4 May 2020

Spiritual Pilgrimage

In accordance with suggestions received, I here give the "Spiritual Pilgrimage"' locations for the rest of May. They are the Medieval English shrines as listed in the little Walsingham booklet I mentioned before. As I suggested, one could go a-roaming to foreign shrines too; and to English-Welsh modern shrines. There is, for example, the Shrine at the Oratory Church in Cardiff; there is our Lady of Light, once at S Hilary in Cornwall and also at Posbury S Francis in Devon and Clacton on Sea in Essex  ... suggestions welcome on this thread ...

4: Our Lady of Westminster (at the North door of the Abbey and in its Pew Chapel, and in Westminster Cathedral.
5: Our Lady of Grace at the Pillar in S Paul's Cathedral.
6: Our Lady at the Oak in Islington.
7: Our Lady of Willesden.
8: Our Lady of Muswell.
9: Our Lady of Oxford.
10: Our Lady of Grace at Cambridge.
11: Our Lady of Coventry.
12: Our Lady of Grace of Ipswich.
13: Our Lady of Thetford.
14:Our Lady of Woolpit.
15: Our Lady of Abingdon.
16: Our Lady of Pity in the Galilee at Durham.
17: Our Lady on the Bridge at Wakefield.
18: Our Lady of the White Friars in Doncaster.
19: Our Lady at the Pillar, St Edmundsbury.
20: Our Lady of Evesham.
21: Our Lady of the Four Candles at S Alban's.
22: Our Lady of Pity in the Rock at Dover.
23: Our Lady in the Park, near Liskeard in Cornwall.
24: Our Lady in the Wood, near Epworth in Lincolnshire.
25: Our Lady of Winchester.
26: Our Lady of Windsor.
27: Our Lady of Peace, at Winfarthing in Norfolk.
28: Our Lady of Ardenburgh, in the Church of S Nicholas in Yarmouth.
29: Our Lady at the Oak, in S Martin's, Norwich.
30: Our Lady on the Red Mount, King's Lynn.
31: Our Lady of Walsingham.

14 comments:

Pelerin said...

Readers who would like to 'venture further afield' may like to know that there is a webcam in the Grotto in Lourdes and Masses, the recitation of the Rosary and other prayers can be seen there throughout the day. There is a list on their website giving the details of which languages are used at which times.

E sapelion said...

Definitely not in England - Our Lady of Rushen, Casteltown, Isle of Man
The statue (lost at the reformation) miraculously repelled an invasion in 1249. At that time the Bishop's Metropolitan was Nidaros (Drontheim/Trondheim).
Feast recently reinstated on September 12th.
https://vimeo.com/219826235

Gerry D said...

I'd offer Our Lady of Caversham, with the restored shrine at Our Lady and St Anne. See https://www.ourladyandstanne.org.uk/the-shrine/history/

Gerry D said...

I'd offer Our Lady of Caversham, with the restored shrine at Our Lady and St Anne's, Caversham. See https://www.ourladyandstanne.org.uk/the-shrine/history/

Denys said...

Could you say more about the shrine at Posbury?I visited last year and met Sr Giovanna, the last sister,but the convent has now been sold. Was it a statue from St Hilary?

Matthew said...

"Our Lady of the Park" (at Ladye Park, near Liskeard) is sadly inaccessible since the property changed hands a few years ago. Some information here: http://www.ladyepark.maryqueenofpeace.info. The brief revival of activity was chronicled in the fascinating if rather excitably-written book mentioned on that site; I was foolish enough to lend my copy to someone who failed to return it.

Matthew said...

And in Wales the restored mediaeval shrine of Our Lady of the Taper in Cardigan, that of Our Lady of Penrhys in the Rhondda, and the cult of Our Ladye of Llanthony at Capel-y-ffin, where she appeared to the four Monastery Boys on 30 August 1880 and to them and others over the following two weeks. See fatherignatius.org.uk, and for a dispassionate and measured account of these phenomena the appropriate chapter in 'New Llanthony Abbey: Father Ignatius's Monastery at Capel-y-ffin' by Hugh Allen (Peterscourt Press 2016).

william arthurs said...

A historical comment: it's nice that the (interwar) Our Lady of Muswell church on Colney Hatch Lane is only a short distance from the presumed site of the now-lost well, on Wellfield Avenue, N10. I used to live just round the corner in the early 1990s.

Colin Spinks said...

I thought the one at St Alban's was Our Lady of the Fork Handles.

Simon Cotton said...

In the late Middle Ages there were many 'local' shrines which attracted pilgrims within a small radius (say 20 miles). One of these was Our Lady of Pity at Kersey in Suffolk, indulgenced by Pope Paul II in 1464. The niche that was probably occupied by the statue can still be seen.

Josephus Muris Saliensis said...

Are we to infer that Muswell is a corruption of ‘Mary’s Well’?

Joshua said...

Dear Fr Hunwicke,

May I suggest the following very minor alterations to the delightful prayer, for use by those not living in England, and two additions?

(1) O most Blessed Virgin Mother of God, conceived without original sin, in mind and spirit I visit thy churches, altars, and shrines, venerated by our forefathers in this [ —>that] land once acknowledged as thy Dowry, but more especially today I wish to place myself before thy Shrine at ... ... ... , humbly seeking to be numbered amongst the pilgrims who have sought thee in this [ —> that] place and to receive through thy prayers those graces which have ever flowed from thy Sanctuaries.

(2) Our Lady of N., pray for us.

(3) Ave, Salve, Gaude, Vale, O Maria!

The last is a series of pious medieval exclamations (referenced in the Pietas Mariana Britannica, pages 160 and 178), whereby we may cry, "Hail, Welcome, Rejoice, Farewell, O Mary!" - and which may summarise our reverential approach in spirit to Our Lady at one of her particular shrines, and our grateful farewell to her as we return from that moment of elevation to our quotidian state.

Zephyrinus said...


Dear Reverend Fr. May I please offer the following, to add to your excellent Post on Spiritual Pilgrimages to Our Lady's Churches/Chapels ?

The Mediaeval Chapel of Our Lady of Dode, aka Our Lady Of The Meadows. The Last Mass (Latin, of course) was in 1367. It is the only remnant of this Kent Village wiped out in The Black Death in 1347. As a result, this Church has never had anything other than a Traditional Latin Mass Celebrated within it.

For further information, please see the Post on https://zephyrinus-zephyrinus.blogspot.com/2017/12/dode-church-our-lady-of-meadows-prior.html

in Domino
Zephyrinus

Matthew said...

Very sad to watch Zephyrinus's video of O.L. of Dode. Just as well he didn't take us inside; the heart grieves over what indignities and blasphemies this sanctuary may have been subjected to since its rebuilding. Doubtless the spirit of the Dode Child will continue its hauntings until it has been cleansed of its impurities and restored to orthodox religious activity.