Who is Our Lady of Walsingham and why is she important?

Our Lady of Walsingham is a primary patron of Catholics in England and is connected to a series of apparitions in the 11th century.

Catholicism in England has a rich history and a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Catholics for many centuries invoked the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Walsingham.

This particular title is linked to a series of apparitions to a woman named Richeldis that took place in the 11th century in England.

Our Lady of Walsingham

The Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham offers the following history of these apparitions:

“Our Lady led Richeldis in spirit to Nazareth and showed her the house where the angel had greeted her. ‘Look, daughter,’ said Our Lady. ‘Take the measurements of this house and erect another one like it in Walsingham, dedicated to praising and honoring me. All who come there shall find help in their need.
‘It shall be a perpetual memorial to the great joy of the Annunciation, ground and origin of all my joys and the root of humanity’s gracious Redemption. This came about through Gabriel’s message that I would be a mother through my humility, and conceive God’s Son in virginity.'” [Pynson Ballad 1485]

Richeldis built this Holy House, and the shrine at Our Lady of Walsingham became known as “England’s Nazareth.”

It was a place of pilgrimage for many centuries, but was destroyedin the 16th century following the Reformation.

During the 19th century a local chapel that was on the way to Walsignham was purchased by a Catholic and restored to Catholic use.

Furthermore, “In 1897, by rescript of Pope Leo XIII, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham was restored with the building of a Holy House as the Lady Chapel of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, at King’s Lynn.”

Most recently Pope Benedict XVI created an ordinariate for Anglicans seeking to maintain their unique liturgical traditions, but who wanted to belong to the Catholic Church:

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was erected by decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the same day [January 15, 2011].

Devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham has seen a new resurgence in recent years and thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine in England annually.