1831
January 30 – Marie Adele Joseph Brise is born at Dion-le-Val, Belgium.
1855
August 7 – Lambert and Marie Brise purchase 240 acres of land in the town of Red River, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
1859
October 9 – Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Adele Brise occur. The first chapel is built by Lambert Brise; log structure 10 ft. x12 ft. Adele Brise begins her teaching mission traveling house to house
1861
The second Chapel is built at the shrine; wood frame construction, 24 ft. x 40 ft. Pilgrimages to the shrine begin at this time.
1864
Adele and her companions form a community of Third Order Franciscan and setup in a farmhouse not far from the Chapel. Later in the year a school and convent are built of wood frame construction.
1869
The Chapel School formally opens as Saint Mary’s Boarding Academy.
1871
October 8 – The “Great fires of Northern Wisconsin,” popularly known as the Peshtigo Fire, rage. Everything in the surrounding area is destroyed except the convent, school, chapel and five acres of land consecrated to the Virgin Mary. Pilgrimages increase and devotions on the 15th of August begin.
1880
The third chapel of Our Lady Of Good Help is built. First brick structure on the site.
1885
With money solicited by Adele, a brick residence and school is built by the Diocese to replace the wooden structures.
1890
Death of “Maggie” (Marguerite Allard), Adele’s assistant and secretary for their religious community. Sometime between 1890 and 1896, through a suggestion made by Adele, the town of Robinsonville changes its name to Champion, which in a way fulfilled the promise she made to the Blessed Mother.
1893
Bishop Messmer solicits the help of the Canons of Premontre from Berne Abbey in Holland. Fr. Bernard Pennings and his group of Norbertines arrive.
1896
July 5 – Death of Adele at the Chapel. Leadership of the Chapel and School are entrusted to her associate Madeleine.
1902
Two remaining Tertiaries at the Chapel enter the community of Franciscan Sisters at Bay Settlement. Bishop Messmer entrusts the work at the Chapel to the Bay Settlement Sisters in October. Sister Pauline LaPlante, O.S.F. is assigned to the Chapel and remains as its head for the next 24 years.
1926
March 15 – Sister Pauline dies at the Chapel at the age of 80 years. She is buried at the cemetery of the Bay Settlement Sisters.
1929
The Chapel’s boarding school is closed by Bishop Paul Peter Rhode of the Green Bay Diocese. Franciscan Sisters are asked to remain and care for the Chapel complex.
2010
December 8 – Bishop David L. Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay formally approves the Marian Apparitions that took place on the grounds of the Shrine as worthy of belief by the Christian faithful.
2016
March 19 – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declare the grounds of Our Lady of Good Help as a National Shrine.
2023
October 9 – The inaugural Solemnity of Our Lady of Champion is celebrated, and name is changed from Our Lady of Good Help to Our Lady of Champion
Adele Joseph Brise (1831 - 1896)
The Brise home (now razed) was located approximately two miles northeast of the apparition site.
The Shrine's window depicting the Apparition in 1859
Adele Brise pictured with her first two Franciscan Tertiary companions, Mary Gagnon and Marguerite (Maggie) Allard.
The 1880 Chapel and 1885 Schoolhouse.
Adele pictured with her companions and students after 1890.
Following Sr. Adele's death in 1896, leadership of the chapel and schoolhouse goes to Adele's associate Sr. Madeleine (pictured above).
A photo of Sister Pauline LaPlante, O.S.F.. She and her community of Bay Settlement Sisters were entrusted to the work of the Chapel in 1902.
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross are pictured on the Shrine's grounds with the children they took care of (Summer of 1947).
St. Francis Preparatory Novitiate operated from 1953 to 1968.
Procession on the Shrine's grounds on August 15, 1954.
Bishop David L. Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay issues a formal decree approving the apparitions (Photo courtesy of Sam Lucero).
In 2016, the USCCB designates the shrine as a National Shrine.
