The “Walk to Mary” Pilgrimage: A Study in Post-Conciliar Sentimentality and Doctrinal Emptiness
EWTN News portal reports on the Allex family from Barrington, Illinois, who are participating for the 10th time in the “Walk to Mary” pilgrimage — a 22-mile trek to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, which purports to honor an 1859 apparition to Adele Brise. The article presents this as a model of Catholic family life, emphasizing the children’s enthusiasm, the mother’s emotional consolation, and the family’s desire to “grow closer to Jesus Christ through Mary.” Yet beneath the veneer of pious sentimentality lies a profound doctrinal void, a complete silence on the supernatural realities of the Faith, and a reduction of Catholic spirituality to therapeutic self-help — all hallmarks of the post-conciliar revolution that has gutted the Church of her divine mission.
