This Fourth of July marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As the country approaches this historic date, one site in America’s heartland is preparing to celebrate in a particularly Catholic way.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin — the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States — is hosting an exhibit honoring holy men and women from the United States. The Catholic Saints of America Exhibit will run from July 1–9 and will feature the stories of 76 saints, blesseds, venerables, and servants of God with American ties.
There will also be daily Mass, several presentations, relics available for veneration, representatives from 35 different causes, and a special Mass celebrated on July 5 commemorating the anniversary of the death of Servant of God Adele Brice, the visionary of Our Lady of Champion.
The shrine is also encouraging not only visitors but also American Catholics everywhere to join in the Novena for Our Nation beginning on July 1.
Father Tony Stephens, the rector of the shrine, told EWTN News that the inspiration for the exhibit came in the fall of 2025 as the holy site was coming up with ideas about how to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
“Some of our staff had the idea — since we were anticipating the visionary here at the shrine, Adele, potentially being elevated to the the level of servant of God and the canonization process opening — we thought, well, it’d be neat to have some of these servants and maybe venerables and maybe some saints come together here at the shrine, but particularly those who had grown holy in America and were holy Americans,” he said.
He added: “So it just grew from there. Then [we] realized, well, what if we did all the servants of God, and then all the venerable, and all the blesseds, and all the saints? So itʼs been a very extensive process. It started small and itʼs just one of those things you know the Holy Spirit was driving.”
The priest added that the team drew inspiration from the “Eucharistic Miracles of the World” exhibit designed by St. Carlo Acutis. Stephens explained that each holy person will have his or her own large foam board with that person’s story, images, and important dates in their lives.
There will also be a 15-foot-long timeline of the 250 years of the U.S. highlighting important dates in both American history and the Catholic Church in the country.
“We want to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation,” he said. “Faith and reason go together. We love our country and we love our faith. And they can certainly go together — one nation under God.”
Some of the relics on site will include those of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Neumann, Blessed Solanus Casey, and Blessed Stanley Rother, among others.
Stephens emphasized that the driving force behind creating the exhibit was that “weʼre proud to be Americans, but weʼre Catholics first, so these are some of our holy ones who lived faithfully as Catholic Americans.”
Speaking about the novena, Stephens shared that he wrote it specifically for the event. He explained that it’s not only about praying for the nation but also that people also “recognize our shortcomings, and we thank God for the many blessings that heʼs given us in 250 years.”
The petitions include praying for families, for the vulnerable in society, for the protection of religious liberty in our country, for a spirit of generosity among all U.S. citizens, for elected leaders, for those who interpret and enforce laws, for those who educate others, for those in the armed services, and for those who died protecting the nation.
Stephens said his main hope for those who visit the exhibit is that they would leave believing “that holiness is attainable for me as a Catholic in 21st-century America.”
He added: “These were holy Catholic Americans who lived in this country and … this is something that is attainable because they persevered in their faith. And thatʼs something that all of us can do as well.”