The shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City is reported to be the most-visited shrine to Our Lady in the world. Millions converted to Christianity after her appearance to St. Juan Diego in 1531. Last year (2022) some 12 million pilgrims visited the shrine at the Basilica of Guadalupe, breaking the record for visitors, according to Mexico City government. Read more about the shrine here.
I have yet to visit a shrine for a Vatican-approved apparition of Our Lady. Perhaps one day I will get to the shrine to Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin. It’s the only shrine on the site of a church-approved apparition of Our Lady in the U.S.
Until then, my favorite shrine remains the one that has been ever-present throughout my life – our family’s own Marian shrine.
It started with my parents’ devotion to the Virgin Mary. My father built a humble shelter out of plywood for our statue of Mary in the backyard of our family’s first home. It served as the backdrop for many a photo, including the ones below of myself at about three years old, and of my great grandmother during one of her visits from the East Coast to our home.
When my parents bought their next home, the one in which I grew up, the shrine was moved from its former space to a central place in our new backyard. My mother prayed daily in front of it.
When my husband and I bought our first home, we also built a small shrine for Our Lady in our backyard. And upon moving into our forever home, we did the same. When we recently restored the cement grotto in which our statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary rests, we celebrated by blessing the effort with holy water.
There is something sweet about passing by the window and seeing her there. It prompts a prayer of thanks and a request for guidance and intercession.
If not for the ongoing physical presence of our shrine, I’m sure I would feel a void. I like believing that Mary is close to us.
I am hoping to bring more knowledge about the Virgin Mary to the world, especially during these times when we need her most. Please consider sharing this post, this site, or its social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. I invite you to subscribe to this site (below) to be notified of new posts. Thank you.
searchingforthevirginmary.com 
Thank you for sharing this.
I wanted to share with you that I am from Egypt, and we love St. Mary too. Egypt has many churches named after Virgin Mary. In the Holy Family flight to Egypt, it is believed that they stayed 3.5 years there. Their journey was across the Nile. There are many locations were they logged. In caves, houses and many other places. We know that many healings happen in these places for those who intercede to the Virgin. May her prayers and intercessions so the Lord have mercy on us.
On a side note, I wanted to invite you to visit my blog, I hope you like it.
God bless your work
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A good book is “Marian Shrines of the United Stated” by Theresa Santa Czarnopy and Thomas M. Santa C.Ss.R.
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