Our Lady of Good Help: Prayer Book for Pilgrims

In 1859, the Virgin Mary appeared as the Queen of Heaven to Adele Brise, a 28-year-old Belgian immigrant living in Northeast Wisconsin. Today, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help commemorates this Marian apparition—the only approved apparition to have taken place on United States soil.

One need not visit Lourdes or Fatima to pray at the site of a Marian apparition. The Mother of God has blessed our own country with her presence. More Catholics, especially American Catholics, need to know what happened in Wisconsin, to learn its message, and to enter into a time of prayer.

This Pilgrim’s Prayer Manual will

• guide the devotee on a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help
• help increase devotion to Our Lady
• serve as a spiritual pilgrimage for those not able to physically go
• introduce the faithful to Adele, the visionary
• offer the fascinating history of the United States only approved Marian Apparition

Through the rosary, the stations, novenas, and other prayers, Pilgrim’s Prayer Manual serves not only as a beautiful memento for pilgrims, but it will also help those unable to go to Champion, to foster their own devotion to the Blessed Mother from the comfort of their own home as a pilgrim from afar.

Fr. Edward Looney is a Marian theologian and Catholic author and speaker who serves as a parish priest in the Diocese of Green Bay. He hosts the podcast How They Love Mary.

Looney is the author of several books, including A Heart Like Mary’s. He has contributed to numerous publications, including Catholic Digest, Catholic Exchange, Aleteia, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He also has appeared on EWTN TV and radio, Relevant Radio, The Catholic Channel on SiriusXM, Spirit Radio, Mater Dei Radio, and Radio Maria.

Looney earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Conception Seminary College. He also received a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology and a master’s degree in divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. In 2011, Looney was the youngest person to present a paper at the annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America. In 2015 he was elected to the administrative council of the organization and, in 2020, became vice president.