Bishop Ricken Traces Adele Brice’s Roots in Belgium
Fifty Wisconsin pilgrims visited sites tied to Adele Brice after her canonization cause opened, renewing Belgian pride and hope in her intercession.
Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay led 50 pilgrims from Wisconsin on a 10-day pilgrimage to Belgium from Oct. 10 to 20, 2026, following the path of Servant of God Adele Brice. Brice is the visionary of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States, centered at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
Many of the pilgrims came from Door County and share deep Belgian heritage. The group visited Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Dion-le-Val, and Leuven. Stops included the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, home to Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges; the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel; the tomb of St. Damien of Molokai in Leuven; and the Catholic University of Leuven, where Bishop Ricken earned his graduate degree in sacred theology in 1980 and later led an anointing service in the former seminary chapel.
Pilgrims also prayed at places tied directly to Brice’s life: her hometown of Dion-le-Val, her home parish of St. Martin, the site of her confirmation, and the port from which her family sailed for New York in 1855.
At the Church of St. Martin in Dion-le-Val, Bishop Ricken concelebrated Mass with Green Bay priests and local Belgian clergy before a packed congregation of about 250 people—far above the parish’s usual attendance of roughly 20. A reception followed, where language barriers gave way to conversation and newly discovered family ties; one priest learned of a previously unknown relative.
The parish received an 8-by-4-foot icon of Our Lady of Champion and Adele Brice, painted by Father Paul Czerwonka of the Diocese of La Crosse. The image carries the message of the apparition: “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.”
Bishop Ricken described the journey as a discovery of roots and a chance to reconnect with Belgian heritage amid the recent opening of Brice’s canonization cause in February. He said the visit renewed pride among Belgian locals and expressed hope for “a lot of answered prayers” through her intercession, together with continued commitment to the Champion shrine.
The pilgrimage linked American devotion to Our Lady of Champion with the Belgian soil that formed Adele Brice, inviting the faithful to deeper trust in Mary’s call to catechesis, the sacraments, and fearless apostolic work.