Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
The Walk to Mary has become a pilgrimage like no other in the world. We start with St. Joseph (at the National Shrine of St. Joseph) and walk to Mary (at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help) to get to Jesus. This annual pilgrimage has impacted lives and filled hearts with many blessings from the Holy Family.
The 21 mile walk spiritually prepares us for our destination – America’s only Church-approved Marian apparition site, where in 1859, the Blessed Mother appeared to Adele Brise on the site of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin.
Ever since its inception in 2013, the Walk to Mary has been changing the lives of its pilgrims by guiding them to Our Lord through His Blessed Mother, Mary.
No matter what the intention, big or small, and no matter your state in life – Catholic, atheist, hopeful, desperate, wealthy, destitute, accompanied, alone – Our Lady is waiting for you with open arms. Just as an earthly mother would do anything to protect us and make us happy, our heavenly mother would go even further.
In speaking with Pat Deprey and Tom Schmit, co-founders of The Walk to Mary, they recounted numerous stories of those who had brought their needs and desires to Our Lady and found exactly what they needed. Their testimonies are so inspiring, and a real testament to the miracles that have taken place at the now Shrine to Our Lady of Champion.
One pilgrim named Mariusz is responsible for bussing groups of Polish pilgrims (most of whom don’t speak English) to the walk every year. Another pilgrim named Matthew and his wife had difficulty having children. Almost exactly nine months after completing the walk, they welcomed a baby boy into the world. His middle name is Mary. Another named Maria has been inviting people from her Hispanic parish to the walk for years, and this year, she will be bringing over fifty people, plus a band that will be playing music for Our Lady on the last leg of the walk.
As the saying goes, you would love everyone if you knew their story. Everybody has a story. Everybody brings something important to The Walk to Mary, even if they don’t quite know what it is yet.