MONONA — Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Monona was recently declared a diocesan shrine by Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison.
This step is based on an extraordinary history of Marian devotion at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, formerly known as the World Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular from 1950 to 1968.
History of the shrine
The parish was established in 1950 with Fr. Jerome Mersberger as pastor.
From its earliest days meeting in a renovated chicken coop, the parish had a devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and promoted devotion to Mary through the Green Scapular.
Father Mersberger even had a custom-made statue ordered from Portugal — an image of Our Lady of Fatima that visionary Sister Lucia described as “the nearest representation that I have ever seen of the apparition of Mary.”
After a long tour of stops throughout Europe and the United States, with thousands of pilgrims venerating this statue of the Blessed Mother, the statue was enshrined in the parish, and Father Mersberger led pilgrimages to the site, blessing and distributing thousands of Green Scapulars.
When the permanent parish church was finally completed in 1961, it was designed with this Marian devotion in mind.
A mosaic on the front of the building depicts Our Lady gifting the Green Scapular to Sr. Justine Bisqueyburu, the visionary who received it from her in 1840 in France.
Our Lady said in these apparitions that great graces would come through the devotion of the Scapular, “in direct proportion to the degree of confidence in me which the user has.”
The parish attempted to have this confidence in Our Lady’s prayers, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary grew rapidly.
For years, the shrine was an integral part of parishioners’ lives and a channel of hope for many.
Unfortunately, the parish’s role as a shrine was lost in the shuffles of history.
When Father Mersberger was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Palmyra in 1968, the shrine followed him, with the statue being moved to a separate building near the church.
It ceased to be officially a world shrine when that building was transferred to the Schoenstatt Sisters in 2000, and the statue was eventually given to the Marian Library at the University of Dayton.
Today, the whereabouts of the original statue are unknown.
Bringing back the devotion
However, in recent years the parishioners of Immaculate Heart of Mary have begun to dig into this history anew.
Not only those who grew up with the shrine but newcomers as well have begun to appreciate the devotion to Mary in their parish’s history and to wish for its renewal.
As Shrine Coordinator Kathy Marshall put it, “[Families of the founding members] have very fond memories of having the shrine here. They remember how parish life centered around honoring the Blessed Mother of our Lord and the numerous graces and blessings that came through the Green Scapular devotion. Those time-honored traditions of our faith were missing for a while
. . . there’s a longing to bring them back.”
Ten years ago, charter member of the parish Rita Noble died, and her family desired to donate a new statue of Our Lady of Fatima, modeled after the original shrine statue.
Like the original, this statue was hand-crafted in Portugal and was gifted to the parish in Rita’s memory.
The statue is currently enshrined to the left of the sanctuary.
There has also been a concentrated effort, led by Marshall and Nico Fassino, to rediscover the history of this devotion in the parish.
Fr. Chad Droessler, the current pastor, spent much time discerning, talking with parishioners, and consulting with the bishop and concluded that the Holy Spirit was indeed leading the parish to re-establish its identity as a shrine dedicated to the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of the Green Scapular.
This has led to Bishop Hying’s official approval of the naming of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish as the diocesan shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular.
Celebration planned
To inaugurate both the designation as a shrine and the renewal of devotion to the Green Scapular, a celebration will take place on Sunday, June 18, at 10:15 a.m. with a Holy Mass celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary presided over by Bishop Hying, followed by a picnic lunch.
Marshall added, “Although not an apparition site, the shrine will be a place of devotion and prayer — a place where souls can come to find hope, healing, and conversion, something that our world is desperately in need of these days.”
As we move “Into the Deep,” the renewal of the shrine at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church will once again bring to our diocese a special way to grow deeper in our love of Christ through His Mother, and a chance to spread the beauty of Marian devotion.
The Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona extends a warm invitation to the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Madison for the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A plenary indulgence is available under the usual conditions for those who make a pilgrimage to the shrine for its patronal feast.