Adele Brise (1831–1896) was born in Dion-le-Val, Belgium, on January 30, 1831, to Lambert and Catherine Brise. Despite a childhood accident that left her blind in one eye, she was known for her joyful spirit and deep faith. As a young girl, Adele vowed to become a teaching sister in Belgium, but her life changed course when her family immigrated to Wisconsin in 1855, settling near present‑day Champion. Responding to her confessor’s guidance, she accepted this path, believing God would direct her vocation in her new homeland.

In October 1859, at age 28, while walking through the woods on her way to a gristmill and later returning from Sunday Mass, Adele experienced three distinct visions of a bright, beautiful Lady in white—believed to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. During the third apparition on October 9, the lady introduced herself as the “Queen of Heaven” and instructed Adele: first, to pray for the conversion of sinners, and second, “gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation." Obediently, she committed her life to this mission, teaching nearby children their catechism, the Sign of the Cross, and sacramental preparation—often traveling 50 miles by foot and even trading housework for teaching time.

Demonstrating heroic virtue, Adele formed a lay Franciscan community, known as the Sisters of Good Help, living in community without formal vows to continue teaching and evangelizing. In 1864 a wooden chapel and school were built, later replaced with a brick structure in the 1880s. During the devastating Peshtigo Fire of 1871, the chapel and those sheltered within survived—believed by many to be miraculous. Adele passed away on July 5, 1896, her grave now at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, where her legacy of faith and education endures.

Her cause for sainthood has officially begun: in December 2010 the Green Bay bishop approved the apparitions “worthy of belief,” and in June 2024, the U.S. bishops voted unanimously to open her beatification process. Faithful continue to visit her shrine—now America’s only approved Marian apparition site with over 200,000 annual pilgrims.