Six Marian pilgrimage sites in the United States
- Aimee Boudreaux MacIver
- 5 hours ago
- 8 min read
May: A month for Mary
The month of May traditionally honors Our Lady, marked by sweet May crownings and dozens of Marian feast days. Among them are the feasts of Our Lady, Queen of the May (1); Our Lady of Fatima (13); Mary, Help of Christians (24); Mary, Mother of the Church (29); and the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (31).
We heartily endorse making pilgrimages to the most renowned Marian sites like Lourdes, Fatima, Kibeho, and Guadalupe. But as you know by now, our passion is for making any place a pilgrimage. You can make an incredible Marian pilgrimage in the United States without crossing an ocean.
Here are six deeply powerful American places of pilgrimage that honor Our Lady.
400 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC (adjacent to the Catholic University of America)
Naturally, we begin with the nation’s official basilica dedicated to the national patroness, the Immaculate Conception. In 1847 at the request of American bishops, Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception the national patroness of the United States. Over the next several decades, Church leaders periodically promoted the idea of a great Marian shrine. In 1913, Pope Pius X (now St Pius X) approved the project’s consecration and even made a personal donation. Construction began in 1920. Countless pilgrims have come to the National Shrine over the past 100 years, including Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, St John Paul II, and St Teresa of Calcutta.
The National Shrine rivals the magnificent cathedrals of Europe with its soaring architecture, shimmering mosaics, and sheer presence. It’s the largest church in North America and among the ten largest in the world. (Laid on her side, even the Statue of Liberty wouldn’t reach from end to end inside!) More than 80 interior chapels honor the Mother of God through rich ethnic and cultural diversity, reflecting the great melting pot of the American faithful. You can use the interactive map to find the chapels with Marian titles most personally significant to you. Don’t forget to leave pilgrimage intentions there!
There’s a 70-foot tall baldachin over the main altar, crowned by a statue of Mary. The domes and vaults support glorious mosaics throughout the upper church. Beneath the upper church is the more intimate crypt chapel featuring arched mosaics that depict female saints. Check the liturgical schedule here—there are multiple offerings daily and on Sundays. You may also consider a guided tour or audio guide, walk through the outdoor rosary walk and garden, and shop at the incredible gift and book store.
2701 State Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
In 1788, a fire doomed the city, including the Ursuline convent that housed sisters who had come from France to establish the first school for girls in the new United States. As the other sisters rushed to evacuate their students, Sister St. Anthony—one of the most elderly—climbed back up the stairs toward a window that faced the flames. She removed a small plaster statue of Our Lady from her pocket and placed it on the windowsill. Sister St. Anthony knelt down and prayed, "Oh, Lady of prompt aid, save us or we are lost." Almost instantly, the wind turned. The fire burned out.
About thirty years later, in 1815, a massive and elite British military doomed the tiny, ragtag American army at the Battle of New Orleans. Andrew Jackson warned the Ursulines to evacuate or prepare for violent, catastrophic destruction. The Ursulines refused to leave their mission, and began praying all-night vigils to ask Our Lady again for her prompt aid. Soon, citizens began flocking to the Ursuline's chapel. They joined the all-night vigils of prayer before the petite statue. Against all odds, the Americans triumphed. The city and her people were spared.
After the 1788 fire, one of the Ursulines told her students, "Our Lady saved us because she is a sweetheart." The little painted plaster statue has been known as "Sweetheart" ever since, and beloved by generations of New Orleans Catholics. Sweetheart may be the oldest existing image of Our Lady in the nation.
The Ursulines eventually moved their convent and school from the French Quarter to Uptown, bringing Sweetheart and another wooden statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor with them. The national shrine was consecrated in 1928. Many marriages are celebrated here. It is open daily for prayer and Mass.
767 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, New York
Born in 1842, Nelson Baker was a true American son. He worked in his family’s small business before enlisting in the Union Army and serving in battle at Gettysburg. After the Civil War, he opened a successful grain and feed business, but something also opened in his heart: a deep interest in Catholicism. Baker began taking Latin classes and attending Mass at various parishes. He ultimately discerned a vocation to the priesthood. Later, on pilgrimage with other seminarians, he visited the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires in Paris and fell in love with Mary under this title (she’s my favorite, too!). After ordination, the formerly business-savvy Fr Baker was eventually assigned to a bankrupt, debt-addled parish in upstate New York. His tireless work not only financially righted the parish, but also established many fruitful ministries. Fr Baker credited every grace and every charitable success to Our Lady of Victory.
In 1921, Fr Baker unveiled plans to build a glorious, European-style basilica in honor of Our Lady of Victory. The basilica was funded with thousands of small donations from across the country and completed without a single dollar of debt. At the 1926 consecration, New York’s Cardinal Patrick Hayes declared: "I know of no church like this, so beautiful, so uplifting, so glorious."
Fr Baker’s tribute to Our Lady features an 80-foot dome depicting the Assumption and Coronation of Mary as well as muti-colored marble, stained glass, intricate bronze work, and painted plaster. More than 2,000 marble angels are stationed around the interior because Fr Baker wanted an angel to be visible from any seat inside. The nine-foot, 1,600-pound statue of Our Lady of Victory above the altar was blessed by Pope Pius XI.
On the shrine campus, you can also visit a museum, gift shop, and the tomb of Fr Baker, whose cause for canonization opened in 1987. A full pilgrim guide is available here..
1023 Swann Road, Lewistown, New York
In 1953, a Polish immigrant named Walter Ciurzak suffered a devastating stroke, but then, against all medical expectation, fully recovered. He credited Our Lady and wanted to find a way to thank her. When the Italian Barnabite Fathers arrived the next year looking for a place to build their seminary, Ciurzak knew exactly what to do. He offered the order 16 acres of his farmland on one condition: they must build a shrine to the Blessed Mother.
What began as a single humble statue on a patch of New York farmland is now 35 acres of pilgrimage grounds just 20 minutes from Niagara Falls. The campus features a heart-shaped rosary pool; a replica of the chapel in Fatima, Portugal; and more than 130 lifesize marble and bronze statues of saints from every race and walk of life. The basilica is topped by a magnificent glass dome that depicts the contour of the Northern Hemisphere. Presiding over all is an enormous granite statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
You can participate in the liturgical schedule, walk the Avenue of Saints, climb the dome for a breathtaking view of the grounds, and pray at various chapels on the campus. There are also picnic facilities, a pilgrim center, a great gift shop and bookstore, and even a waterfall. A full pilgrim guide is available here.
4047 Chapel Drive, Champion, Wisconsin
Champion, Wisconsin, marks the site of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States. In 1859, as teenage Belgian immigrant Adele Brise walked to Mass through the Wisconsin forests, she saw a beautiful woman standing between two trees. Clothed in brilliant white and wearing a crown of twelve stars, the woman remained silent. Adele saw her three times. On the third apparition, the beautiful woman identified herself as the Queen of Heaven. She gave Adele a mission: gather the children of the frontier, teach them the faith, and pray for the conversion of sinners. “Go and fear nothing,” Mary told Adele. “I will help you.”
In 1861, Adele’s father built a small chapel on the spot of the apparition. In 1871, a catastrophic wildfire raged through the region. Local families flocked to the shrine to pray for help. The inferno burned everything around them to ash, but the chapel and the shrine grounds remained untouched. Adele herself would spend the next 37 years walking hundreds of miles through Wisconsin's forests and prairies to catechize children.
The Diocese of Green Bay formally approved Adele’s apparitions in 2010, placing Champion alongside Lourdes, Fatima, Kibeho, and Guadalupe. In 2026, Adele Brise's cause for canonization opened.
Sometimes nicknamed “America’s Lourdes,” Champion offers a similar rural tranquility. The shrine hosts a rotation of seasonal activities, such as the 22-mile Walk to Mary held every May. This July, in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary, don’t miss the incredible Saints of America exhibit featuring the causes of 70+American beati (did you know there were so many?). Many relics of these holy men, women, and children will be available for veneration.
101 San Marco Avenue, St Augustine, Florida
On September 8, 1565—the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the first Catholic Mass was celebrated by Spanish explorers in what is now the United States. As they settled in southernmost Florida, the Spanish established the very first Catholic parish and mission with a deep devotion to Our Lady.
In the 1620s, Spanish settlers and newly converted Native Americans built a small chapel dedicated to Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery). The tiny chapel housed a statue of Mary nursing an infant Jesus, capturing her tenderness and love. The La Leche shrine remains the oldest Marian shrine in North America. Through the centuries, pilgrims have turned to Our Lady of La Leche for help in their marriages, infertility, safe childbirth, and healthy children.
In 2021, Pope Francis granted a canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of La Leche. The shrine campus now features chapels honoring the Prince of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and more. You can also walk the historic cemetery, visit the museum, and pray in the rosary garden and at the outdoor rustic altar where that first Mass was celebrated. A giant 208-foot steel cross marks the spot where the Catholic faith was first planted. A plenary indulgence is available to La Leche pilgrims who fulfill the usual conditions. Find a complete pilgrim guide here.
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