continue at The CompassCHAMPION — With every pedal stroke of her 12-year-old Trek bicycle, Marge Van Heuklon of Kaukauna closed the gap between herself and a distant, towering metal cross marking the entrance to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help near this rural Brown County crossroads community.
One of 11 cyclists bearing down on the location, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Adele Brise in October of 1859, Van Heuklon said she felt the hand of God guiding the pilgrims on their nearly 50-mile journey from Holy Cross Parish in Kaukauna.
"I've never been to the shrine, so I wanted to come here. We don't often feel God in our lives, but this (shrine) is a place where he has come a little bit closer to us," Van Heuklon said.
A mile down the road a line of two dozen walkers, clad in blaze orange safety vests not necessary in Adele Brise's time, approached the shrine.
At the same time, 11 motorcycles, some being piloted by priests and at least one deacon, turned down County Highway K toward the shrine.
Meanwhile, an aging former school bus decorated with a huge, hand-painted rosary, carried a dozen elderly passengers.
The travelers, about 65 in all, were participating in the second annual Holy Cross Parish pilgrimage to the nation's first and only Marian shrine that is on the site of an approved Marian apparition.
"It's incredible. It's so impressive they made their sacrifices to walk all this way so they could bring attention to Christ and the Blessed Mother," said Bishop David Ricken, whose Dec. 8, 2010, decree formally approved the apparitions and who presided over a special Mass at the shrine's chapel on Sept. 16.
65 take part in 50-mile bike, hike from Kaukauna to Good Help Shrine
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey!!! Thats us and our Parish. Thanks for posting this. This was our second year. We will be doing it againt NEXT year on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
Post a Comment