by Brett Manero
This past July, I finally made it to the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States: Our Lady of Champion, Wisconsin. Just outside of Green Baby, the apparitions at Champion were approved in 2010 by the Bishop of Green Bay, David Ricken. Today, the site is known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
Compared to the more famous Marian sites – especially Lourdes, Fatima, and Guadalupe – Champion is very small and, for those who like to avoid crowds, significantly less-crowded than those bigger sites. Perhaps it is because it was approved relatively recently, or perhaps because there is no miraculous tilma or spring or three secrets included with the apparitions. Maybe it is because eastern Wisconsin is off the beaten track. But it is a treasure of a holy site, and the history and messages of Mary to Adele Brise in 1859 are fascinating. For anyone looking to visit a Marian shrine, especially if you already happen to be traveling through the Midwestern United States, this is a must-see.
When one thinks about the dating of the apparitions of Champion – 1859 AD – one will likely remember that another apparition took place only a year before – Our Lady of Lourdes appeared in 1858 in Lourdes, France, to St. Bernadette. It is fascinating and awe-inspiring to think that the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, appeared on two separate continents only a year apart. And why so close together? And why did on occur in France, identifying herself as the “Immaculate Conception” only four years after the formal definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, while another occurred in the United States, just before the beginning of the Civil War?
God never fails in His timing. Mary seems to appear at significant moments in history, showing us just how intimately God is interested in human history. She most famously appeared as Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, as Mexico had been settled by Spanish colonists and Catholicism was spreading throughout the land. Following the apparitions and the appearance of the miraculous tilma, millions in Mexico converted to the Catholic faith. Mary appeared in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, during the latter days of the First World War, where she also warned of the Second World War in the decades following. She appeared in Lourdes, France, in 1858, four years after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been defined, and during a time of tremendous healing and rebuilding of the Catholic Church in France following the horrors of the French Revolution.
So why would Mary appear in the United States, in 1859? Ultimately, it is a mystery. God is a mystery, and the theologian is right to always acknowledge that he or she never has all of the answers. But the theologian and historian can make educated guesses. If Mary appears at important times in the history of a nation, what is significant about 1859 in America?
Any student of American history knows that 1859 was right on the cusp of the Civil War, the most brutal of all American wars – more Americans died in the Civil War than every other American war combined. It was a cataclysmic event, one that divided the nation, devastated the southern states, finally brought about the end of the horrific practice of slavery, and whose scars remain in America today. There still remains a tension in Civil War debates even today, about the origins and causes of it. It was a conflict that could have resulted in two separate nations – the United States and the Confederate States – and one can only speculate how such a result would have changed history. Thank goodness for the Union victory which, despite so much horrific suffering, preserved the Union and ensured that democracy was not a failed experiment, that the dream of the Founding Fathers was not something in vain, and that the nation could have a new birth of freedom, as President Abraham Lincoln spoke of in the Gettysburg Address.
So why would Mary appear in America just before the start of this conflict? Again, it is ultimately a mystery, and an educated guess is just that: an educated guess. But I do believe – and Mary can correct me if I’m wrong – that there is a connection between Champion and the Civil War. The War nearly destroyed the country, and it was a defining moment in American history when the country had to face the awful reality of its original sin, slavery, and decide if it could truly be the beacon of freedom that the Founding Fathers envisioned. America is a thoroughly unique nation: a melting pot of cultures, an example of the rule of law and constitutional freedom, the peaceful transfer of power. America is flawed, no doubt, and has committed some horrific crimes in her history. But she has also changed and inspired the world for the better. American democracy, especially since the end of World War II, has been exported around the world, including to former enemies such as Germany and Japan. American aid saved Western Europe from falling into chaos after World War II, and indeed American blood saved Western Europe from Nazism. The world is a better place because of America, with all of her sins and flaws.
Had the Civil War gone differently, America and the world may have been significantly different. One half of America would have enshrined slavery in its laws. The American experiment would have been a failure. But this did not happen: slavery was ended, and while it would indeed take another century to bring civil rights to black Americans, the Union victory was a step in the right direction. America grew astronomically in the decades following the Civil War, becoming the world’s largest economy and a major world player. God, who sees all things – past, present, and future – foresaw the history of the United States. What amazing things could and can be done in and through and by the United States if her people are anchored in God. John Adams, the second President, famously wrote:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (From John Adams to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102).
Of course, I have known several good and moral non-religious people, but there is a truth in Adams’ words. Good religion does not threaten the Republic, but helps it. The American Republic, when rooted in God, can change the world for the better. Perhaps Mary foresaw this when she appeared in Champion and said these words to Adele Brise:
“Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation” (The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, https://championshrine.org/our-story/).
There is something amusing about the Mother of God describing America as “this wild country.” And it was and still is, with its vast landscapes and different cultures. There is a “wildness” to American character that, I think, marks us Americans as distinct from others, especially Europeans, who may balk at what appears to be American “wildness.” How fitting, too, that Mary said these words to an immigrant to America: Adele was originally from Belgium, having emigrated to Wisconsin with her family. America is, after all, a melting pot of cultures, a nation of immigrants, and that “melting pot” was just started to take effect in the mid-nineteenth century. Millions of immigrants would enter the country in the decades following the Civil War, making America one of the most diverse countries in the world. Immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Poland, especially, would bring more of the Catholic faith to the country.
I believe that Mary foresaw how powerful America could be if she is rooted in God. She foresaw that this “wild country” had tremendous potential for good, but the nation must be rooted in God to fulfill this good. Hence, why she gave Adele – and many others who have listened to her message at Champion – this mission. And how appropriate that she said these words just before the Civil War, when America would be at a crossroads. God foresaw the War, but He also foresaw how it would end, and that America would survive it. And because it had a rebirth of freedom, it could fulfill what God and Mary foresaw.
Our Lady of Champion is America’s Marian apparition. It is deeply tied to the history of this country, especially to the Civil War and its aftermath. It is yet another example of how God’s timing in history is always perfect, and how Mary, the Immaculate Conception, appears at certain times and places in history for the most beautiful of reasons.
