Changes

'''Our Lady of Walsingham''' is a title used for the [[Theotokos|Virgin Mary]]. The title derives from the belief that Mary appeared in a vision to [[Richeldis de Faverches]], a devout [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] noblewoman, in A.D. 1061 (when England was still considered part of the One Orthodox Catholic Church) in the village of [[Walsingham]] in [[Norfolk]], [[England]]. Lady Richeldis had a Holy House built in Walsingham which became a shrine and place of pilgrimage, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is the most renowned sanctuary of the Mother of God in the whole of the British Isles.

In passing on his guardianship of the Holy House, Richeldis's son Geoffrey left instructions for the building of a priory in [[Walsingham]]. The priory passed into the care of [[Canons Regular]] sometime between 1146 and 1174.

In 1169, Geoffrey granted 'to God and St. Mary and to Edwy his clerk the chapel of our Lady' which his mother had founded at Walsingham with the intention that Edwy should found a priory. These gifts were, shortly afterwards, confirmed to the Austin Canons of Walsingham by Robert de Brucurt and Roger, earl of Clare.<ref name="Norfolk Vol p 394-401">A History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 2 William Page VCH p 394-401</ref> 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 [[Santiago de Compostela|Compostella]] was difficult.<ref name=RC>{{cite web | title = Welcome message on the ''Roman Catholic Shrine'' website | url = http://www.walsingham.org.uk/romancatholic/ | accessdate = 2008-04-24}}</ref>

Royal patronage helped the shrine to grow in wealth and popularity, receiving visits from [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], [[Edward II of England|Edward II]], [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]], [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]], [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and [[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. Its wealth and prestige did not, however, prevent its being a disorderly house. The visitation of bishop Nicke in 1514 revealed that the prior was leading a scandalous life, that, among many other things, he treated the canons with insolence and brutality; the canons themselves frequented taverns and were quarrelsome.The prior William Lowth was removed and by 1526 some decent order had been restored.

The suppression of the monasteries was part of the [[English Reformation]] project. On the pretext of discovering any irregularities in their life, [[Thomas Cromwell]] organised a series of visitations, the results of which led to the suppression of smaller foundations (which did not include Walsingham) in 1536. Two years earlier the Prior, Richard Vowell, had signed their acceptance of the king's supremacy, but it did not save them. Cromwell's actions were politically motivated but the Canons, who had a number of houses in Norfolk were not noted for their piety or good order.<ref>David Knowles ''Religious Orders in England'' vol 3 p. 328</ref> The prior was evidently compliant but not all of the community felt likewise. In 1537, two lay choristers organised 'the most serious plot hatched anywhere south of the Trent',<ref>Geoffrey Elton ''Policy and Police'' (Cambridge 1972) p. 144</ref> intended to resist what they feared, rightly as it turned out, would happen to their foundation. Eleven men were executed as a result. 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: bishop Latimer wrote of the image of Our Lady''"She hath been the Devil's instrument, I fear, to bring many to eternal fire; now she herself with her older sister of Walsingham, her younger sister of Ipswich, and their two sisters of Doncaster and Penrhys will make a jolly muster in Smithfield. They would not be all day in burning".''

A [[Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate|Western Rite]] [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Orthodox]] parish named for Our Lady of Walsingham is in [[Mesquite, Texas]].