Found: Mrs. Van Hoof and Shrine, Necedah, WI

On a summer drive home from Sparta along Wisconsin Highway 21, we spotted signs pointing to the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace Shrine in Necedah. Unaware of this infamous Wisconsin pilgrimage spot, we pulled over to check it out. A signed asked women wearing shorts to don one of the supplied wrap around skirts made of heavy cotton duck in order to "observe modesty in dress" while visiting.

A series of elaborate glass-encased Christ's passion shrines (see above post card example, note wounds) encircled the former Van Hoof farm land. We learned the Roman Catholic female goddess/icon oft-referred to as the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) appeared to a "farmer's wife" named Mrs. Fred Van Hoof (1909-1984) nine times starting in 1949 often in her farmhouse bedroom. A replica of the farm house stands amongst the shrines. Life (magazine) covered one of Mrs. Van Hoof's apparitions on page 21 of its August 28, 1956 issue after 80,000 descended upon the small Wisconsin town cramming the grounds with cars and pleas for healing and deliverance from nuclear annihilation. In the printed matter we picked up For My God and My Country, Inc., the organization operating the shrine, conflated the BVM, flying saucers, anti-abortion campaigning and American patriotism hence broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The group has been building an ambitious cathedral, House of Prayer, following the instructions Mrs. Van Hoof  received from the BVM during an apparition. With only the concrete foundation completed, it looked like a flying saucer landing pad. A web site documents slow yet continual work. There was an info center/gift shop where we bought rosaries, scapulas, books, and other ephemera. The last time we passed through, a turbulent thunder storm was rolling in allowing us just enough time to revisit the Sacred Spot Place of Apparition. Lighting streaked through the sky and we made one negative recording a glowing apparition.