Catholic Travel

Visitors to the Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians (Holy Hill), the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe can get a special stamp at each for their Wisconsin pilgrimage passport. The free 24-page passport is available at all three shrines. (Submitted photos)

A trinity of Marian shrines in Wisconsin are joining forces to offer people a powerful, prayerful experience of the Catholic faith with a statewide Pilgrim Passport.

Visiting the Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe one after the other would involve hours of driving and maybe an overnight stay or two — along with three unique, yet powerfully linked, experiences of Jesus through his Blessed Mother.

People can head to any one of the three shrines during business hours to pick up the free passport. Inside it is a treasure trove of aids to a Catholic’s faith life and, of course, a place for a passport stamp.

For each shrine visit, the 24-page passport has reflections for the Jubilee Year of Hope, insights into each shrine’s unique devotional areas, and dedicated space for reflection, prayer intentions and pilgrimage notes.

“It’s telling you that we need to be still and write down what the Holy Spirit is saying. ‘What is Mary saying to you now?’ Reflect upon that,” said Fr. Mark DeVelis, the prior and rector of Holy Hill.

“Make sure that when you’re done, we have a stamp in the gift store that is a memento to say not just that you were here, but you’re saying that ‘I believe that Mary will lead me closer to Jesus, but I have to do my part,’” he added.

“As a Marian shrine, Mary is constantly walking with us on pilgrimage. She walks with us. In the pilgrimage book, the little passport that we have, it’s a reminder of what is a pilgrimage, to encounter on that journey the experience of the Risen Lord Jesus.”

Fr. Edward Nemeth, the executive director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, said it made sense for three shrines to promote a faith version of a passport that in some ways is like those offered by other entities with multiple sites, such as the National Park System. “It made sense that we speak in the language of the traveler and unify ourselves, especially during this Jubilee Year.”

“That was a shoo-in idea because to promote pilgrimage in a beautiful state, and then it’s Our Lady on top of that, it’s great,” said Fr. Anthony Stephens, the rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.

Fr. Nemeth finds a deep symbolism in Wisconsin’s abundance of Marian shrines, as it’s the only state in the United States with a site where the Church has determined the Virgin Mary appeared — in Champion in 1859.

“Mary, in a way, is blessing our country, and especially is blessing, I think, the state of Wisconsin,” he said.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion
championshrine.org

  • Located just northeast of Green Bay in Champion, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion is the first and only Marian apparition site in the United States approved by the authority of the Catholic Church.
  • The shrine covers the holy ground where Mary appeared to a Belgian immigrant woman named Adele Brise on Oct. 9, 1859, identifying herself as “The Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners.”
  • In 1891, almost 12 years to the day of Mary’s last appearance to Brise, the Great Peshtigo Fire broke out, destroying 1.2 million acres. Winds and dry conditions led the fire to spread to near the present shrine’s site, where people gathered to pray for Mary’s protection. The fire burned the acres around the convent, school and chapel there, but did not spread to the grounds.
  • The shrine was recognized under the title of Our Lady of Good Help before 2023.

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
guadalupeshrine.org

  • Located in La Crosse, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was completed in 2008.
  • Development of the shrine began in the mid-1990s, when then-Bishop Raymond Leo Burke met with a small group of people to discuss his ideas for a Marian shrine.
  • A couple gave 70 acres of woodland just south of La Crosse for the shine, and construction — including a Pilgrim Center and an Italian Renaissance-style shrine church — occurred from 2001 to 2008.
  • Pilgrims ascend a half-mile pilgrimage route up a hill to the church, where they may receive the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation.
  • On the way, they pass a chapel, several outdoor devotional areas, an outdoor Way of the Cross, a Rosary walk and a memorial to the unborn.

Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians
holyhill.com

  • Situated on 435 beautiful acres outside of Milwaukee, Holy Hill was declared a shrine with “Portiuncula Privilege” by Pope Leo XIII in 1903.
  • Its landmark neo-Romanesque church, completed in 1931, is the third shrine on the site, but the hill’s faith story dates back centuries.
  • A French diary described how the author placed a stone altar, raised a cross, and dedicated the hill to Mary — an account which corresponds with Jesuit missionary work in the area in the late 1600s.
  • In 2006, the shrine was elevated to the status of Basilica.