Our Lady of Walsingham
Webmaster • September 19, 2020
The story of the Walsingham Shrine begins in Saxon times. In 1061, the Lady of the Manor, Richeldis de Faverches, was taken in spirit to Nazareth, shown the house where the
Annunciation took place and asked by Our Lady to build a replica in Norfolk. She was promise that ‘Whoever seeks my help there will not go away empty-handed.'’ The simple wooden house that she built soon became the focus of special devotion to Our Lady. The ‘Holy House’ was later. encased in stone to protect it from the elements.
In 1153, the Augustinian Canons founded a Priory to care for the spiritual needs of the pilgrims.Their magnificent Priory Church was added in the fifteenth century. Only the ruin of the Priory arch remains and archaeology has placed the site of the ‘Holy House’ in its shadow.
Walsingham became one of the foremost shrines of medieval Christendom. Among the pilgrims to the ‘Holy House’ were many royal visitors. Henry III in 1226, Edward I (eleven times), Edward II in 1315, Edward III in 1361, Richard II in 1383, Edward IV in 1469, Henry VI in 1487 (and many other times) and Henry VIII in 1511, in thanksgiving for the birth of his son, Prince Henry. In 1340, the Slipper Chapel was built at Houghton St Giles, a mile outside Walsingham. This was the final ‘station’ chapel on the way to Walsingham. It was here that pilgrims would remove their shoes to walk the final ‘Holy Mile’ to the Shrine barefoot Erasmus, the Dutch scholar, visited Walsingham in 1513 and was impressed by the splendour of the Shrine. He wrote ‘When you look in you would say it is the abode of saints, so brilliantly does it shine with gems, gold and
silver ... Our Lady stands in the dark at the right side of the altar ... a little image, remarkable neither for its size, material or workmanship.'’ This was soon to come to an end. Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and in 1538 the Priory was closed, the ‘Holy House’ burned to the ground and the statue of Our Lady taken to London to be destroyed.
In 1896 Miss Charlotte Boyd bought the Slipper Chapel, which had seen centuries of secular use. She devoted herself to its restoration. The statue of the Mother and Child was carved at Oberammergau and based on the design of the original statue - a design found on the medieval seal of Walsingham Priory, an imprint of which is in the British Museum.
The first Mass since the Reformation was offered in the Slipper Chapel on 15th August 1934 and a few days later Cardinal Francis Bourne led a pilgrimage of 10,000 people to the Chapel and declared it to be the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady. Our Lady of Walsingham, Pray for us
The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Really very busy this week as preparations for Holy Week start running full-tilt around The Presbytery . . . . Last Saturday morning Fr D celebrated a Lenten Reconciliation Service for Primary school aged children; this was also a ‘second bite at the cherry’ for those who are preparing to receive their First Eucharist in June. After the children’s service Fr D was meeting with a young couple who will be getting married in Ireland at the end of May to complete their formal marriage preparation. All parishioners are reminded that the diocese requires a minimum notice of twelve months before the date of marriage for adequate preparation to be completed. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday Fr D was meeting with a parishioner who will be Received Into Full Communion with the Church alongside her daughter being baptised at our Easter Vigil next Saturday. In the afternoon he was off down to Shoreham to attend a Governors meetings for a Primary School which is part of the BOSCO Catholic Education Trust - this is a school that Fr D was a governor for until he was asked by the bishop to help form the BOSCO Trust. Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D was upstairs in the Parish Office to meet the independent auditors the diocese uses to test a sample of parishes each year. Sacred Heart has cropped up twice in the six and a half years that Fr D has been in Cobham. When all the tests are completed around the diocese there is normally a report back to the test parishes. Fr D thinks that we are travelling in the right direction on hearing from the auditor that what normally takes about five hours in other parishes was achieved in one and a half hours, that we run a ‘tight ship!’ Thursday after celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D went off down to the diocesan offices in Crawley wearing his ‘other hat’ as a canon lawyer. He now has four cases awaiting his judgement (one and a half of which are now ready to be judged, probably around mid April). Whilst in the office he dropped off the marriage papers he’d prepared for Ireland - these now go out to the diocese in Ireland and finally to the parish where the couple are getting married. After celebrating Morning Prayer and Mass on Friday Fr D passed on the work he had done on the newsletter to Sarah for her bits to be added. Later in the morning we had the last stations and soup lunch of Lent . . . .
DO NOT FORGET ! Our annual ‘Lenten Reconciliation Service for Adults’ takes place THIS FRIDAY 27th March at 19.30 in the church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Effingham, KT24 5JP. We join with the Parish of Effingham & Fetcham in celebrating the Lord’s forgiveness ready for the great festival of Easter. We will be joined by four priests to aid us in this celebration. This is the major opportunity this Lent to ask for God’s forgiveness.
The first reading from Ezekiel is perfectly paired with the Gospel reading of the raising of Lazarus. Ezekiel hears God say very clearly that God will raise his people from the dead, animating them with the spirit that will bring them back to life. The second reading from St. Paul also addresses the Jewish and Christian theological question, “Is death the end of every thing?” Paul is as emphatic as Ezekiel. No. “The One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also.” Of course, it might seem easy to believe in life after death until we have had a loved one die. Martha and Mary might have believed in an afterlife because, as Jews, they would have been familiar with the promise from Ezekiel. Yet when their brother died and the reality of him being gone for four days sank in, they doubted too. Not only did they doubt, but they grieved deeply, and even got angry at Jesus. Martha told Jesus she believes Lazarus “will rise, in the resurrection on the last day,” but believing that didn’t lessen her other perfectly normal human emotions. Even after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, mysteries remain. Why didn’t Jesus go to Lazarus immediately when the sisters summoned him? Why did he let them experience heart-breaking sadness for four days? Why did Jesus cry if he knew he would raise Lazarus from the dead? Why did Jesus raise Lazarus but not others who died during his lifetime? Why do some people today get to experience healing miracles, but others don’t? Why do we have to wait for the resurrection of the dead to see our loved ones again? These readings today don’t solve any mysteries of our faith. They don’t give us answers about God, but they point to the complete conviction of three different biblical writers who do not doubt that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life.” Questions of the week What most stands out to you when you hear the Gospel reading today? Why? If you have lost a loved one(s), did that affect on what you believe about the afterlife? How so?
The solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord was first celebrated in the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realised. The God-Man embraces all of humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and a terrible death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Since Mary is the instrument of Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a Godgiven role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity. Mary is the virgin-mother who fulfils Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life.
Wednesday 1st April, 18.00, Arundel Cathedral, BN18 9AY. People from across our diocesan family of faith are invited to join Bishop Gerard Bradley and members of clergy at the annual Chrism Mass – one of the most beautiful Masses of the year, celebrated in Catholic cathedrals across the world in Holy Week. All are welcome.
EASTER COLLECTION FOR THE SUPPORT OF PARISH CLERGY - This provides income to the Parish for the support of clergy and may be Gift Aided. Any cheques should be made payable to the ‘Sacred Heart Parish, Cobham’ (any cheques made out personally to a member of clergy are direct gifts and cannot be received into Parish funds or Gift Aided). You will find a supply of Gift Aid Envelopes for this collection in the Church Narthex
Our singers and musicians are busy in their rehearsals for leading our liturgies during Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, & Good Friday). Any and all parishioners are more than welcome to come along and join in, no previous experience necessary. If you enjoy singing as part of a group this could be for you! Dates of the remaining rehearsals: Sat. 28 Mar. (10.30); and Wed. 1 Apr. (19.30).
The latest Deanery Newsletter is now available in the narthex and on our Parish Website. Wondering what happened to all those postcards from last Advent? The results are in! If you'd like some food for thought on Mission - this is it! What's going on around the Deanery during Holy Week and Easter? Find out in the Deanery Newsletter, come along, and you’ll be made very welcome.
Every household within the Parish is requested to complete a ‘Parishioner Registration/Census’ form so that our Parish records may be kept up to date. These forms can be obtained from the Parish Office and should be completed fully before being returned to the Parish Office. Should you move address within the Parish at any time please complete a new form and write ‘AMENDMENT’ across the top of the form. Thank you.