Our Lady of Walsingham (England ± 1061 AD)

The presence of Mary in England started in 1061 with 3 visions. These visions were revealed to Lady Richeldis de Faverches, a widow who lived in a country house in Walsingham (England). In these visions, Mary showed the house in Nazareth where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would give birth to the Son of God. Mary asked lady Richeldis to build a copy of the house in Nazareth, sacred to the memory and honour of the announcement of Jesus’ birth, 

Mary promised “the lady” the following:
“Let anyone who seeks help and relief come to me and let them look for me in this house that you build for me in Walsingham. To all who come to find me here, I will give help.”

In the middle ages, Walsingham was one of the biggest and most popular places of pilgrimage in Europe. There was a church built around the house, to protect the house from the elements. A lot of British kings undertook a pilgrimage to Walsingham. One of the last kings was Henry VIII, who did three pilgrimages before he broke with the Roman Catholic church in 1534. After this break, he founded the Anglican church. 

Henry VIII ordered that all Roman Catholic buildings, chapels and other sanctuaries were to be destroyed. So the house and church of Walsingham were destroyed as well. The statue of Madonna was burned several years later. 

In 1920, under the command of Priest Alfred Patten (an anglican priest), the holy house was rebuilt. A small chapel with the name “Slipper Chapel (named after the people who put out their slippers when enetering the chapel), had miraculously survived the reformation. This chapel bevame the sanctuary of “our lady” in England. Walsingham now is one of the most visited places of pilgrimage in England. 

dank voor de vertaling door Karen Meijer 24092006

translated by Karen Meijer