Catholics celebrate first feast of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales | National Catholic Register

Father Robert Billing explained the significance of the celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic shrine in Walsingham.

Today was the first celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham.

In July, the Vatican agreed to establish a new feast day of Our Lady of Walsingham in the dioceses of England and Wales, to begin on 24 September this year.

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, expressed hope that the new feast would strengthen the faithful.

“May this annual celebration be a source of renewed grace and evangelical commitment for the Church in England and Wales, so that, in imitating Mary, the faithful may become increasingly disciples of her Son, welcoming the message of the Gospel, treasure it in their hearts and ponder it in their minds,” he said.

The Rector of the National Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Father Robert Billing, explained the significance of the feast day on the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic shrine in Walsingham.

“The establishment of a national feast day for Our Lady of Walsingham across England acknowledges not only the historic significance for Catholics of our national shrine to Our Lady on the 90th anniversary of the restoration of Walsingham Catholic Shrine, but also helps to cement our plans for the future of the shrine in terms of anticipated growth, the modernisation of our chapels and the enhancement of our overall reputation,” he said.

“We anticipate that this elevation will encourage even more pilgrims to come and stay with us on pilgrimage, especially during the Jubilee Year in 2025.”

The new feast was celebrated with the participation of about 250 faithful at the national shrine, a solemn mass, the recitation of the Angelus and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The culmination will be vespers, a benediction and a procession to the Slipper Chapel.

The celebration comes as three young Augustinians from Nigeria are due to return to the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham in England in October. This is significant because after serving at the shrine in Walsingham since the 12th century, the Augustinians were expelled as part of King Henry VIII’s “Dissolution of the Monasteries” policy in 1538.

This will be the Augustinians’ first return since then.

In the 12th century Walsingham was one of the four major sanctuaries of Christianity, alongside Rome, Jerusalem and Compostela in Spain. Pilgrims flocked to Walsingham by the thousands.

The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham was founded in 1061, according to the text of Pynson’s Ballad, which states that the Virgin Mary appeared to a pious noblewoman called Richeldis de Faverches and showed her in spirit the House of the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel welcomed Mary to Nazareth and asked her to build a replica at Walsingham as a perpetual memorial to the Annunciation.

As pilgrims flocked to Walsingham, Richeldis’ son built a priory and church, run by Augustinian canons, and the sanctuary flourished until it was destroyed by Henry VIII. It was restored in 1834, after the Anglican convert Charlotte Boyd bought the disused 14th-century Slipper Chapel at Walsingham, which she gave to the Benedictines of Downside Abbey. They gave it to the Diocese of Northampton, and on 19 August 1934, a mass was celebrated there at which the chapel was formally consecrated as a National Catholic Shrine to Our Lady.

Father Billing explained the significance of the impending arrival of the Augustinian brothers.

“Following the hard work put into the work and the support of the local bishop, I am delighted that the Nigerian Province of the Augustinian Order has responded so generously to my request and that three young friars will soon join us to minister at the Walsingham Shrine,” he said.

He continued: “Their arrival, the establishment of a new monastery in the service of the shrine, and their ministry here not only promise much for the future mission of the shrine, but also pay tribute to the tradition of the Augustinian canons who faithfully served the shrine from the 12th century until the tragic dismantling of the shrine and destruction of the monastery during the English Reformation.”

In the United States, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is located at St. Bede Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was dedicated in 1941. After visiting Walsingham in England, Father Thomas Walsh, the founding parish priest of St. Bede, commissioned Lillian Dagless to create a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, who designed and built much of the furnishings for the Slipper Chapel.