Fr. Barry Birch, who has led Pilgrimages to the Shrine for the past six years, is organising a Netherlands Deanery Pilgrimage to Walsingham in August. We hope many would like to join us. This will take place in August 2016.
The pilgrimage contains several aspects, including:
- The First Visit to the Holy House (as near to 4 p.m. on Monday as possible).
- A daily Mass (Eucharist).
- The Stations of the Cross.
- A Service of Sprinkling at the Well, Anointing, Confession and Laying on of hands (Tuesday evening).
- The Pilgrimage Mass (Wednesday morning).
- A Candlelight Procession followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. (Wednesday evening)
- The Last Visit to the Holy House with Intercessions (around 10am on Thursday).
Accommodation is on the basis of half board, the first meal being supper on Monday 8th August (we leave the Netherlands on August 7th) and the last meal breakfast on Thursday 11th August. The cost is £152.25 per person (£91.35 per child). Fr. Barry will need to send an initial deposit of £10 (€12,50) per person by early March and a further deposit of £20 (€25) each sometime in April.
It will be necessary for pilgrims to make their own travel arrangements, possibly getting together in small groups. It is useful if people have transport with them as there will be free time to explore the beautiful area.
Please contact him on barrybirch@hotmail.com or 070 213 40 42 as soon as you can if you are interested in joining us.
A (Very) Brief History of the Shrine:
Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus. The title derives from the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout English noblewoman, in 1061 in the 
village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England. Lady Richeldis was asked by Mary to build in imitation of the home in which the Annunciation occurred and this became both a shrine and the focus of pilgrimage to Walsingham.
Royal patronage helped the shrine to grow in wealth and popularity, receiving visits from Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Henry IV, Edward IV, Henry VII, Henry VIII and even Erasmus. It was also a place of pilgrimage for English queens – Catherine of Aragon was a regular pilgrim and her successor, Anne Boleyn, also announced an intention of making a pilgrimage.
By the time of its destruction in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII, the shrine had become one of the greatest religious centres in England, and Europe, together with Glastonbury and Canterbury. It had been a place of pilgrimage during medieval times when, due to wars and political upheaval, travel to Rome and Compostella was difficult.
The suppression of Walsingham priory came late in 1538, under the supervision of Sir Roger Townshend, a local landowner. Walsingham was famous and its fall symbolic.
The buildings were looted and largely destroyed and the site of the priory with the churchyard and gardens was granted by the Crown to Thomas Sydney. All that remained of it was the gatehouse, the chancel arch and a few outbuildings.
After nearly four hundred years the 20th century saw the restoration of pilgrimage to Walsingham as a regular feature of Christian life in the British Isles and beyond.
Today the shrine and grounds are situated in a lovely English village. The grounds contain the Shrine church, gardens with the Stations of the Cross, beautiful planting, accommodation for pilgrims, several chapels, a refectory, a café, a Shrine shop and a visitors’ centre.
Do visit the Shrine website for further information about the Shrine:
www.walsinghamanglican.org.uk.
Several of the members of our churches enjoyed the Pilgrimage last year and would love more pilgrims to join us this year. We found it a wonderful experience of releasing our worries and finding peace in our busy daily life. We were free to attend whatever we felt we needed and there were many opportunities for contemplation and private prayer.