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Our Lady of the Annunciation in King’s Lynn is soon to mark the 125th anniversary of its foundation and of the restoration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Bishop Alan Hopes will be celebrating a Mass in King’s Lynn at 12 noon on Friday June 10 to mark the historic anniversary.
The year 1897 was when Pope Leo XIII made a prophecy concerning Our Lady’s Shrine, initially restored in King’s Lynn Mission, which at that time included Walsingham.
As Pope Leo signed the rescript for the Restoration of Our Lady’s Shrine he said, “When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will come back to England.”
A newsletter from the Shrine in Walsingham comments on the significance of his words: “The presence of Our Lady of Walsingham invites us all to meditate on the missionary role of Our Lady of Walsingham for the re-evangelisation and conversion of England.
“Catholic England is yet to truly awaken to this call. Many thousands during the Dowry Tour of Our Lady of Walsingham greeted Our Blessed Mother of Walsingham in the various English catholic Cathedrals, and hundreds of thousands have gone on pilgrimage to her hallowed Shrine in Walsingham. What remains is for all Catholics of all parishes in England, Mary’s Dowry to acknowledge her and the great calling upon them as Catholics of England, Mary’s Dowry.
“For it is only when Catholics awaken and become holy that we can hope for the conversion of the entire Realm.”
In February Our Lady of the Annunciation in King’s Lynn celebrated the anniversary of what is known as the ‘Rescript’. In 1897, at the request of Fr Philip Fletcher, Master of the Guild of Our Lady of Walsingham and Fr George Wrigglesworth, Rector of King’s Lynn, Pope Leo XIII gave permission for the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which had been destroyed in 1538, to be restored in the Church of the King’s Lynn Mission, which at that time included Walsingham. The anniversary was celebrated with a Latin Mass celebrated by Fr Henry Whisenant and tea in the Wrigglesworth room.
To continue the commemorations there will be a ticketed wine and cheese evening on Friday June 3 beginning at 6pm. This will be followed by a flower festival from 12 noon to 6pm from June 4 to 10.
On Sunday June 10 the choir of St Austin’s Wakefield on tour of Norfolk will sing plainchant at the 11.30am Mass. On June 12 there will be a garden party from 2.30pm to 4.30pm at London Road with the King’s Lynn town band, with tea, stalls and games for all the family.
Pictured above is the Slipper Chapel in Walsingham.
