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The Miracle Record

Our Lady of Champion (1859)

Apparitions Image Document

The story in one line

Adele Brise saw the Virgin Mary near Champion, Wisconsin, in 1859 and received a mission of prayer and catechesis.

The basic story

In October 1859, Adele Brise reported a Marian apparition in Champion, Wisconsin. In 2010 Bishop David Ricken approved the apparition as worthy of belief, making Champion the first approved Marian apparition site in the United States.

Reported message

Adele Brise said Mary identified herself as "the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners" and told her to gather the children, teach them what they needed for salvation, and care for the sick and the old.

Historical setting

The Champion case sits in frontier Catholic Wisconsin in 1859, when Adele Brise said Mary appeared near a settlement chapel and later tied the mission to catechesis and prayer.

October 1859 Champion, Wisconsin Approved in 2010
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin.
The shrine grounds at Champion preserve the site associated with Adele Brise's reported apparitions and later teaching mission. Official shrine image

Event date

October 1859

The shrine chronology places Adele Brise’s apparition sequence in October 1859.

Visionary

Adele Brise

The case centers on the Belgian immigrant whose later teaching mission shaped the site.

Bishop’s decree

December 8, 2010

Bishop David Ricken declared the apparition worthy of belief after a formal investigation.

Site continuity

Chapel, school, pilgrimages

The historical summary connects the apparition claim with the chapel, school, and long-running pilgrimage life at Champion.

The story

Section titled “The story”

In October 1859, a Belgian immigrant named Adele Brise reported seeing the Virgin Mary near what is now Champion, Wisconsin.[1] According to the shrine’s account, Mary identified herself as “The Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners” and gave Adele a mission: gather the children, teach them what they must know for salvation, and care for the sick and the old.[1]

The 2010 decree made Champion the first Marian apparition site in the United States to receive a formal positive diocesan judgment according to the shrine and diocesan sources used here.

What Mary reportedly said to Adele

Section titled “What Mary reportedly said to Adele”

The Champion tradition preserves one central identification and one practical mission. Adele said Mary first identified herself as “The Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners.”[1]

The shrine sources then summarize the message in active terms: Adele was told to gather the children, teach them what they needed for salvation, and care for the sick and the old.[1] [3] That is why Champion is remembered less as a spectacle case and more as an apparition tied to catechesis, prayer, and service.

Primary-source file

Section titled “Primary-source file”
Official shrine overview About Us and the Apparition Chapel

The shrine’s official pages summarize Adele Brise, the apparition message, and the present-day shrine setting.

championshrine.org Diocesan historical summary A Brief Historical Account

The Green Bay diocesan summary gives the investigation timeline, the 2010 decree, and the 1871 fire memory.

gbdioc.org Official shrine chronology Shrine Historical Timeline

The timeline traces the 1859 apparitions, the early chapels and school, and the later growth of the shrine.

championshrine.org

Publicly documented chronology

Section titled “Publicly documented chronology”

The apparition sequence

Section titled “The apparition sequence”

The Champion material presents the event not as a single isolated vision but as a short sequence in October 1859.[1] [3]

  • Adele first saw a radiant woman dressed in white while walking through the woods near the family property.[1]
  • After asking advice from her confessor, she was told that if the woman appeared again she should ask in God’s name who she was and what she wanted.[1]
  • On the later encounter, the lady gave the now-famous identification and entrusted Adele with a catechetical mission for the local settlers and immigrant children.[1]

The shrine chronology emphasizes Adele’s teaching mission more than a large public physical sign.[1][3]

Publicly documented continuity

Section titled “Publicly documented continuity”

The three cited sources create a continuous public file for Champion:

  • the apparition sequence in 1859[1] [3]
  • the construction of the first chapel in the same year and a larger chapel in 1861[2] [3]
  • the 1871 fire procession and preservation memory[2] [3]
  • the diocesan investigation opened in 2009 and decree of 2010[2]

That combination of apparition report, local mission, shrine growth, and later diocesan judgment is what gives the public Champion record its shape.[1] [2] [3]

Adele’s mission and the growth of the shrine

Section titled “Adele’s mission and the growth of the shrine”

The official shrine timeline says Adele immediately began traveling house to house to teach the faith and prepare children for the sacraments.[3] The first chapel was built in 1859, the same year as the apparition report, and a larger chapel followed in 1861.[2] [3]

Over the next decade:

  • a community formed around Adele’s work[2]
  • a school and convent were established[3]
  • pilgrimages to the site began long before any modern canonical investigation[2]

The local mission, chapel, and pilgrimage culture grew directly out of the original claim according to the shrine chronology.[2] [3]

The diocesan and shrine records emphasize the mission given to Adele and the long continuity of prayer, catechesis, and service at the site rather than a public solar or luminous phenomenon.[1] [2]

The 1871 fire tradition

Section titled “The 1871 fire tradition”

The shrine’s historical materials say Adele and others carried a statue of Mary in procession around the chapel grounds during the Peshtigo-area fire of October 1871, and that the shrine property was spared while the wider area was devastated.[2] [3]

This episode is not the formal basis of the diocesan approval. The shrine chronology nevertheless presents it as a central part of the site’s later memory.[2] [3]

Diocesan judgment

Section titled “Diocesan judgment”

After a formal investigation opened in 2009, Bishop David L. Ricken issued a decree on December 8, 2010 approving the apparition as worthy of belief.[2]

The decree and later shrine materials document:

  • the approval was explicit and diocesan, not merely devotional tolerance
  • it established the site as the first approved Marian apparition location in the United States
  • the shrine later developed into a national shrine with a wider liturgical and pilgrimage role[1]

Later recognition

Section titled “Later recognition”

The cited sources document:

  • a North American apparition case with an explicit episcopal judgment[2]
  • a shrine whose devotional life stretches continuously from the 19th century to the present[1] [3]
  • a message centered on religious instruction, repentance, and service rather than spectacle alone[1]

References

Section titled “References”
  1. National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. “About Us” and “The Apparition Chapel.” Official shrine material describing Adele Brise, the reported message, and the shrine’s significance. Available at: https://championshrine.org/about-us/ and https://championshrine.org/apparition-chapel/
  2. Catholic Diocese of Green Bay / Shrine historical summary. “A Brief Historical Account.” Includes the 2009 opening of the investigation, Bishop Ricken’s 2010 decree approving the apparitions, and the fire tradition. Available at: https://www.gbdioc.org/images/stories/Evangelization_Worship/Shrine/Documents/Shrine-History-Brief.pdf
  3. National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. “Shrine Historical Timeline.” Official shrine chronology of Adele Brise, the 1859 apparitions, the early chapels and school, and the 1871 fire memory. Available at: https://championshrine.org/timeline/