Jul 28, 2008 / 21:39 pm
Archbishop Raymond Burke will dedicate the new Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe this coming Thursday, the sixth anniversary of the canonization of Guadalupe visionary St. Juan Diego. The shrine, near the western Wisconsin town of La Salle, is to be a pilgrimage destination for the faithful where they can show their devotion to the Virgin Mary under her title Patroness of the Americas.
Shrine project architect Michael Swinghamer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the church is in the style of 17th-century Italianate Renaissance design. Its interior seats 450 and features Italian artwork, a 54-rank organ, Italian marble, and a mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe positioned behind a marble-columned canopy over the altar.
The turquoise dome bears stars in the pattern of the night sky near Mexico City in 1531, when the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Juan Diego. The turquoise is the same color as Mary’s mantle in the miraculous image made on Juan Diego’s cloak, which is known as a tilma.
The church’s exterior includes a tower with a 25-bell carillon and a plaza with a duplicate of the bronze statue of Juan Diego at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico. The church itself sits high on a hill on a 103-acre site, which also has shaded, wooded walks among outdoor artwork pieces.