On October 9, 1859, the Queen of Heaven appeared to Adele Brise, a Belgian immigrant in Champion, Wisconsin. In the time following the apparitions, chapels were built at the site, each dedicated to Mary’s title Notre Dame de Bon Secours, or Our Lady of Good Help, a historical devotion dating back several centuries in France, Belgium, and Canada.
I detail the historical devotion and prayers in my Prayer Book for Pilgrims available from TAN Books.
In that same book of prayers and devotions, I offered my own Litany to Our Lady of Good Help, invoking several helping titles of Mary and asking her to help us when we face certain things and to help individuals in need of God’s grace.
In the years following the apparition, Adele Brise — affectionately called Sister Adele because she founded a third order of religious sisters — started a school in response to Mary’s message to gather the children and teach them their faith. During one school year, a croup outbreak forced the school to close. On October 8, 1871, a fire threatened the chapel, convent, and school, but the community gathered in prayer, processing a statue of Mary and praying the Rosary.
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This is the only officially recognized Marian apparition in the United States
During this time of pandemic, we turn again to Mary’s intercession. We have prayed the Rosary with the Holy Father and watched him as he prayed before her image during the extraordinary Urbi et Orbi.
I invite you to join me in asking Mary to pray for us, to help us, and to help so many who are in need right now. To this end, I re-wrote the Litany with relevant invocations to our time. Catholic musician Anna Nuzzo, in collaboration with Shalom World TV, recorded an adapted sung version,
When Mary appeared to Adele, she told her that she prays for the conversion of sinners and urged Adele to fear nothing because she would help her. We join Mary in praying for the world and turn to her help, believing as the Angel Gabriel once told her, “Nothing is impossible for God.”
Litany to Our Lady of Good Help During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Written by Fr. Edward Looney
Lord, have mercy. R. Lord, have mercy.
Christ have mercy. R. Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy. R. Christ have mercy.
Christ hear us. R. Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven. R. Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the World. R. Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit. R. Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God R. Have mercy on us.
Response: Pray For Us
Holy Mary
Holy Mother of God
St. Joseph
Queen of Heaven
Queen of Peace
Queen of Families
Comforter of the Afflicted
Undoer of Knots
Star of the Stormy Sea
Our Lady of the Smile
Our Lady of Consolation
Our Lady of Good Health
Our Lady of Good Remedy
Our Lady of Lourdes
Virgin of the Poor
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Hope
Our Lady of Good Help
Response: Mary, Help Us
In times of trial
In times of confusion
In times of fear
In times of quarantine
In times of isolation
In times of loneliness
In times of pandemic
In times of sickness
In times of uncertainty
Response: Mary Help Them
For government leaders
For scientists and medical researchers
For first responders
For nurses and doctors
For priests and funeral directors
For the Church and Her healing mission
For the sick and the suffering
For pregnant women and their babies
For the elderly
For those with compromised immune systems
For those worried about the future
For the unemployed and financially distressed
For those diagnosed with coronavirus
For those fighting for their life
For those at the hour of death
For those who have lost their life
For those who mourn and grieve
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world
Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world
Graciously hear us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
Let us pray,
Grant O God, through the intercession and mediation of Our Lady of Good Help, all the graces we need in these difficult times. May Our Lady now intercede for us, and as her foot crushes the head of the serpent, may she now squash this virus and stay its spread. In our time of need we fly to your protection and intercession, O Lady of Good Help. Help us not to fear, for God is with us and you are praying for us. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
And today we celebrate...