Ave Explores Series | The Saints | Week 4

Wisconsin’s Belgian Immigrants Expressed Devotion to the Saints through Roadside Chapels

By Fr. Edward Looney

People express their devotion to the saints in lots of different ways. They might have statues in their home reminding them to ask the saint’s intercession or maybe they have a prayer card and say that prayer every day. Others might make pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to the saint or even visit the homeland of the saint on pilgrimage.  

The immigrants who settled in Wisconsin brought customs from the motherland. The Belgians who settled in northeastern Wisconsin slowly began to establish roadside chapels dedicated to Jesus, Mary, and the saints. These roadside chapels afforded believers a place to pray daily if they were unable to visit the parish church. When a person would pass by in the fields or along the road, they might stop and say a prayer. When I became pastor of two parishes where these chapels abound, I started visiting a handful of them. Two of my churches had roadside chapels on their property.  Wanting to aid people’s faith and devotion during the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to do a virtual tour of all the chapels. I created a special Facebook page and posted a daily video. It seemed to be received well with more than 34,000 plays in just thirty-two days. 

I learned a lot as I visited these roadside chapels. Some of the chapels were the result of an answered prayer: Someone prayed for a particular grace and when the favor was received, a chapel was constructed as a sign of thanksgiving. One chapel was built because a person survived a near-death drowning experience. In the chapels, the principal patron can often be found as the focal point. Other little statues might adorn the altar, mementos of a person’s devotion, or a reminder of a pilgrimage to a shrine like St. Anne de Beaupre (something I found often). 

I learned more about the saints, meeting some familiar saints like St. Anthony of Padua or St. Therese and being introduced to new saints such as St. Roch, St. Donat, and St. Ghislain.  At times I learned something about a saint that I didn’t previously know. I couldn’t believe the story of St. Roch and how appropriate it was to pray at chapel dedicated in his honor. St. Roch lived during a plague and was known to bring healing to the sick by the sign of the cross. The Council of Constance in 1414 called upon St. Roch’s prayers to bring an end to the plague. It was a prayer immediately answered. With the increase of Covid-19 cases within my parish boundary, I’ve been visiting that roadside chapel daily to ask St. Roch’s powerful prayers. 

I knew nothing about St. Donat and St. Ghislain and my quick googling only informed me that there were certain municipalities named after these saints. I found some biographical data, but not much.  Apparently, St. Donat is invoked during thunderstorm, and St. Ghislain, fittingly a Belgian saint, invoked for children with convulsions. My visit to a chapel dedicated to the hunter saint, St. Hubert—also a Belgian saint—revealed a greater story than just praying for a big buck. The Belgian locals would visit the St. Hubert Chapel to pray for relief from nervous disorders. Two chapels dedicated to St. Odilia revealed two different legends about two saintly women, both claimed to be the patron of those with eye disorders. 

Little roadside chapels in northeastern Wisconsin stand as a testament to the faith of the Belgian people, the power of prayer, and trust in saintly intercession. Other immigrant communities have similar customs. The Polish have little shrines alongside the road.  In the greater Madison area, other chapels were built for similar reasons after a tornado or a diphtheria epidemic.

I’m willing to bet that such saintly devotion isn’t confined to Wisconsin. You might find similar expressions where you live. The Belgian chapels teach us to make time for God, find a saintly intercessor, and be sure to give thanks to God for the many blessings of your life. That’s a message for you no matter what your nationality or where you live.

Download this article as a PDF here.

Rev. Edward Looney is a Marian theologian, writer, and speaker who serves as a priest in the Diocese of Green Bay. He is the author of seven books, including A Heart Like Mary’s. He has contributed to numerous publications, including Catholic Digest, Catholic Exchange, Ignitum Today, Catholic Lane, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. 

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