to pray for the conversion of sinners and, above all, to gather the children of that rough frontier and teach them the truths of the faith, their catechism, and how to make the sign of the cross and approach the sacraments.

Adele devoted the rest of her life to this mission, walking from farm to farm to instruct the children, and a chapel and school arose at the site. The shrine became known for the protection of the surrounding region during the great Peshtigo fire of 1871, which spared the sanctuary. After long and careful investigation, the local bishop declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 2010, making Our Lady of Good Help the first Marian apparition in the United States to receive formal Church approval.