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After pointing out an organ with more than 2,000 pipes, the shrine’s executive director brought them to a painting of St. Maria Goretti, who is said to have appeared to her murderer, Alessandro Serenelli, who is pictured with her.
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Irene Arcivch of Adams-Friendship, Wis. prays during Saturday Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was Arcivch’s first time visiting the Shrine. PETER THOMSON photo |
Elsie Schultz, 67, lit a nearby candle and prayed for a peaceful death for her parents and then slid money into a box.
“Don’t forget, if you do have your petitions answered, do make a pilgrimage of thanksgiving,” the sister told the group of 25 from Perham, Minn., and then reminded them not to be late for noon lunch, as the shrine was hosting three groups that day.
Two-and-a-half months after the dedication of the Shrine Church, the centerpiece of the 103-acre site, the number of people visiting the destination off Hwy. 14/61 has risen.
“You can just feel it,” said Susan Swanke, pilgrimage coordinator at the shrine, about the increase in numbers.
In August, the shrine recorded about 9,300 visitors, the highest in the six years it has been open to the public.
And October could be even bigger, with more than 50 tour buses already scheduled, said Sister Christa Marie.
On the first Thursday in October, three separate tours helped bring more than 130 visitors to the shrine. The parking lot had more than 50 vehicles, including a camper, before 11:30 a.m.
On Oct. 2, about 270 people from four groups visited.
Clarissa Bates, director of motorcoach tours for the La Crosse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she has seen a significant increase in inquiries of motorcoach tours to La Crosse since the July 31 dedication.
Bates will promote the shrine at travel shows this year and said she has booked trips to the shrine for groups from as far away as St. Louis.
Tia Antonelli, 66, had never been to La Crosse before visiting the shrine in early October with a group organized by the St. Thomas Christian Women’s Group in Poynette.
“It’s not like a holy pilgrimage to me,” Antonelli said. “It’s just something I enjoy seeing, and it certainly is beautiful.”
A construction crew still is working to complete the Memorial to the Unborn, which is scheduled for dedication Dec. 12 on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Archbishop Raymond Burke, founder of the shrine who moved to Rome in August, will lead the 10 a.m. event and then celebrate Mass.
As a solitary hammer rang through the air near the memorial earlier this month, the Rev. Joe Herzing stood at the Rosary Walk with his parish members from Perham.
Herzing visited the Basilica to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City last year. The difference between the experiences, he said, is there he was surrounded by poor, Spanish-speaking Mexicans, and here he is surrounded by affluent white people.
But there’s a sense of pilgrimage in both places, he said.
“(The shrine) gives us a place to pilgrimage to in this region,” said Herzing, who also has visited churches in Rome. “It’s a Romanesque church in La Crosse without the trans-Atlantic flight.”
If you go
Where: Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 5250 Justin Road, off Hwy. 14/61 south of La Crosse
When: Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with Mass at 1 p.m. Sundays and 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday
Food: Culina Mariana Restaurant is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with beverages and dessert served until 4 p.m.
Contact: (608) 782-5440 or www.guadalupeshrine.org
