CHAMPION, Wis. (OSV News) — A small churchyard amid Wisconsin farmland became the site of a big holiday celebration over the Fourth of July weekend.
There were no carnival rides, parades, apple pie or fireworks. Not even a brass band. It was, however, a gathering of families in faith.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion hosted a celebration of Catholic Saints of America July 1-9. With relics of 14 saints and blesseds, along with tents of displays from shrines and sainthood guilds around the country, the shrine celebrated what it means to be Catholic Americans.
“Yes, we are faithful citizens of the United States of America, but we are first of all, by baptism, Catholics,” Father of Mercy Nathanael Mudd, shrine chaplain, told OSV News. “And that identity, as sons and daughters of God by baptism, is always going to be more important.”
With that in mind, though, Father Mudd added happily that “everybody came to Mom’s for the Fourth: Mary gathered all her children at her house for the Fourth.”
Those children included 76 saints, blessed, venerables and servants of God.
US anniversary a teaching moment
Champion’s shrine is the only Church-approved apparition of Mary in the United States. Adele Brice (also spelled “Brise”), a Belgian immigrant whose sainthood cause formally opened in January, experienced visions of the Queen of Heaven in 1859. Brice was told: “Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”
With that in mind, the shrine’s staff began a year ago to brainstorm about how the 250th anniversary of the United States could be a teaching moment. They decided first to organize a novena, or a nine-day prayer, for all Americans.
The shrine’s rector, Father of Mercy Tony Stephens, wrote the prayers. The novena concludes July 9.
The novena’s centerpiece July 3-5 event became a family gathering of men and women on the road to formal sainthood. Shrine staff and volunteers chose 76 individuals — to commemorate 1776 — and to teach children as well as adults about the Catholic faith in America.
“The whole exhibit was designed with children in mind,” explained John Paul Brissette, the shrine’s communications director.
Saints, visitors from across country
The shrine reached out for information and sacred items to display. They received loans of 14 saints’ relics and offers for over 30 exhibits, plus hosts and speakers. Many saint shrines and guilds — groups promoting the sainthood causes of holy men and women — wanted to take part.
“It took over a year to assemble all the research,” Brissette told OSV News. “We thought we would be done at some point, and then we’d learn about another saint or somebody else who would call us.”
An estimated 15,000 visitors came from around the country, sharing stories and learning about their faith as lived by other members of the Catholic family. As of July 4, around 50,000 prayer cards had been distributed.
Father Sinclair Oubre, a member of the Merchant Marine and priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas, rode his Harley from Port Arthur, Texas, to share about the cause of Capt. Leonard LaRue, who died in 2001 at age 87. A fellow Merchant Mariner, LaRue used his ship to save 14,500 Koreans in the evacuation of Hungnam in December 1950. LaRue later became a Benedictine with the name of Brother Marinus in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.
Lenora McKeen, from the Bishop Baraga Association, told about “the Snowshoe Bishop” whose cause is underway in Marquette, Michigan. McKeen noted how Bishop Baraga compiled a 676-page Indigenous dictionary in “Otchipwe,” the Ojibwa and Chippewa languages.
“His belief was to ask, ‘How could children and adults learn if their language wasn’t written down?'” McKeen said.
Catechist, Army chaplain, foundress
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin, shared about Sister Thea Bowman, a servant of God. She was a dynamic preacher who never tired of sharing what it was like to be Black and Catholic.
Terri White of the Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk Guild in Rapid City, South Dakota, spoke of the Lakota catechist and former medicine man. On display was a “two roads map,” a pictorial tapestry Black Elk used to teach. “He brought over 400 into the faith and was godfather to 113,” White said.
Emily Finley of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was delighted by Venerable Emil Kapaun, a U.S. Army chaplain who died in a Korean POW camp. “My grandfather’s name was Emil, and I had never seen that name until after he had passed and Father Emil became a venerable,” she said. “And so that was interesting to learn more about him.”
Michael and Angela Schmitt of Muskegon, Michigan, brought their 7-month-old son to the event. They were surprised to learn about Mother Theodore Guerin, founder of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana. She shares their son’s name.
“We bought a Christmas ornament (at the gift shop) so we can tell Thedore about our visit,” Michael said.
Brian and Elizabeth Mooney and their eight children came from Detroit. Six-year-old Max said seeing all the saints only made him “want to be a priest more.” His sister Annie was fascinated by the violin that belonged to Blessed Solanus Casey, a Capuchin priest from their home diocese.
Not a parade, but a procession
The shrine’s nine-day celebration coincided with the 130th anniversary of Adele Brice’s death on July 5, 1896. She is buried at the shrine.
While there were no holiday parades, there was a procession, led by Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay to Brice’s flower-laden grave following Sunday Mass. People paused to kneel and take photos at the site.
The event included a scavenger hunt — another way to “teach the children.” Participants learned which servant of God owned a horse named Baloney (Nicholas Black Elk) and who played an accordion (Venerable Augustus Tolton).
Brissette recalled a boy named Fulton taking part in the scavenger hunt. “One of the questions is ‘Which venerable won an Emmy?’ He (Fulton) did the whole scavenger hunt, and that was the one question he didn’t have. And his dad said, ‘Fulton, I’m not helping you with this one.'” (Emmy-award winning Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified Sept. 24.)
When the shrine contacted the Knights of Columbus and the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center of New Haven, Connecticut, the Knights not only sent a relic, they offered to host the All-American Picnic. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and cookies served by Assembly 1197 in nearby Green Bay.
Many attendees left the weekend with prayer cards, rosaries and third-class relics. Others took memories. Some learned lessons.
Carol Fountain, a Green Bay member of the Order of Malta who serves at the shrine, noted how many of the 76 saints and other servants of God “were many common people.”
“And,” she said, “I found myself having to wonder, ‘How do I get into that group?'”
Patricia Kasten writes for OSV News from Appleton, Wisconsin.
