The Hermeneutic of Continuity

Joseph Shaw has written a series of posts about the walking pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham which was held by the Latin Mass Society for the first time this year: See his posts from 20-22 August. He also has plenty of photos at his flickr set . Above you can see Fr Alex Redman walking in the pilgrimage in cassock, cotta and stole. Hardnut! If you have done a walking pilgrimage, you will know what I mean. Fifty miles might sound simple but it is enough to do your feet in comprehensively if anything is slightly out of kilter, and any minor discomfort can magnify over the miles. Paul Smeaton got the idea going for the Pilgrimage so congratulations to him for pulling it off and to the walkers for doing the distance. You can bet that this will become a much loved and cherished tradition among them. If you do actually walk for a reasonable distance in a spirit of penance and prayer, there is something very moving about reaching the pilgrimage destination. Here the pilgrims have reac...

I am happy to publicise details of this ACN Pilgrimage and recommend it to you: Aid to the Church in Need UK – Annual Walsingham Pilgrimage of Grace – Saturday, 22nd May 2010, Feast of Saint Rita of Cascia Please join us as Aid to the Church in Need remembers suffering Christians around the world with our 2010 Pilgrimage to the Roman Catholic National Shrine in Walsingham. ACN is organising coaches from London Victoria. Should parishioners wish to join us at Walsingham, travelling independently or, perhaps, organising coaches from their locality they are very welcome to do so. For those who would like to join us on this Pilgrimage and would like more information there is a booking form downloadable from the ACN website. You could also contact us on 020 8642 8668.

Family Publications have published "A Walsingham prayer Book" to mark the 75th anniversary of the declaration of the Slipper Chapel in Walsingham as the National Shrine to Our Lady in England. The Walsingham Prayer Book includes traditional prayers and hymns to Our Lady with a particular but not exclusive focus on Walsingham, making it an excellent companion for pilgrim groups. The 64 page glossy booklet is illustrated with colour photographs throughout. It is available from Family Publications at £4.50

For the third year running, Sr Hyacinthe OP has led a group of young people on the John Paul II Ely to Walsingham pilgrimage - a 50 mile trek - asking Our Lady to pray for the New Evangelisation in England and Wales. The time on the route was spent singing, praying, popping blisters, sleeping in tents or on Church floors - anyone who has done a walking pilgrimage knows the drill! They are all back safely now and looking forward to next year's pilgrimage. Here is a photo of the group outside the Church of the Annunciation at Walsingham: ... and here's a photo from the Mass at Ely Cathedral the start of the Pilgrimage. (The rather incongruous statue above the altar is of Our Lady.) There are more photos on the Facebook group John Paul II Pilgrimage: Ely to Walsingham

Readers may be interested in this notice received from Fr Rupert McHardy at the London Oratory: Oratory Pilgrimage to Walsingham June 30th Walsingham is England's most important Marian shrine, dating back to the mid-11th century. For a number of years the Oratory has been taking a pilgrimage to this great shrine. The day includes Mass and a Procession. This year the Sung Mass will be in the Traditional Rite. A bus leaves from outside the V & A Museum at 8.30. We should be back in London by 8pm. Do encourage others to come. Tickets may be bought from the Oratory House. Bring a packed lunch with you.

The Catholic parish Church of the Annunciation in Friday Market at Walsingham has long been the worse for wear. A temporary building, it has been home for many generations of Pilgrims for Mass, the Divine Office and Pilgrimage Prayers. The new Church which is being built to replace it, is nearly finished. It will be opening for the first Mass later this month and will be consecrated next year on the Feast of the Annunciation. The round structure in front is designed for the use of Pilgrimage leaders to speak to their group before setting off on the Holy Mile to the Slipper Chapel and the Catholic shrine. A nice touch is the papal crest that is set into the stonework.

In case you are unfamiliar with this English tradition, here's a taster: I took this video on my camera at Walsingham last Saturday, on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. The various people walking past are probably from the Liverpool Union of Catholic Mothers, the Oxford Oratory or other groups gathering for the feast day. There are various theories about the origins of Morris dancing. One of the more widely accepted is that it comes from "Moorish" dancing. One of the Walsingham walkers who spent many years in the army told me that the Moorish dancing formed part of the weapons training for the Knights Templar.

The familiar Catholic statue of Our Lady of Walsingham is kept in the Slipper Chapel, about one mile from Walsingham itself. At this point, pilgrims would remove their shoes to walk the last mile to the holy House at Walsingham itself. For the feast day, the statue is especially decorated with jewels that have been donated. The Slipper Chapel itself dates back to the mid-14th century. Desecrated at the Reformation and after, it was restored at the end of the 19th century and finally re-consecrated in 1938. Until 1980. large gatherings were accommodated at the Catholic shrine by the use of an open-air sanctuary. The new Chapel of Reconciliation was opened in 1981 and consecrated in 1982. It seats 400 inside but one wall consists of panels that can be opened up to the outside when there is a larger number of pilgrims. They style is intended to resemble a Norfolk Barn.

Fr (Alfred) Hope Patten was appointed the Vicar of Walsingham in 1921 and wished to encourage devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham by having a new statue made, based on that depicted on the seal of the medieval Priory. In 1931, a "Holy House" was dedicated, enclosed within a small Church. In 1938, that Church was enlarged to for the present Anglican Shrine. Here is a rather fine ceramic of the Annunciation which is at the back of the shrine: The shrine at Walsingham traces its origin to the vision received in 1061 by the Saxon Lady Richeldis de Faverches. In her vision, she was taken to the Holy House at Nazareth. It was difficult at that time for Christians to visit the holy land because of their occupation by Muslim forces. Our Lady asked the Lady Richeldis to build an exact replica of the Holy House at Walsingham and hence Walsingham became known as "England's Nazareth." There are some curiosities at the Anglican shrine. Here is a statue of Charles, King and Ma...

Part of what used to the refectory of the Augustinian Priory at Walsingham which cared for "England's Nazareth" before Henry VIII destroyed the chapel, dissolved the priory and had the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham burnt at Chelsea. (That's Fr Milt Walsh from San Francisco Diocese in the corner.)

The local Morris dancers happened to be in Walsingham on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham (they did not know anything about the feast day.) So as well as having a larger than customary crowd of onlookers, they also had the odd processional banner going past and competition in the striking attire stakes. (I've uploaded the pictures all right but can't edit them. So you get this one in high-res. - click for "large". Some more tomorrow - and a video!)

Later today, I will drive over to Fakenham to join the walkers on the Guild of Ransom Walsingham Walk. A party has walked there from London over the last week, praying the Guild of Ransom Novena and carrying petitions from people all over England and Wales. Until a couple of years ago, the walk was done as a route march, on public roads, with each man carrying all his requisites for the week. The first year I did it, I suffered from quite bad blisters and was hobbling around for two weeks afterwards. The next year, I was better prepared and managed it without trouble. However, the roads to Walsingham which used to be quiet country routes, now carry heavy traffic, including articulated lorries, travelling in excess of 50mph and the decision was taken that the enterprise was an accident waiting to happen. Some of the experienced walkers devised an alternative route which is mainly off road. The route is much longer but the compromise was made of taking two support vehicles: two black Lon...