Kind of a surprise to find a well visited religious shrine in a beer town. The beauty of the walk(hike) up to the shrine served as the days exercise and the experience visiting the many grottoes and church was fascinating. The do have carts for those unable to make the trek. A pleasant change from the downtown bar scene.
I can not say disliked nothing ..church is awesome....Pretty.. Just take your time....book store....We spend about 2 hours there... It gives to you relax, Let the rest of world go by!
This is a must see and pray place for Catholic travelers especially. The church is amazing and the outdoor shrine to the unborn is moving.
Chapel, church, restraurant, pilgramage walk, memorials to the unborn, and much more to see await you at this beautiful shrine about 5 miles southeast of La crosse, WI. All faiths are welcome.
The Shrine is a modern building devoted to the Virgin, beautifully appointed. The 100-acre grounds include a visitors' center, a rosary walk, stations of the cross, a friary, and a votive chapel. Peaceful, with wonderful vistas of the farm and wood lands nearby. We visited for an hour and went on refreshed in mind, body and spirit.
It's located in a very quiet, serene and beautiful setting. It's a path through nature where you visit 13 devotional areas and statues. The area includes the shrine church the statue of Saint Juan Diego, an area where they have the stations of the cross, A rosary walk and beautiful votive candle Chapel. There is,we estimated,about a mile of walk and it's a mile out and about a while back. They offered a golf cart if you're handicapped and can't make the walk. The area is full of nature and would probably be best viewed when the leaves start changing in September. Also the church offers masses there Monday through Saturday at 12:15 and on Sunday at 9:30 they have a traditional Latin mass at 11 AM they have a Spanish mass and at 1 PM they have an English mass. It was well worth a visit we really enjoyed it we spent about two hours walking through it.
The surroundings are beautiful but go in warmer weather, it is a hike up to the church. They did have a cart to take you up which was nice in zero temps. Great place to pray and reflect. Brunch was good, variety of foods but some items could have been warmer.
We went as a group of women from church. We started at the church with Reconciliation and Mass. The music was spiritual, and the message uplifting. We had lunch in the dining room, and the service was excellent, especially with a group as large as ours. Good food. We were then able to break up into smaller groups to take the different walks and experience the different areas according to our own preferences. The carts are available to ferry non-walkers up the walkways. The fall foliage was nice in October.
Love the setting and the beautiful artwork. Not Catholic, but well worth the visit. Good restaurant too.
We have taken people there several times. The first time the food was excellent and of great quality. The second time it was not so good...the person making the omelets the second time did not do a good job...browned on the outside and not done on the inside. Not sure what the difference was between the two days but am guessing it was the staff working. Need management presence on weekends to take care of this.