About Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe · La Crosse, Wisconsin
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Catholic Marian shrine in La Crosse, Wisconsin, faithful to the message of the Blessed Virgin Mary through her apparitions to Saint Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in 1531. Conceived by then-Bishop (later Cardinal) Raymond Leo Burke and built in phases between 2001 and 2008, it spans roughly 100 acres in the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and is officially affiliated with the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome and twinned with the original Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Daily Mass, the Traditional Latin Mass, the Sacrament of Penance, Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, the Rosary, a Memorial to the Unborn, an outdoor Stations of the Cross, a Rosary Walk, and devotional areas to St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Joseph the Workman draw more than 100,000 pilgrims a year. Since August 2021, pastoral care has been entrusted to the Norbertine Canons Regular of Prémontré (O.Praem.) of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange, California.
- Established
- 2004
- Patron
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Rector
- Rev. Hildebrand Garceau, O.Praem. (Rector)
- Diocese
- Diocese of La Crosse
Why belong here
A pilgrim comes to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe because it is one of the few places in the United States deliberately built as a place of pilgrimage — visitors park at the base of the bluff and walk the tree-lined Pilgrim Path up through the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel, the devotional areas to St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Joseph the Workman, and the outdoor Stations of the Cross to reach the Shrine Church. Daily Mass is celebrated in the Traditional Latin Mass, English and Spanish, confessions are heard up to seven times a week, and Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction are offered every weekday afternoon. The Shrine is also a place of healing — the Memorial to the Unborn allows families to entomb or inscribe the names of children lost before birth — and its twinning with the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome and the original Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City lets visitors obtain the same indulgences here that they could receive at either of those holy places.
Mass times at Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Monday – Saturday: 8:00 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
- Sunday: 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Adoration times
- Monday – Saturday: 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. (concludes with Benediction)
About the Shrine
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin is faithful to the message of the Blessed Virgin Mary through her appearances on the American continent in 1531, serving the spiritual needs of those who suffer poverty in body and soul. It is a place of ceaseless prayer for the corporal and spiritual welfare of God's children, especially those in most need. The Shrine's mission statement, drawn from the Nican Mopohua, expresses that Cardinal Burke 'want[s] very much that they build my sacred little house here, in which I will show Him, I will exalt Him, I will give Him to all people in all my personal love.' On the American continent, Marian devotion is frequently centered around the figure of Our Blessed Mother as she appeared in December 1531 to the native American Saint Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill in modern-day Mexico City.
- Mission: ceaseless prayer for the corporal and spiritual welfare of God's children, especially those in most need
- Founded by Bishop (later Cardinal) Raymond Leo Burke
- Dedicated July 31, 2008
- Approximately 100 acres in the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River
History of the Shrine
The Shrine traces its origin to 1995, when Raymond Leo Burke was installed as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse and began praying about the pastoral needs of the diocese, especially the family and the loss of faith in the Eucharist. After Vatican approval in November 1999 and the gift of roughly 70 acres of bluff land from Robert and Lucille Swing, groundbreaking took place on June 17, 2001. The Pilgrim Center and Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel were dedicated December 12, 2002; the Stations of the Cross on December 9, 2004; the Saint Joseph the Workman devotional area on September 21, 2007; the Rosary Walk on December 8, 2007; the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha devotional area on July 30, 2008; the Shrine Church on July 31, 2008; and the Memorial to the Unborn on December 12, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Archbishop Burke to the College of Cardinals on November 20, 2010, and in July 2011 affiliated the shrine church with the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Pastoral care passed from the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate to the Norbertine Canons Regular of Prémontré of St. Michael's Abbey in August 2021, and the Saint Juan Diego Pilgrim House broke ground on October 7, 2024.
- 1995 – Bishop Burke installed; idea for a Marian shrine born
- July 1999 – Public announcement of the Shrine
- November 11, 1999 – Vatican approval
- June 17, 2001 – Official groundbreaking
- December 12, 2002 – Pilgrim Center & Votive Candle Chapel dedicated
- May 13, 2004 – Shrine Church groundbreaking; May 19, 2005 – cornerstone laid
- December 9, 2004 – Outdoor Stations of the Cross dedicated
- February 25, 2005 – additional 30 acres acquired (≈100 acres total)
- September 21, 2007 – St. Joseph the Workman devotional area dedicated
- December 8, 2007 – Rosary Walk dedicated
- July 30, 2008 – Saint Kateri Tekakwitha devotional area dedicated
- July 31, 2008 – Shrine Church dedicated by Archbishop Burke
- December 12, 2008 – Memorial to the Unborn dedicated
- November 20, 2010 – Burke elevated to Cardinal
- July 2011 – Pope Benedict XVI affiliates the Shrine with St. Mary Major, Rome
- September 23, 2011 – Marian Catechist Apostolate establishes HQ at the Shrine
- December 12, 2012 – Statue of Bl. John Duns Scotus dedicated
- December 12, 2014 – Guardian Angel statue dedicated in Memorial to the Unborn
- December 12, 2015 – Way of the Cross Archway dedicated
- August 2021 – Norbertine Canons Regular of Prémontré take over pastoral care
- November 2022 (Feast of Christ the King) – Fr. Hildebrand Garceau, O.Praem. installed as Fourth Rector
- August 8, 2024 – Fr. Paul N. Check resigns as Executive Director
- October 7, 2024 – Saint Juan Diego Pilgrim House groundbreaking
Mass & Devotional Schedule
Mass is offered seven days a week, the Traditional Latin Mass every day of the week, English Mass Monday through Saturday, and an additional Spanish Mass on Sunday. Confessions are heard twice daily Monday through Saturday and three times on Sunday. Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction fill the weekday afternoon, the Rosary is prayed before each daily Mass and twice on Sunday, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed on Thursday at 3:00 p.m., and the Way of the Cross is prayed Friday afternoon before the Traditional Latin Mass.
- Monday – Saturday: 8:30 a.m. Traditional Latin (Low Mass) • 12:15 p.m. English
- Sunday: 9:00 a.m. Traditional Latin • 11:00 a.m. Spanish • 1:00 p.m. English
- Confession: Mon–Sat 8:00 a.m. & 11:45 a.m. • Sun 8:30, 10:30, 12:30
- Adoration: Mon–Sat 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
- Benediction: Mon–Sat 4:00 p.m.
- Rosary: Mon–Sat 11:45 a.m. • Sun 8:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
- Divine Mercy Chaplet: Thursday 3:00 p.m.
- Way of the Cross: Friday 2:15 p.m.
Devotional Areas
The Shrine is a spiritual destination with multiple outdoor devotional areas connected by the tree-lined Pilgrim Path, which pilgrims ascend from the Pilgrim Center to the Shrine Church in imitation of Juan Diego's climb of Tepeyac Hill. Each area is dedicated to a particular saint or mystery and offers its own form of prayer and reflection.
- Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel — first stop on the Meditation Trail; 16-by-12.5-foot candle rack with 700+ candles for prayer intentions
- Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Devotional Area — dedicated July 30, 2008; bronze statue by Cynthia Hitschler; patroness of the Shrine
- Saint Joseph the Workman Devotional Area — dedicated September 21, 2007
- Saint Juan Diego Statue (Shrine Church Plaza) — opens his tilma in the miracle moment; gift of Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera
- Way of the Cross Devotional Area — outdoor Stations dedicated December 9, 2004
- Rosary Walk — four indigenous-stone alcoves for the Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious Mysteries; Hail Mary in English, Spanish, Hmong and Nahuatl
- Memorial to the Unborn — columbarium, limestone inscription wall, four bronze plaques quoting Pope St. John Paul II
Memorial to the Unborn
Dedicated by Archbishop Burke on December 12, 2008, the Memorial to the Unborn is a sacred place of prayer, healing, and hope for families who have lost a child before birth through miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. It includes a columbarium for the entombment of the remains of unborn children (under twenty weeks gestation), accompanied by the Rite of Final Commendation by an ordained bishop, priest or deacon and an inscription on the granite covering. Names and dates may also be inscribed on the limestone wall. Four bronze plaques in the arcade display Catholic Church teaching on contraception, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and the dignity of human life, all excerpted from the writings of Pope St. John Paul II. A digital prayer wall is maintained by the Shrine, where deceased unborn children are remembered in the Shrine's regular prayer intentions.
- Dedicated December 12, 2008 — Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Unborn
- Columbarium entombment with Rite of Final Commendation
- Limestone-wall inscription (various formats)
- Digital Prayer Wall for names of children lost
- Four bronze Church-teaching plaques (Pope St. John Paul II)
- Guardian Angel statue (added December 12, 2014)
- Phone: (877) 799-4059 Ext 227
Devotions and Marian Spirituality
Through the Rosary, veneration of the saints, and acts of consecration to Our Lady, the faithful are invited to draw nearer to Christ through His Blessed Mother's intercession. The Shrine records and publishes Rosary recordings in Latin for the Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious Mysteries, written and led by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. Each year the Shrine offers a nine-month Novena and Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe that culminates on December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The more-than-700 candles in the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel are a visible sign of the Shrine's mission of ceaseless prayer. Relics of saints honored at the Shrine are made available for public veneration on their feast days.
- Cardinal Burke's Novena and Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe (nine months, ending December 12)
- The Latin Rosary — recorded sets of all four Mysteries
- Ceaseless prayer in the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel
- Relic veneration on the feast days of saints honored at the Shrine
- Devotional videos available through the Shrine's YouTube channel
Architecture and Sacred Art
The Shrine Church was designed by New Classical architect Duncan G. Stroik (Duncan G. Stroik Architect, LLC, South Bend, Indiana), in collaboration with River Architects of La Crosse. The exterior, composed of simple forms laid in local stone (a Minnesota–Wisconsin stone blend with gray-limestone cut details), was intended to recall a Tuscan church, while the interior was designed to look like a high-Renaissance or Baroque church. The 21,000-square-foot cruciform layout seats about 450 pilgrims, with a 35-foot-diameter central dome rising about 98 feet above the marble floor and surrounded by constellations of 23k gold-leaf stars against a turquoise night sky; positions for the stars were verified by astronomers at the Talcott Mountain Science Center. John Canning Studios (Cheshire, Connecticut) carried out the decorative painting and ornamental plastering, with moldings by Felber Ornamental Plastering Corp. (Norristown, PA). The 31 original stained-glass windows were designed, fabricated and installed by Rohlf's Stained & Leaded Glass Studio (Mt. Vernon, NY) under stained-glass artist Alex Siderov, in the Romanesque traditional style.
- Architect: Duncan G. Stroik (with River Architects) — Italian Renaissance / Classical style
- Capacity: ~450 seats in a cruciform plan; 21,000 sq ft
- Dome: 35 ft diameter, 98 ft high, gilded stars on turquoise night sky
- Stained glass: 31 windows by Rohlf's (Mt. Vernon, NY) — Romanesque traditional
- Stations/Candles/Votive Chapel candle rack: 16 ft × 12.5 ft, 700+ candles
- Fresco 'Visions of Guadalupe' by Anthony Visco in the narthex
- Saint paintings by Neilson Carlin, Noah Buchanan, and Brett Edenton
- Marble by Twin City Tile & Marble Co. (St. Paul, MN); mahogany woodwork by Heebink Architectural Woodwork (Baldwin, WI)
Marian Catechist Apostolate and Outreach
Since September 23, 2011, the Marian Catechist Apostolate has had its international headquarters on the Shrine grounds, using the Shrine as a base for Marian catechesis and evangelization. The Shrine is also visited by the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre (more than 60 of whom were present for the 2008 dedication) and a Knights of Columbus honor guard. Pilgrims come both individually and in organized groups, often making days-long retreats, and the Shrine maintains a Pilgrim Path of physical ascent to mirror the spiritual pilgrimage to Christ through His Mother.
- Marian Catechist Apostolate — international HQ since 2011
- St. Juan Diego Guild — lay support for the Shrine
- Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre — honor guard
- Knights of Columbus honor guard
- Patrick Brueggen — International Coordinator of the Marian Catechist Apostolate on staff
Saint Juan Diego Pilgrim House & Our Lady of Prémontré Priory
Two major capital projects now under construction or in development. The Saint Juan Diego Pilgrim House, designed by Duncan Stroik (the same architect as the Shrine Church), broke ground on October 7, 2024 — the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary — and is conceived as a triune building: a 33-bedroom retreat house behind the Shrine Church, a convent for religious sisters whose apostolate will be hospitality and prayer for pilgrims, and an auditorium-conference center with dining room. A chapel on the grounds will serve both the religious sisters and retreatants. The Our Lady of Prémontré Priory is a parallel project to give the Norbertine Canons Regular a permanent home at the Shrine so that liturgical prayer continues around the clock in keeping with their order's tradition.
- Saint Juan Diego Pilgrim House — 33 bedrooms, convent, chapel, auditorium, dining room
- Architect: Duncan G. Stroik (also Shrine Church architect)
- Groundbreaking: October 7, 2024
- Our Lady of Prémontré Priory — permanent residence for the Norbertine community
- Scheduled to be ready in time for the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2031)
Pilgrim Center, Gift Shop and Café
The 12,000-square-foot Pilgrim Center at the base of the bluff is the first arrival point for visitors. Helpful volunteers staff the Information Desk, where brochures, maps of the grounds and other useful information are available. It also houses the Flores Mariae Gift Shop (open daily 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) and the Culina Mariana Café. From the Pilgrim Center, pilgrims take the Pilgrim Path up the bluff to the Shrine Church, beginning their pilgrimage by lighting a candle in the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel.
- Pilgrim Center — first arrival point, 12,000 sq ft
- Flores Mariae Gift Shop — daily 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Kris Quillin, manager)
- Culina Mariana Café — on-site meals (Hans Hinke, manager)
- Information Desk — staffed by volunteers; brochure and grounds map
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Founder — Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke1995–2004
As eighth Bishop of La Crosse (installed Feb 22, 1995), he conceived the Shrine, announced plans in July 1999, secured Vatican approval Nov 11 1999, and broke ground June 17, 2001; he personally dedicated every major Shrine building between 2002 and 2008 and remains Chairman of the Board of Directors.
- First Rector — (Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate era)2008–?
Pastoral care from the shrine's July 31, 2008 dedication through subsequent years was entrusted to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate; the shrine's first rector (name not located in the sources reviewed) opened the church to pilgrims.
- Rev. Peter Damian Mary Fehlner, OFM Conv (FI)2008–2014
Theologian and Mariologist; Friar of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate during this period; served as rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse from 2008 to 2014 (per Wikipedia article on Peter Fehlner and the Marys-Touch archive).
- Second/Third Rectors — Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate2014–August 2021
Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey took over pastoral care in August 2021; sources reviewed do not list the intervening rectors by name.
- Rev. Hildebrand Garceau, O.Praem.November 2022–present
Fourth Rector; Norbertine Canon Regular of Prémontré of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange, California. Installed on the Feast of Christ the King by Cardinal Burke. Thomas Aquinas College alumnus (Class of 1978); ordained 1984 at Mt. Angel Seminary; previously chaplain at TAC's California campus 2011–2015.
