Walsingham Pilgrimage 2008
On 11th July a small group from St.
Michael’s set out on our annual pilgrimage to Walsingham. The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is in
Norfolk and pilgrims have been visiting it since the middle of the 11th
century.
The Lady of the Manor, Richeldis
De Faverches saw a vision of Our Lady holding in
her hand the house in Nazareth. She was told
to build in Walsingham a replica of the house where the Annunciation took
place, so that pilgrims who could not go all the way to Nazareth could go
there. Richeldis ordered the house to be
built and it soon became popular with pilgrims.
Later a Priory was built to care for the spiritual needs of the
pilgrims. Later the Slipper chapel was
built; it was here that pilgrims would remove their shoes to walk the last
‘Holy Mile’ (about 1 1/3 miles) to the shrine barefoot.
There were many Royal pilgrims including King Henry
VIII who visited the shrine on several occasions. However, during the dissolution of the
monasteries the Holy House was burnt to the ground, the Priory closed and the
statue of Our Lady destroyed. This
didn’t deter the pilgrims who gradually returned.
In the 1930’s a new shrine was built. This is made up of the Holy House and Well
inside the shrine church. There is also
accommodation for pilgrims and a refectory, which serves 3 delicious hot meals
a day to pilgrims. In the well cared for
grounds are the Stations of the Cross, including 3 large wooden crosses at
Calvary, and the altar of light, which can be used for outdoor services.
When we arrived, we found our rooms, deposited our
luggage and then made our way, quickly to the shrine church for the First
Visit. Here we started the pilgrimage by
thinking of our intentions for the weekend and visited the Holy House. The Shrine Mass followed at 6pm ,
after which Evening Prayer was said, followed by the Shrine Prayers, where the
Rosary is said. After an exhausting
afternoon of Worship we made our way to the cafeteria for a delicious
dinner. Later in the evening some of the
group sampled the night life of Walsingham before returning to our
accommodation before the lock up time of 11pm
and discovering what odd programs there are on late night TV.
The next morning we were up, bright and early for
mass, which Fr David had arranged just for our group, at 8:15 am
in the Holy House. Breakfast came after
Mass, which was followed by Stations of the Cross, which we had to do indoors
because of the bad weather. The rest of
the day was free for us to do as we wished; reading, shopping, going for a walk
or catching up on some sleep.
That evening, mass took place in the Shrine
Church, dinner followed, during which
we were joined by a group from Guilford Cathedral, who shared 2 bottles of 
wine
with us. At 8:15pm
there was a candle-lit procession of Our Lady, in which a statue of Our Lady Of Walsingham was carried around the Grounds while everybody
sang the 37 versed Walsingham hymn. Paul
had been asked to be Thurifer for this and made a
good job of leading us around the grounds.
This was followed by Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament. After this, most of the group
again went into town to sample the night life, and most of us were back before
the doors were locked on the Accommodation building at 11 pm.
At 11 am
on Sunday morning there was mass at the Parish church
of St Mary’s, Little Walsingham. So we didn’t have to get up so early, a fact
which Fr David was clearly pleased about when he sauntered into the
Cafeteria for breakfast just as the rest of the group had finished eating.
Mass was attended by several of the pilgrim
churches who were staying at the Shrine.
After Mass we made our way back to the cafeteria for lunch, there was no
time for a rest today as Sprinkling, using the water from the Well, followed by
Laying on of Hands was at 2.30 pm. We then rushed to have tea before returning
for the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction at 4 pm. Paul had once again been asked to be Thurifer and Fr David had been asked to take
Benediction. We processed around the
grounds of the Shrine again being led by the servers and Fr David holding
the Blessed Sacrament while we sang.
After this it was time for the Last Visit, a moving short service
leaving at least one pilgrim in tears, then time to head off for home. Next years
pilgrimage has already been booked, if you’ve never been to Walsingham it is
the most wonderful place to go. Although
the weekend is busy with lots of services there is plenty of time to use as you
wish and time to stop and reflect and be with the Lord. The accommodation is basic, but comfortable
and the food is excellent. Those of us
who went this year have been going for several years, it would be nice if next
year we had a few new faces join us, until you’ve
tried it you don’t know what you are missing.
By Carol and Paul
wine
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