Shrines dedicated in honor of St. Anne are among the oldest Catholic establishments in the U.S. St Anne de Detroit, for instance, is the second-oldest parish in the United States, while the shrine on Isle la Motte, Vermont, was part of a French fort protecting the southern approaches to Montreal. Some shrines have dramatic stories, like the National Shrine of St. Anne in Scranton, Pennsylvania which nearly collapsed due to mining activity in the hill beneath it. Most have a relic of St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. The Shrine of St. Anne in Fall River, Massachusetts was built to rival the great shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec, but demographic changes brought that awe-inspiring structure nearly to the point of demolition. These shrines often arose where French and French Canadians settled, as the French have historically had a deep devotion to the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus.

Image credits: St. Anne de Detroit, creative commons license, Polonia90; St. Anne's Church and Parish Complex, Fall River, Massachusetts, creative commons license, Kenneth C. Zirkel

Stanley Rother was born in Okarchee, Oklahoma the oldest of four children to a family of Catholic German farmers. He grew up learning the ways of farming, playing sports, and serving Mass. He entered seminary but struggled with some theology classes and Latin. The seminary eventually sent him home saying he wasn't priest material. Fortunately his bishop and Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland wanted to give him another chance. He graduated and was ordained a priest for Oklahoma City-Tulsa in 1963. In 1968 he requested to be a missionary in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala where the Diocese had a mission. He went and learned both Spanish and the difficult Tzutujil language of the small community of native peasants among whom he served as a missionary. He poured himself into the work, eventually translating the Mass and even the New Testament into Tzutujil. He also worked to bring modern farming techniques to the community and taught math along with language and catechetical lessons. His efforts, however, made him a target of both the government and left-wing militant groups who were fighting a bloody civil war that lasted decades. A number of his parishioners were victims of the Civil War as they refused to cooperate with either side of the fight. Father Rother wrote that "the shepherd doesn't flee at the first sign of danger." Eventually he was found to be number 8 on a death list, so his bishop ordered him to return to Oklahoma. He spent a few months at his family farm, but eventually requested permission to return to Santiago Atitlan to be with his people for Easter. He returned in April 1981, but on July 28, 1981 he was gunned down in the rectory in the middle of the night. He was regarded as a martyr and a great man from immediately after his death. His body was returned to Oklahoma, but his heart was returned to Santiago Atitlan where it remains. His cause for canonization opened in 2010, and he was beatified in a large outdoor Mass in Oklahoma City in 2017. A large shrine dedicated to Blessed Stanley Rother opened in 2023 in Oklahoma City.

Cora Evans grew up a good Mormon, but had a crisis of faith during her wedding at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. She and her husband left the Mormon faith, and eventually became Catholic. This led to hardships as they were shunned for their apostasy. They had to flee Utah for California where they lived the rest of their lives. Cora's conversion came about in part because she had been having visions of the Blessed Mother since she was very young, but it wasn't until she spoke with a Catholic priest when she was 30 that she realized who this "beautiful lady" who visited her was. Her mystical experience grew in intensity, and eventually included many visits by Jesus himself, whom she alwasy called "The Master." Jesus gave her the mission of spreading devotion to the "Mystical Humanity of Christ," and he charged her to write and document her experiences. She had never written much, and wasn't highly educated, but she was obedient and she wrote about what Christ revealed to her. Her experiences came to the attention of the Church in Los Angeles, and the archbishop had Jesuits and other priests visit her to test the authenticity of her visions. Her responses and understanding convinced the experts and the archbishop that her visions were genuine, but that they were private revelations, not to be publicized at least during her lifetime. Eventually her writings filled boxes and boxes worth of manuscripts about her experiences. Some have been published, including one published under the title Refugee from Heaven. Those who carry on her work still offer conferences and retreats to help people live a life according to the Mystical Humanity of Christ. In 2010 her cause for canonization was officially opened, giving her the title of Servant of God.