The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin – the only approved site in North America where the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared – hosted the “Catholic Saints of America” celebration from July 1–9, 2026, honoring America’s 250th anniversary. The event featured an exhibit on 76 American saints, blesseds, venerables, and servants of God, along with daily Masses, speakers, relic veneration featuring fourteen of the seventy-six individuals represented in the exhibit, and a national novena for the United States. Attended by 15,000 people, the celebration sought to inspire faith, prayer for the nation, and greater awareness of America’s Catholic heritage.
A special focus was Servant of God Adele Brise, the Belgian immigrant who reported three Marian apparitions at the Champion site in 1859. Her sainthood cause opened earlier in 2026, and the Blessed Virgin Mary is honored there under the title Our Lady of Champion.
Sr. Theresa Marie Pfeffer and Sr. Lois Ann Wetzel attended this event to raise awareness of Mother Angeline’s commitment to the sanctity of life in all its stages, and of Mother Angeline’s cause for beatification and canonization. The Sisters highlighted Mother’s spirituality as well as the mission, ministry, and work of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.