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- Adele Joseph Brice came to Green Bay peninsula from Belgium with her parents in 1855.Despite the loss of an eye as a young child and a very meager education, Adele was known for her charming personality, fervent piety, simple religious ways and her prayer life to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The stories about the apparitions of Adele have been passed down by the people in the area for the last 150 years. Many of you might have visited Robinsonville with your parents or as a family. I have very fond memories of my visited to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help as a child. It was always a day of attending Mass, praying the rosary, hearing the stories and having a picnic lunch on the grounds. It was a surprise to me that not every family made pilgrimages to the shrine. My love for the history of the shrine has encouraged me to share this story with the faithful of our diocese and especially the children. My hope is that this article will bring more interest in the shrines beautiful story. This new interest will lead to more pilgrimages to the shrine.
The following is a summary of the apparitions as told by Sister Pauline LaPlant. In the first apparition, Adele saw a lady in white standing between two trees. Adele was frighten and stood still. The vision slowly disappeared, leaving a white cloud after it.
In the second apparition, Adele was again on her way to Mass at Bay Settlement. She was accompanied by her sister, Isabel and a neighbor woman. When they came near the same trees, the same lady in white was at the place where Adele had seen her before. Later her confessor told Adele that if it were a heavenly messenger, she would see it again. He said that it would not harm her, but to ask in Gods name who it was and what it desired of her.
Then, on October 9, 1859 came the final apparition. As they approached the hallowed spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. She had a crown of stars around her head. In Gods name who are you and what do you want of me? asked Adele.
I am the Queen of Heaven (…) 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; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.
The manifestation of Our Lady then lifted her hands, as though beseeching a blessing for those at her feet, and slowly vanished, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrate on the ground. When Adele got up, she immediately went about fulfilling this mission. She devoted herself to this mission until her death in 1896.
After the apparition, Adele began catechizing the children. Teaching from house to house, up and down the Green Bay Peninsula, she would travel as much as 50 miles on foot. Weather conditions, fatigue, lack of education, dangers of the forest and ridicule did not deter Adeles determination to fulfill her duty to Blessed Mother Marys request.
Eventually, she was joined by several young women from the area. St. Marys Boarding Academy was founded near the site of the apparitions. With the assistance of the Belgian community, Sister Adele built a school, chapel and convent on land donated in the town of Robinsonville. Today the town is called New Franklin.
Over the years, while Sister Adele and her religious community suffered trials, persecutions and set-backs, they were the means through which miraculous events and healings were manifested. One of the most spectacular of these events occurred in 1871, when the shrines grounds and buildings were virtually untouched by the merciless fury and devastation of the Great Peshtigo Fire. Many of the families from the area came to the church and were kept safe there from the fire.
The school was closed in 1928, but since 1861, thousands of pilgrimages have been made to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help to honor the Mother of God and implore her help. Since 1871, on August 15th, the feast of the Assumption, a large crowd gathers to celebrant the day with rosary processions and an outdoor Mass.
Promulgation of the story of Sister Adele and the Robinsonville apparitions has continued through the years. It has received the public support and permission of the local bishops of the Diocese of Green Bay, though no formal declaration concerning the apparitions has been made by the Catholic Church. Since the building of the first chapel, the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help has been accepted as a special place for prayer and worship in the Diocese of Green Bay. It continues to receive Church support by the local bishop, a special visit of the Delegate to North America and the thousands of faithful who come to the shrine for Mass and prayer.
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1831 - 1896 (65 years)
