Marian devotion
Mariana Awards of the 50 US States
The presence of Our Lady in every corner of the American nation, from the forests of New England to the islands of Hawaii.
The Virgin Mary has accompanied the history of the United States since before its foundation. The first European colonizers - Spanish, French, English Catholics - brought with them their Marian devotions, which were adapted and rooted in each landscape and in each community. Today, each of the fifty states can invoke Mary under its own title, an expression of local faith, the history of each territory and the encounters between cultures. This tour visits the most significant advocation of each state, with its main sanctuary and the history that sustains it.
New England
The six states of New England share a history deeply marked by Irish, French and Canadian immigration, which brought with it a rich Marian heritage. The French-American families established in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire raised chapels and shrines which are still places of pilgrimage.
Northern Maine was inhabited by French-Canadian communities that brought Marian devotion from Quebec. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace in Fort Kent, founded in 1882 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, became a place of spiritual encounter of the border.
In 1951 the Fathers of La Salette founded in Enfield a replica sanctuary of the place of apparition of the Virgin in La Salette, France (1846). The sanctuary includes a rosary pond, the Via Cruces in the open air and a reproduction of the scene of the apparition. It is one of the most active pilgrimage destinations in New England.
On La Motte Island, on Champlain Lake, is the place of the first chapel in Vermont, erected around 1666 by French soldiers like Fort Saint Anne. It is today an outdoor sanctuary that attracts pilgrims every summer.
The National Sanctuary of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro was established in 1942 by the Fathers of La Salette. Its Christmas Lights Festival, which began in the 1950s, attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year.
Rhode Island, the smallest state of the Union and with a high proportion of Catholics, has in Our Lady of Mount Carmel its most characteristic apvocation, brought by Italian immigrants from southern Italy in the late 19th century. The July 16 processions in Providence are a living tradition.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Litchfield was built in 1955 during the Marian Year by the Missionaries of the Society of Mary. The Cave of Our Lady, built with local stone and modeled on the Grotto of Lourdes, is the center of the sanctuary.
Middle Atlantic
The Middle Atlantic region is the most densely populated and culturally diverse region in the country. Its Marian history ranges from the first colonial missions of Maryland to the great urban shrines of New York and Pennsylvania.
The National and Basilica Sanctuary of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna was founded in 1876 by Father Nelson Baker, known for his social work among the poor in the Buffalo area. The basilica, completed in 1926, is one of the most visited in the northeast. New York also houses the largest Hispanic community in the country.
The Blue Army Shrine of Fatima in Washington, New Jersey, was established in 1950 by the Association of the Fatima Apostolate, with replicas of the chapel of apparitions. New Jersey, with its huge Portuguese and Colombian diaspora, has adopted this advocation with particular fervor.
The National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Miracle Medal in Philadelphia is the work of the Vicentine Fathers, custodians of the devotion initiated after the apparitions of the Rue du Bac in Paris (1830). Founded in 1927, it hosts millions of pilgrims and is one of the most visited Marian shrines on the East Coast.
Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, has in Our Lady of Mercy its diocesan patronal advocation. The Wilmington Cathedral is consecrated to Mary under this title, venerated by a Catholic community of strong Irish and Italian heritage.
Maryland was the first colony with religious freedom for Catholics, founded in 1634. The Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore - the first Catholic cathedral of the United States, consecrated in 1806 - is dedicated to Our Lady. The Jesuits put the territory under the protection of the Virgin from the first day.
South Atlantic
The states of the South Atlantic have a great diversity of Marian traditions: from the Spanish missions of Florida, the oldest in the country, to the rapidly growing Hispanic communities of Georgia and the Carolines.
Virginia saw the arrival of the first Jesuit missionaries in 1570, who put their company under the protection of the Virgin. The growing Hispanic community in the Washington area maintains a very active Guadalupan devotion. Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles, is the advocation that gathers the missionary impulse of the state.
West Virginia, a state that emerged from the Civil War in 1863, has in Our Lady of Victory its most representative vocation. Coal mining was the framework of an intense popular faith, in which miners of Irish, Italian and Slovak origin invoked Mary before going down to the mines.
The Belmont Abbey, founded by the Benedictine in 1876, is the main center of contemplative and Marian life in North Carolina. Its basilica, dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, has been a National Sanctuary since 1998.
South Carolina has a Catholic history dating back to the Spanish missions of the 16th century on the coast. Charleston was the center of the Catholic life of the deep South. Mary, Virgin Mother, is the advocation of the state, honored in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist of Charleston.
Georgia was evangelized by Spanish Franciscans from Florida in the 17th century. The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary grew with the huge Latin community that makes the Archdiocese of Atlanta one of the fastest growing in the country.
The National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Milk in San Agustín, Florida, is the oldest Marian sanctuary in the continental United States. The devotion came with the Spanish colonizers at the end of the 16th century. The image - a Virgin breastfeeding the Child - was installed around 1620 by the Franciscans.
The Basilica - St. John the Baptist Cathedral of Savannah, Georgia, houses a deep devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Relief. The temple, built between 1873 and 1896 on a French neo-Gothic project dedicated to San Juan el Bautista, is one of the most notable in the south of the United States, with impressive rosetons and a rich collection of sacred art. The archdiocese of Savannah was erected in 1850 and is one of the oldest in the deep south.
Sur Central
The states of the southern interior present a Marian history marked by the French missions of the 18th century and the popular faith of their communities.
Mobile was the first capital of French Louisiana with Marian roots of the 18th century. In Cullman, the Ave Maria Grotto - built by Benedictine brother Joseph Zoetl between 1918 and 1958 - plays in miniature the main sanctuaries of the Christian world.
The Basilica of St. Mary in Natchez, consecrated on Christmas Day 1843, is the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in Mississippi. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Dolores, it is testimony of the French Marian presence in the heart of the Protestant Bible Belt.
Tennessee welcomed many Irish and German immigrants in the 19th century who brought devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes (apparition 1858). The Hospital of Our Lady of Lourdes in Memphis, founded by the Sisters of Santo Domingo, testifies how Marian devotion inspires concrete charity.
La Iglesia de la Madre de Dios en Covington, fundada en 1841, lleva el título de «Anunciación de la siempre Virgen María, Madre de Dios». La Abadía de Getsemaní —donde vivió Thomas Merton— mantiene una profunda espiritualidad mariana contemplativa trappista.
The parish of Our Lady of Sorrows in Birmingham, founded in 1897, was the second oldest Catholic parish in the city. It originally served Irish, German and Italian immigrants working in the Alabama mines and railways. Its neo-Gothic architecture and its windows dedicated to the Seven Dolores of Mary make it a treasure of deep south Catholicism.
The church of St. Mary of the Seven Dolores (St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows) is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Nashville and one of the oldest places of worship in Tennessee, consecrated in 1855. Its red brick façade and white swordsman are a milestone in the center of Nashville. The community, initially an Irish and German immigrant, has witnessed the transformation of Nashville into a cultural centre in the south.
The Cathedral of the Assumption of Louisville is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Louisville and one of the oldest Catholic temples in the United States to the west of the Apalaches. In 1852, on a neoclassical project, its impressive interior dome and its main marble altar of Carrara make it a monument of the Marian faith in the Ohio Valley.
South West
Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma form a region of rich French and Spanish Marian history, with historical shrines that accompanied their peoples at decisive times.
In 1927 the third bishop of Little Rock consecrated a mission church to the Blessed Mother and the Holy Souls, the only church in the United States with this Marian title. Devotion combines Mary's intercession with prayer for the souls of purgatory.
Our Lady of Soon Relief is the patron of Louisiana. The statue arrived in December 1810. On the night of January 7, 1815, the whole city prayed before the image before the battle of New Orleans. The next morning, General Jackson beat the British with few casualties. The miracle was attributed to Mary's intercession.
The Shrine of the Church of San José in Bison, Oklahoma, dedicated in 1951, is the only Marian sanctuary of the state, open 24 hours a day with vocal candles and a book of petitions. Communities of Hispanic and native American descent maintain a Marian piety that fuses European and indigenous influences.
Big Plains
Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana make up the heart of the Catholic Middle West. This region houses the only Marian apparitions site approved in the United States: the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, Wisconsin.
Saint Louis, founded in 1764 by French colonizers, was for decades the center of the Catholic life of the Middle West. The Basilica Cathedral of Saint Louis - with the largest mosaic in the world - is a monument to the Marian fervor of the first colonizers of the Mississippi.
Iowa was colonized by German, Irish and Czech immigrants in the 19th century. Mary of Nazareth, an advocation that evokes the hidden and domestic life of the Virgin, is the most representative of the state. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Loreto brings together the devotion of the numerous Polish community.
Minnesota was evangelized by the Jesuits in the 17th century between the Ojibwa and Dakota peoples. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis - the first basilica of the United States, consecrated in 1914 - is its largest Marian monument.
Wisconsin houses the only Marian apparitions site approved in the United States. In October 1859, the Virgin appeared three times to Adele Brice, a young Belgian woman who emigrated to the state. Mary asked him: Gather the children of this wild country and teach them what they must know for salvation. The official approval came on 8 December 2010; in 2023 it was raised to the National Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines welcomes every December 12 the largest concentration of Guadalupan pilgrims in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of faithful from all over Chicago and beyond.
The National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Providence in Saint Mary--of-the-Woods was founded in 1840 by Mother Theodore Guerin - canonized by Benedict XVI in 2006. It is the oldest Marian sanctuary in the Middle West, raised to the National Sanctuary by the United States Conference of Bishops. It is the burial place of the canonized saint.
Great Plane
The states of the Great Prairies present a history of evangelization where Oblate and Jesuit missionaries lived with the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples.
North Dakota was colonized in part by communities of Volga Germans, who brought a deep Marian devotion. The churches of the small rural villages are often the only buildings in their community, and Mary occupies in them a central place as Queen of Peace.
The Blue Cloud Abbey, founded in 1950 by the Benedictine, is the Marian life center of South Dakota. Our Lady of the Prairie evokes the vastness of the great plains. The Benedictine developed an important apostolate among the lakota native American community.
Nebraska was colonized by Czech, Polish and German immigrants who brought their Marian images from Central Europe. Our Lady of the Presentation is the most representative advocation. The University of Creighton in Omaha, founded by the Jesuits, has a reference Marian chapel.
Kansas has in the Diocese of Wichita one of the most studied models of revitalizing the Catholic faith in the United States. The Mexican immigrants who came to the meat packers also brought their devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, which coexists with the advocation of Mary, Queen of the Angels.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, consecrated in 1911, is the main Marian monument of Colorado. The state has a long history of Spanish Franciscan missions and a growing Hispanic community. The Immaculate Conception has also been the patron of the United States since 1846.
Wyoming, the nation's least populated state, has in Our Lady of the Valley its most representative vocation. The parish of Our Lady of the Valley in Jackson Hole, located among the Teton, is a spiritual point of reference for residents and visitors of the Yellowstone National Park.
Mountain
Montaña, Idaho, Nevada and Utah are the region of Montaña, where the Jesuit missionaries of the 19th century evangelized the native peoples leaving an unbeatable mark.
Father Pierre- Jean De Smet, a Belgian Jesuit, evangelized the Salish and kootenai peoples of Mountain in the first half of the 19th century. The Mission of St. Ignatius, founded in 1854, is a monument to this apostolic work. Our Lady of the Pinos reflects the landscape of coniferous forests surrounding the state's communities.
Idaho was evangelized by the Jesuits in the 19th century, including Father De Smet. The Irish community that arrived during the gold fever brought devotion to Our Lady of Limerick. The Cathedral of San Juan Evangelista in Boise is the center of the state's Catholic life.
The first Spanish expedition to what is today Nevada arrived in 1776. The missionaries put the territory under the protection of Mary. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Vegas, the episcopal seat, keeps this tradition alive in a city that houses a vibrant Catholic community, mostly Hispanic.
Utah is the only Mormon state in the United States, but its Catholic history begins with the Spanish Franciscans in the 18th century. The Madeleine Cathedral in Salt Lake City, in a neo-Gothic style and consecrated in 1909, is the heart of the Catholic community. Our Lady of the Snow evokes the snowy landscapes of the Wasatch Mountains.
Pacific
The five states on the Pacific coast have the greatest ethnic diversity of the nation. His Marian history combines the Spanish heritage of the Californian missions, the Jesuit evangelization of the northwest and the devotions brought by the Filipino, Hispanic, Asian and native communities.
The North-West Pacific was evangelized in the 19th century by the Jesuits, with Father De Smet at the head. The Marian presence in Washington is expressed in devotion to Our Lady of Good Help, rooted in the communities of Italian, Filipino and Hispanic immigrants in Seattle.
The Portland Grotto, the National Shrine of the Mariana Piety, was founded in 1924 by Father Ambrose Mayer of the Servants, fulfilling a promise of childhood to the Virgin. The grotto, carved on a basalt wall more than 50 meters high, houses a pietà of Carrara and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
California was evangelized between 1769 and 1823 by the Franciscans, led by Father Junípero Serra, who founded 21 missions under the protection of the Virgin. California today houses the largest Mexican community outside Mexico, with Guadalupan processions of December 12 that are among the largest in the world.
Alaska was evangelized by Jesuit missionaries from the 19th century between the yupik, Inupiat, Ahabascan and Tlingit peoples. In Our Lady of Kodiak's church, Mary's image holds her Son on the right arm and on the left carries a shuyak, a local fishing vessel, fusing Marian tradition with the cultural identity of the people.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, built in 1843, is the oldest Catholic church in Hawaii and the place where Saint Damian de Veuster was ordained a priest in 1864 before leaving for the leper colony of Molokai. Mary, Estrella del Mar, is the title of the sailors of this province.
Texas
Texas deserves its own chapter: it was Spanish territory for more than a century, and the Franciscan missions put every palm of the state under the protection of the Virgin Mary.
The devotion to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle has its roots in San Juan de los Lagos (colonial Mexico), where in 1623 the image of Our Lady was placed on the body of an acrobat girl who had died in an accident: the girl resurrected. In 1949, Father José María Azpiazu, OMI, began devotion in San Juan, Texas, sending to reproduce the image from Guadalajara. A new sanctuary was erected in 1954.
On October 23, 1970, a plane crashed into the burning sanctuary, destroying it almost completely, but the image of the Virgin was intact. In the face of 50,000 faithful, the new basilica was consecrated in 1980. In 1988 it was declared National Sanctuary; in 1999 Pope John Paul II raised it to the Minor Basilica. Every year more than a million pilgrims visit this sanctuary in southern Texas.
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