Our Lady of Walsingham

Our Lady of Walsingham is a title given to Mary, the mother of Jesus, venerated by Catholics and high-church Anglicans. According to tradition, the title is linked to a Marian vision experienced in 1061 by Lady Richeldis de Faverches, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and widow, in the village of Walsingham, Norfolk, England. In this vision vouchsafed to Lady Richeldis, the Blessed Virgin Mary showed her the Holy House in Nazareth and commissioned her to construct a counterpart in Walsingham, dedicated to the sacred mystery of the Annunciation.

The reputed appearance of the Virgin Mary to Lady Richeldis is one of the earliest recorded Marian visions in England and was central to the establishment of Walsingham as a pilgrimage site. The shrine became a major pilgrimage site during the medieval period, attracting worshippers from across England and Europe. After Lady Richeldis' death, her son, Geoffrey de Faverches, inherited the estate and entrusted the care of the Holy House to his chaplain, Edwy. Before his death, Geoffrey left instructions for the establishment of a religious foundation, which led to the founding of Walsingham Priory between 1146 and 1174. The priory was eventually placed under the care of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, further solidifying Walsingham's role as a centre of Marian devotion in England.

During the Middle Ages, Walsingham grew into one of England's most significant pilgrimage destinations, attracting royalty and commoners alike. Though the original shrine was dismantled during the English Reformation, the tradition of pilgrimage to Walsingham was revived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and it remains a significant centre for devotion among both Catholics and Anglicans.

By a papal rescript issued on 6 February 1897, Pope Leo XIII blessed a venerated image for the restored medieval sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham. At the time, the Catholic community of Walsingham was under the pastoral care of the Catholic parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation in King's Lynn, which was designated as the Catholic national shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. The image was sent from Rome and placed in the Lady Chapel at the newly built Catholic parish church of King's Lynn on 19 August 1897. Designed with inspiration from the Holy House within the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto, the Lady Chapel reflected elements of its revered Marian tradition. Catholics undertook the first organised pilgrimage to Walsingham since the English Reformation, travelling from King's Lynn to the 14th-century Slipper Chapel in Houghton St Giles, one mile from Walsingham. The chapel had been purchased by Charlotte Boyd in 1895 and restored for Catholic devotion. Approximately 40–50 Catholics participated in this first public pilgrimage to Walsingham, initiating an annual pilgrimage traditionally held at Whitsun (the Feast of Pentecost). The shrine remained at King's Lynn until 1934, when it was transferred to the Slipper Chapel.

On 15 August 1954, Pope Pius XII granted a canonical coronation to the venerated image of Our Lady of Walsingham. The coronation was carried out by the papal nuncio, Bishop Gerald O'Hara, with a gold crown funded by gold and jewels donated by Catholic women from across the country. The image is now venerated at the Catholic National Shrine in the Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham, which incorporates the Slipper Chapel.

The feast day of Our Lady of Walsingham is observed on 24 September in both the Anglican and Catholic churches. Anglicans, particularly those in the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham and at the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, also commemorate an additional feast of translation on 15 October each year, marking the anniversary of the translation of the image from Walsingham's parish church to the shrine church in 1931. In the United States, some local churches recognise 15 October as the principal feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, including the Episcopal Church (Anglican Communion) and Western Rite Orthodox churches of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.