A small group from Springfield attended the Feast of the Assumption ceremony at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, in northeastern Wisconsin. Approved last December by the Catholic Church as a shrine worthy of belief, it is the first Marian shrine in the United States on the site of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Located 17 miles northeast of Green Bay, near the town of Champion, the shrine has had the full support of the bishops of Green Bay as a place of prayer and pilgrimage. But it was not until under present Bishop David L. Ricken that the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help was approved as an official diocesan shrine of Green Bay.

The 1840s and 50s were a time of rapid population growth in Wisconsin, and the church was having difficulty keeping up with the area's growing need for pastors. The message of the Blessed Virgin to Adele Brice in 1859 was simple: "Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments."

More information about the shrine can be found on the internet at: www.shrineofourladyofgoodhelp.com.