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Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

Coordinates: 52°53′41″N 0°52′33″E / 52.8947622°N 0.875867°E / 52.8947622; 0.875867
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Anglicans processing their image during their National Pilgrimage to Walsingham within the grounds of the ruined abbey, May 2003.

The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is a Church of England shrine church built in 1938 in Walsingham, Norfolk, England. Walsingham is the site of the reputed Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches in 1061. The Virgin Mary is therefore venerated at the site with the title of Our Lady of Walsingham.

History

Main article: Richeldis de Faverches

Richeldis de Faverches was an English noblewoman who is credited with establishing the original shrine to Our Lady at Walsingham. Before leaving to join the Second Crusade, her son and heir, Lord Geoffrey de Faverches left the Holy House and its grounds to his chaplain, Edwin, to establish a religious house to care for the chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Priory passed into the care of Augustinian Canons somewhere between 1146 and 1174.[1] As travelling abroad became more difficult during the time of the Crusades, Walsingham became a place of pilgrimage, ranking alongside Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago da Compostella,[2] until it was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1538.

Father Alfred Hope Patten SSC, appointed as the Church of England Vicar of Walsingham in 1921, ignited Anglican interest in the pre-Reformation pilgrimage. It was his idea to create a new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham based on the image depicted on the seal of the medieval priory. In 1922 the statue was set up in the Parish Church of St Mary and regular pilgrimage devotion followed. From the first night that the statue was placed there, people gathered around it to pray, asking Mary to join her prayers with theirs.

Throughout the 1920s the trickle of pilgrims became a flood of large numbers for whom, eventually, the Pilgrim Hospice was opened (a hospice is the name of a place of hospitality for pilgrims) and, in 1931, a new Holy House encased in a small pilgrimage church was dedicated and the statue translated there with great solemnity. In 1938 that church was enlarged to form the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Father Patten combined the posts of Vicar of Walsingham and priest administrator of the Anglican shrine until his death in 1958. Enid Chadwick contributed to the artwork in the shrine.

The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham has a holy well known for its healing properties; Christian pilgrims receiving water from the holy well is accompanied by the laying on of hands and anointing.[3] Holy water from the holy well at Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is often taken home by the faithful and distributed to their family, friends, and parishioners.

List of priest administrators

  • Fr Alfred Hope Patten SSC (1938 to 1958); founder and first priest administrator
  • Fr John Colin Stephenson MBE (1958 to 1968) [4]
  • Fr Charles David Smith (1968 to 1972)
  • Fr Alan Vincent Careful (1973 to 1981)
  • Canon Christopher Colven (1981 to 1986) [5]
  • Fr Roy Fellows (1987 to 1993)[6]
  • Fr Martin Warner SSC (1993 to 2002)
  • Fr Philip North CMP (2002 to 2008)
  • The Rt Revd Lindsay Urwin OGS (2009 to 2015); previously Bishop of Horsham
  • Fr Kevin Smith (2016 to present)[7]

Associated groups

Beyond the staff (who include a resident community, and external day staff) a number of groups are officially associated with the life of the shrine. These include:

  • The Guardians of the Shrine, who hold capitular responsibility for the governing of the shrine;
  • The Order of Our Lady of Walsingham, founded in 1953, its members, originally known as "dames" (women) or "clerks" (men), are admitted as a reward for service to the shrine; they have special privileges at Walsingham, and meet in annual chapter; since 2000 both men and women are simply styled "member" of the order;[8]
  • The Association of Priests Associate of the Holy House, founded in 1931, an association of priests who undertake to offer Mass for the shrine and who enjoy certain privileges at the shrine;[9]
  • The Society of Our Lady of Walsingham, whose members meet in local cells around the world, and pray for the life of the shrine; it was founded in 1925.[10]

References

  1. ^ "The Story so far", The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
  2. ^ "History of Walsingham", Walsingham Village, Norfolk, England
  3. ^ Barnes, Philip (2017). Streams of Healing Grace. Walsingham Review. pp. 12–13. ...prayer for wholeness and healing is so important for many pilgrims who come here, and how the experience of going to the well, followed by laying on of hands and anointing is a key part of pilgrimage to Walsingham.
  4. ^ [1] [dead link‍]
  5. ^ [2] [dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Former curate dies, age 75". Bolton Evening News. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Appointment of the next Administrator to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham". Sswsh.com. The Society. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  8. ^ [3] [dead link‍]
  9. ^ [4] [dead link‍]
  10. ^ [5] [dead link‍]

52°53′41″N 0°52′33″E / 52.8947622°N 0.875867°E / 52.8947622; 0.875867

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