Two adults, eight children, 22 miles, and one purpose — to grow closer to Jesus Christ through Mary, his mother. That about sums up what the Allex family from Barrington, Illinois, will be taking on during their 10th Walk to Mary on May 2 in Champion, Wisconsin.
The Walk to Mary is an annual pilgrimage held on the first Saturday of May. The first walk took place in 2013 and over the years thousands of Catholics from around the world have participated. The 22-mile pilgrimage starts at the National Shrine of St. Joseph and ends at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, which is the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States, in which the Blessed Mother appeared to Adele Brise in 1859.
For Kym Allex, a Catholic home schooling mother; her husband, Preston; and their eight children — ranging in age from 17 to 4 — the pilgrimage has become an annual tradition.
The “Allex tribe” — as they’re referred to by their community — first participated in the Walk to Mary when the eldest child
