Our Lady of Consolation Parish, originally Saint Edward's, was founded in 1868. The statue of Our Lady of Consolation was brought from Luxembourg in 1875 and on May 24 was carried in solemn procession from nearby Frenchtown. The procession was untouched by heavy rain that day, and once the statue entered the church, the rain poured down heavily. From that time on, people have experienced consolation, healing, and the power of Our Lady's heavenly intercession. Pope Leo XIII established the Confraternity of Our Lady of Consolation in 1878, the Conventional Franciscan friars have ministered there since 1912, and Pope Paul VI made the shrine a Minor Basilica in 1971.
