Mary the Mother of Hope & Courage
“Mary hoped against hope, in a situation which seemed entirely hopeless she still hoped that God was able to raise her son even from the dead and God did not disappoint her”.
“Like Mary, the church is called to be a mother of hope for the poor, the suffering, the humiliated, the discriminated against. The church needs to stay close to them in hope as Mary did. It is not enough to pity their sufferings,” said Fr Raniero. “People need hope just as much as they need oxygen to breathe.
“The Church was born from a moment of hope. The sudden transformation of the disciples and their enthusiasm cannot be explained otherwise. They were reborn anew to live in hope. With this hope they went on to conquer the world.
“Hope changes everything, even when nothing has changed,” he said. “The task of giving hope to the world is beyond our human capabilities – we need the help of the Holy Spirit, which was given to the early church at Pentecost”.
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, has been the preacher to the Papal Household since 1980, his words above of Mary were part of his message of hope given at the 2017 National Anglican Pilgrimage in the grounds of Walsingham Abbey on 29th May 2017. The event was part of the 10 day wave of prayer “Thy Kingdom Come”, a global ecumenical prayer movement, in which the Archbishop of Canterbury invited all traditions of faith to come together in prayer.
Isle of Wight : ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
On Saturday 27th May 2017 at St David’s RC Church in East Cowes members of the Ordinariate lead by Fr Jonathan Redvers Harris joined together with Anglicans from Godshill for a Rosary Day as part of “Thy Kingdom Come”.
Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
Walsingham : England’s Nazareth
Walsingham is the site of one of the first Marian Apparitions. In 1061 during the reign of Edward the Confessor the Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin, Mary appeared to Richeldis de Faverches of Walsingham Parva and asked her to build a replica of the house of the Holy Family in Nazareth in honour of the Annunciation. During the 12th Century Walsingham was as well known as Rome and Jerusalem and was one of Northern Europe’s most visited places of pilgrimage. England was known as Mary’s Dowry, and Walsingham was its Little Nazareth visited by Kings and Queens.
Mary’s words to Richeldis “All who are in any way distressed, or in need, let them seek me there in that little house you have made at Walsingham. To all that seek me there shall be given succour. And there at Walsingham in this little house shall be held in remembrance the great joy of my salutation when St Gabriel told me I should through humility become the mother of God’s Son.”
Walsingham Catholic Shrine
Walsingham Anglican Shrine
Walsingham Shrine Brief History
History of Pilgrimage
