33 Unthank Road
Norwich, Norfolk NR2
2300 BST
I went to the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham for the first of the two "procession" services of the weekend. This one was the Procession of Our Lady of Walsingham (preceded by an Address/Homily and followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.) Now, I know not everyone is "into" Marian devotion - some may think it subtracts from focus on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But I find that Anglican Marian devotion POINTS TO the Lordship of Jesus Christ and does so through a focus on the thing that "everyone" (whoever that is) says that Anglicans understand about as well as anyone: the Incarnation.
Walsingham is a beautiful village in the middle of nowhere, made all the more interesting by the fact that it is still focused on pilgrimage to the Shrine. It is one of those places where to be a Christian (and to be an Anglican Christian, at that) is a completely NORMAL thing. You don't have to explain why you're there - everyone else is there for the same thing. Clergy have no qualms about walking around in their cassocks there (which they would certainly never do in, say, central London!) Here are a few shots of the church and its environs.
Below is the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Walsingham ("OLW") looking towards the West door. It is, quite obviously, a 20th century construction.
At the intersection where the Shrine Church is located (90 degrees from previous picture), there is a fairly high wall on one side, with a crazy traffic control system since the road narrow. The sign says, essentially, "wait here if there is an oncoming car."
Walking through the village of Little Walsingham around the wall of the Shrine, which actually contains a complex of buildings including several small chapels, a refectory (with a very attractive bar on the ground floor!), and the education department, along with offices, etc.
A horticultural triumph in an unexpected place.
Many of the houses in the village have dates on the capstone over the door. This one is from the 18th C., but I later found another one from around 1650.
Anyway, the first part of the service involved a fairly vigorous homily from Fr. Philip North, who is the Administrator of the Shrine. Surprisingly, he is a young guy - I'd be surprised if he were older than I am. It being the Eve of Pentecost, he talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the disciples' confusion in being told they would receive it (in John.) What really hit me hard was his part about a particularly Anglo-Catholic pneumatology. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not for our personal enjoyment or security - it is to enable us to go into the world and be the hands and feet of Christ. Then, everyone lit their candles and the procession began: crucifer, two torches, two (TWO!) thurifers, about 6 priests, 2 brothers of an unidentified order, and the statue of OLW carried on the shoulders of four laymen of parishes on pilgrimages there. Everyone else followed, singing the VERY LONG "Walsingham Pilgrim Hymn." (Notable for its imprecatory verse against Henry VIII for sacking the original Shrine!) Everyone returned to the Shrine Church in an amazingly orderly fashion for Benediction, during which the incense was so thick it was impossible to see the top half of the church. It was an incredibly moving, incredibly reverent event.
"Anglo-Catholic, not spiky, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham"
Mystery Worshipper: Civilized Engineer
The church: Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Little Walsingham, Norfolk
Denomination: Church of England
The building: The Shrine Church (destroyed utterly in 1538) was rebuilt around 1930. It is fairly small (see below) but quite ornate on the inside.
The cast: Fr. Philip North, preacher and priest for Benediction, and many, many assisting clergy and laypeople.
The date & time: Saturday, 10 May 2008, 8:15 PM
What was the name of the service? Address, Procession of Our Lady of Walsingham, and Benediction
How full was the building? I would guess about 150-170, but it was PACKED! The Shrine Church is not that big, and probably has permanent seating for about 100. People were standing in the back, kids were sitting in the aisles...
What were the exact opening words of the service? "Welcome to this evening's liturgy."
What books did the congregation use during the service? The "Walsingham Pilgrim Manual" is purchased by every person going with their parish on a pilgrimage to the Shrine - it is a very helpful wire-bound book about the size of a pocket calendar which contains the words to all the hymns and the prayers for the (many) services.
What musical instruments were played? Organ.
Did anything distract you? NO.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what? Transcendent, nosebleed-high, Anglo-Catholicism.
Which part of the service was like being in heaven? Kneeling on the stone floor during Benediction and getting a serious sense of the Real Presence.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place? Honestly? Nothing.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)? 9, but only because you can't make it a regular thing, for obvious reasons. I would want to be in a parish with the sorts of people I met, though, that's for sure.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian? Yes.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time? I don't think I'll forget any of it, to tell you the truth.
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