Our Lady of Walsingham - Rector's Rambling for October 15, 2017

On October 15, 1931, a wonderful occasion occurred in a small town in Norfolk, England.  Fr. Alfred Hope Patten, SSC, of the Church of England had been appointed parish priest 10 years earlier, and it was his hope that the nearby ancient shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham could be restored.  On this day, in 1931, the statue his parish had had carved based on the original was processed to the newly restored Shrine Chapel.

In 1061, Lady Richeldis de Faverches had an apparition from Mary and built a shrine of the Holy House of the Holy Family.  It soon became a place of great pilgrimage in England to honor Our Lord and His mother.  Seven kings of England, including King Henry VIII, made pilgrimages to the shrine.  It was a place of great devotion, healing, and faith.

But at the reformation the shrine was destroyed, due to the politics of the religious orders’ continued adherence to Roman Authority, the king’s need for wealth to fund his wars (the Shrine was quite wealthy in items and landholdings), and the theological leanings of some of the holders of the extremist doctrines of the continent.

By the early 20th century, the time was ripe for the restoration, and since 1931, Walsingham has again been a place of great devotion to Our Lord and His mother.  The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches have also established pilgrimage points there, and again God is glorified in this place.

Here at St. John’s we have a copy of the Walsingham Shrine in our chapel, to the left of the altar area.  Though it is not much smaller than the one in England, in the carving St. Mary is holding her Son, and this area is a place where we can pray to Jesus and ask Mary to pray with us to Him, to God’s greater honor and glory.

Thanks be to God for Fr. Patten, and for all those who recognized that there are holy places that inspire greater holiness for the faithful.  May St. John’s also be a holy place as well.