Our Lady Of Good Help

Adele Brise was born in Belgium in 1831, and immigrated to Wisconsin with her family in 1855. The Brise family settled about 16 miles northeast of the city of Green Bay in Robinsonville, now Champion, Wisconsin.

Little is known of Adele’s early years, but she was remembered as a devout young woman.

Our Lady of Good Help
(Photo on display at Our Lady of Good Help)

In October, 1859, apparitions of the Virgin Mary occurred to Adele as she was walking through the woods. Mary instructed Adele to teach local children in the faith. Adele devoted the rest of her life to that charge.

AdeleBriseStudents
Adele Brise with students. (CatholicLane.com)

Many church leaders doubted the veracity of Adele’s story. Her friends and neighbors believed, however, and Adele’s father built a chapel nearby. In time it was replaced with a larger chapel, and facilities for students.

In 1871, during the Great Fire, some area residents fled to the grounds. They processed around the chapel carrying the statue of Mary. Conditions almost overwhelmed them, but Adele instructed them to pray. When the firestorm finally passed, everything around the chapel grounds had been destroyed. The outside of the fence was charred, but the grounds were undisturbed. 

Adele Brise, Our Lady of Good Help
Adele Brise was not a nun, but she adopted attire similar to a nun’s habit. (Photo on display at Our Lady of Good Help)

Adele’s vision was not accepted by the church before she died in 1896. Finally, over century later in 2010, the apparitions were formally approved. Today, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help is the only Marian shrine in the United States on the site of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I read about Adele while doing early research for The Lacemaker’s Secret, the 9th Chloe Ellefson mystery, which focuses on Belgian immigration to Northeast Wisconsin. I wanted to include Adele’s story. As a non-Catholic, I also wanted to be respectful.

Before making any final decisions, I visited the site itself.

Our Lady of Good Help

It includes a small museum that tells Adele’s story.

National Shrine Of Our Lady Of Good Help
The apparition appeared between a maple tree and a hemlock tree. These are pieces of the roots of those trees.
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The site includes a contemporary church, home to an active congregation. The sanctuary is beautiful.

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Around a corner and down some stairs is the Apparition Oratory.

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These crutches near the entrance are testament to reports of visitors being healed of illness or affliction after a visit.

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To me, even more powerful was the absolute, reverential beauty of the small chapel.

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I knew that if Chloe visited the chapel, she couldn’t help but be moved as well. I decided to have her visit at an emotionally low point, so she could find solace.

The grounds are also peaceful and inviting.

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This is Adele’s grave.

Version 2

The building below is a roadside chapel that was moved to the site and restored in 2003.

Our Lady of Good Help

Visitors are welcome to visit any day of the year, from 7 AM to 7 PM.

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To learn more about The Lacemaker’s Secret, or my other books, I invite you to visit my website.

Click here for a more detailed account of Adele’s story.

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17 Responses to “Our Lady Of Good Help”

  1. Agnes Says:

    what a beautiful story

  2. D. A. KESTER Says:

    Your photos are wonderful and make what you are telling us very real. It is a lovely story about an interesting woman and truly beautiful location. Thanks for this informative post.

  3. Liz V. Says:

    Thank you for sharing this story. It is quite beautiful.

  4. Mary Anne Says:

    Reblogged this on haurietisaquas and commented:
    Making known more this wonderful apparition in which Mary expressed her concern for the childrens’ souls …. that they would be educated …. that they knwe how to make the sign of the cross/ Thank you for this beautiful coverage of Our Lady of Good Hope.

  5. Ron Babcock Says:

    Thank you for doing this story about the Shrine of our Lady of Good Help. It has inspired us to visit from Appleton Wi area.
    Thank you and God Bless

  6. Henrietta Says:

    Amazing, just last week, my mother had a dream of our lady of good help surrounding a fire, she was shocked to see the statue of our lady surrounding a very huge fire, burning so hot, all this thing was in her dream, that is why i came to this site to research about what she saw, surprisingly it confirms everything my mother saw…indeed this place was is a true apparition site.

  7. Michelle Maria Nunes Says:

    I will love to Visit here

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