The Healing Journey

October 4, 2026

Our Lady of Guadalupe comes to Little Angels Shrine

They came in sorrow and they came in joy to what had been an empty field, but was transformed into Little Angels Shrine at Resurrection Cemetery in Newtown, because of one woman’s dream 21 years ago to create a resting place for unborn children.

They came to bless a white marble statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the unborn, that stands by a stream flowing through the cemetery.

They prayed and they cried and they listened to the sound of children’s laughter on a beautiful September morning.

“How fitting it is that on this feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary we gather in her honor as well as in the honor of so many who have lost children through miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion,” said Father Eric Silva, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Danbury. “This shrine is meant to be a place of great hope and consolation, as well as a place to mourn. And truly there is no better person in our faith to help us grieve properly and mourn properly than Our Lady.”

He said she provides the consolation only a mother can to those suffering the loss of a child.

Father Silva, who assisted Adrienne and Albert Keogler in their cause to have the shrine built, said: “If we’re pro-life, we have to be pro-life from conception until natural death, and I think one of the most overlooked populations are women who suffer miscarriages. A lot of it is done in silence, without the knowledge of family or friends, but these women who suffer need not suffer alone.”

It was a special day for the Keoglers, who are parents of seven sons and grandparents of 22 children, with three more on the way, many of whom accompanied them.

“I’m so grateful because it’s been a 21-year journey that began because we have a baby Anna, who’s memorialized here and is buried at St. Rose Cemetery” she said. “We also had three babies we miscarried that we were not able to bury. Our goal was to bring comfort to other mothers. It’s such an important part of the grieving process to be able to acknowledge and memorialize and name your baby because they’re with you forever.”

She expressed her gratitude to Catholic Cemeteries and Fathers Silva and Peter Towsley, who helped them pursue their vision.

From the beginning, she wanted Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the focus of the shrine.

“We just knew she was supposed to be here because she’s the patroness of life,” Adrienne said. “The shrine is a place of comfort for families, but I felt it wasn’t complete until she was present. She’s pregnant in her image, and that is important because she understands the maternal part.”

To promote their cause, her family created a magnet with Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image surrounded by the words “At the moment of conception, there is eternal life in the womb.”

“It’s very comforting to know that no matter how early the miscarriage, the baby’s life is eternal,” Adrienne said. “And it’s also very comforting to know you’ll be with your baby again someday.”

Albert Keogler said: “I’m so happy. We’ve worked together on this, but really it’s been Adrienne’s dream for so long, and she’s never let go. I felt my job was to support her in everything she was doing.”
©J Pisani

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