The Cause for Canonization of Adele Brice was formally opened by Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Friday, January 30th. Bishop Ricken promulgated the decree on the 195th birthday of Adele Brice during solemn vespers at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay, which declared her to be a Servant of God.
“I hearby accept the suplex libellus and decree the commencement of the cause of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Adele Brice,” declared Bishop Ricken.
Adele Brice is the seer of Our Lady of Champion, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary that took place in October of 1859. Adele saw a beautiful lady dressed in white standing between two trees on three separate occasions. During the third apparition, Our Lady spoke to Adele and instructed her to pray for the conversion of sinners and to teach the children what they need to know for salvation. Today, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion is located at the place of Our Lady’s apparitions in Champion, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Green Bay.
“Thanks to your prayers and his careful discernment, Bishop Ricken is now ready to officially open her cause and formally declare Adele Brice a Servant of God. This marks the first step on the road to sainthood,” said Fr. Anthony Stephens, CPM, Rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
Adele Brice was born in Belgium, and moved to Wisconsin with her family as a young woman. After the apparitions from the Queen of Heaven, she heeded Our Lady’s instructions, and traveled throughout the Wisconsin wilderness to teach children their prayers and catechism. Eventually, a convent and school were built at the apparition site where Adele and her religious sisters taught and catechized the children in the area. Adele is buried on the grounds of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, the first and only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States.
Opening the cause for canonization of Adele Brice is just the first step on her road to sainthood, and Bishop Ricken and Fr. Stephens have both asked that the faithful keep the cause in their prayers.
Servant of God Adele Brice, pray for us!
Our Lady of Champion, pray for us!
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