Portfolio: Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, currently under construction, is the vision of His Excellency Raymond Burke, Bishop of LaCrosse. It is meant as a place for the faithful to come on pilgrimage and to foster devotion to the Blessed Virgin under her title of Patroness of the Americas. In the tradition of pilgrimage churches, the shrine is located high upon a hill outside of the city with a campanile and dome which will be visible from afar.

The interior of the Shrine is a cruciform domical church inspired by Italian examples such as the Gesu, San Andrea della Valle, and San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini in Rome. Generous side aisles with shrines flank the nave, and major shrines to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart are placed at the transept. Corinthian pilasters support a full entablature inscribed with names of the Virgin from the litany of Loreto. Images of the four evangelists reside within the pendentives which support the dome with its clear windows and oculus. The vaulted ceiling is punctuated by stained glass windows which follow the life of the Virgin.

The raised sanctuary is marble and defined by an altar rail. The focus of the sanctuary is a red marble badacchino surmounting a marble altar. Behind, a prominent image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is placed above the tabernacle. The ambo is placed against one of the piers of the crossing and a crucifix is placed against the other pier so as to give them due prominence. The bishop's cathedra is raised and placed behind the ambo with the celebrant's chair across from it.

An ambulatory surrounds the apse and connects the sacristy and bishop's vestry. The sacristy is a vaulted space with mahogany cabinets, plaster pilasters and moldings, eucharistic iconography and a small shrine to St. John Vianney. The bishop's vestry is a smaller version of the sacristy with a shrine to Bishop St. John Neumann. Below the Shrine, there is a crypt chapel with an oratory for prayer and spiritual conferences, as well as a hall of honor for the donors and a foyer with shrines to the blesseds of the diocese.