On a clear day, from the tower of the Holy Hill Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians, you can see the skyline of Milwaukee, 30 miles away. Madison is 65 miles in the other direction.
Perched atop the highest eminence in southeastern Wisconsin, its presence is stunning, especially in the fall when the leaves of the surrounding hardwood forests are at peak color. As the name suggests, it could be described as one of Wisconsin’s holiest sites.
It is a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic church, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places. It attracts both Catholic and non-Catholic pilgrims, a quarter million to a half million every year. Madison’s Upper House coordinated a pilgrimage earlier this month with a couple dozen participants.
We arrived early for the 11:00am Mass, which was relatively well attended for a weekday. After the service, rector Mark Joseph talked about the history of the basilica, the unique features of the sanctuary and the site. Christian symbols, some obvious and some not so obvious, are everywhere. “Everything here points to Christ, often through Mary,” he said.
He noted that as a place of pilgrimage it is open to everyone. “Shrines have always been places of healing,” he added. “Miracles still happen here.” A special mass for health and healing is held on the last Sunday of every month.
Following lunch in the Holy Hill Cafe (Open 9-3, Wednesday through Sunday), our group had a time of prayer and reflection as we walked the 14 stations of the cross along a path through the wooded hillside next to the basilica. Later some of us hiked up the 178 stairs to the top of the tower for its scenic views of the surrounding countryside (and the distant Milwaukee skyline).
As Protestants we might feel self-conscious amongst the liturgy and all of the other unfamiliarities of Catholicism. Yet, as fellow believers and followers of Jesus Christ we have much that we share, that we don’t have in common with our increasingly secular society.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, closes by saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” [NIV II Corinthians 13:14]. During my visit I reflected, that could just as easily be “the unity of the Holy Spirit.”
I learned later, viewing the basilica’s website, that it has a full-size replica of the Shroud of Turin, which can viewed in the Oratory of the Basilica Saturdays between noon and 3:30pm. That might be worth a second visit.
