Sainthood cause formally opened for Northwoods catechist of 'this wild country'

GREEN BAY, Wis. (OSV News) -- It's quite a birthday present -- especially for someone born 195 years ago.

On Jan. 30, the Diocese of Green Bay opened a cause for the beatification and canonization of Adele Brice, potentially leading to her formal recognition as a saint in the Catholic Church. The visionary and Belgian immigrant reported seeing the Virgin Mary three times in 1859.

Those apparitions, which took place in the October woods of northern Wisconsin, are now approved as worthy of belief by the Catholic Church, with Mary given the title "Our Lady of Champion," named for the village of Champion where they occurred.

Bishop David L. Ricken formally declared Brice a "servant of God" at a Jan. 30 vespers liturgy at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.

"During my 18 years here in the diocese, I have heard countless stories of the life and virtues of Adele," Bishop Ricken said. "And it is because of this that I was compelled to open the cause for further, deeper study of Adele's life as a servant of God."

"Servant of God" is a designation in the Catholic Church that recognizes a deceased person known for holiness whose life is being investigated for potential canonization.

While sometimes called "Sister Adele," Brice -- who was born Jan. 30, 1831, and whose last name is sometimes spelled "Brise" -- remained a laywoman all her life, never taking public religious vows. She becomes the first servant of God from the Green Bay Diocese, and she joins a small cadre of servants of God who lived in the United States. The list includes individuals such as Dorothy Day and Nicholas Black Elk.

In early October 1859, 28-year-old Brice was carrying grain to a grist mill for her family, who had arrived from Belgium in 1855. Along the way, she saw a woman dressed in white with a yellow sash, golden wavy hair and stars around her head. The woman, floating a little above the ground, said nothing. Brice fled.

The following Sunday, Brice attended Mass with her sister and a friend. On the way, she saw the lady again, between a maple and hemlock tree. No words passed between them. Brice informed her priest of these mysterious encounters, and on his advice, Brice asked the woman who she was when Brice encountered her on her way home.

"I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same," the woman told Brice.

The woman, now understood to be the Virgin Mary, also told charged Brice to "gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation." Finally, before disappearing for the last time, the woman assured Brice, "Go and fear nothing, I will help you."

Brice did so, teaching children their catechism, prayers and preparing them for the sacraments, for the rest of her life. She travelled, sometimes up to 50 miles and often on foot, instructing and asking nothing in return.

"She suffered a lot in carrying out her mission," said Bishop Ricken. "There were a lot of arduous physical challenges in bringing the Gospel to this 'wild country out here,' as they called it in those days, that really manifested a faithfulness to the Lord Jesus."

Brice was not well educated and suffered from blindness in one eye, caused by a childhood accident with lye. But it did not stop her ministry.

Eventually, her father, Lambert, built a small chapel on the apparition site and people came to pray. Brice later founded a school, aided by several laywomen. She died on July 5, 1896, and is buried beside the current chapel.

In 2010, Bishop Ricken declared Brice's visions "worthy of belief." In 2016, the U.S. bishops made the site a national shrine. Today, Our Lady of Champion is the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States. The Fathers of Mercy staff the shrine and visitor center, located about 15 miles northeast of Green Bay.

Father of Mercy Tony Stephens, rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, spoke after vespers Jan. 30. He noted the shrine's role as official "actor of the cause" in petitioning the diocese to open the cause.

"My brother priests and I have witnessed firsthand the thousands of faithful who have made pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady," he said. "And (it) has been incredibly moving to see their devotion to Our Lady and to Adele Brice. ... There are many reasons why we felt compelled to petition the diocese to investigate the result of Adele's life. Included in these, was the belief that Adele was authentically a seer of the Blessed Virgin Mary like St. Juan Diego."

Although 130 years have passed since her death, Brice's influence has continued, and many people have asked for her prayers. Others hoped for her canonization.

"This area where we live here in northeastern Wisconsin is the largest Belgian settlement of immigrants to the United States," said Father John Girotti, the Diocese of Green Bay's vicar general and episcopal representative for the cause. "These individuals have lived on these family farms for generations and generations and generations. They have stories to share. We want to hear those stories."

The diocesan phase of the process will now include three parts, Father Girotti explained. The first includes a historical commission of experts who will study documents of Brice's life and work. The second will involve a theological group who will study the religious aspects of Brice's life, asking, Father Girotti said, "how she followed the way of the Lord Jesus and lived a life, we believe, of heroic virtue."

"'Heroic virtue' is a radical following of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a person who was in love with God, loves his or her neighbors and follows the way of Jesus," he explained.

The final part will include a tribunal to interview witnesses who testify about having had personal prayers answered through Brice's intercession, or whose relatives in history were helped by the servant of God.

Father Girotti said this process could take years. Eventually, and after much discernment, the evidence will be compiled and sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican for the next step. That could lead to the Holy See's recognition of Brice's heroic virtue and the title of "venerable."

When asked what recent stories about Brice have stood out for him, Bishop Ricken cited a woman cured of migraines, and "just yesterday," one of a man cured of cancer.

"The stories that happen -- it's just beautiful," the bishop said.

Father Stephens has heard similar stories, and he believes Brice is an example for anyone.

"Adele wasn't attractive by the world standards. She wasn't intelligent by the world's standards. But in the eyes of heaven and, we hope, with the eyes of faith, we recognize her beauty, her zeal and her new status as a Servant of God; one who is helping us to reflect the love of Christ, because she was so in love with the Lord," he said.

"We hope that Adele's story will continue to inspire the faithful, as it has many who have come to the shrine, to humbly follow God's will with prompt obedience and simple faithfulness, turning to him amidst adversities," he added.

Noting that Jan. 30 was Brice's "195th birthday," Father Stephens thanked diocesan leaders for the work "to put together this opening of this cause, which is a really special birthday gift for Adele."