Our Lady of Willesden is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Christians in London, especially by Anglicans and Catholics. It is associated with the historic image (statue) and pilgrimage centre in the community of Willesden, originally a village in Middlesex, England, but now a suburb of London. The pre-Reformation shrine was home to the Black Madonna of Willesden statue.
Once a country shrine some eight miles from London, Willesden has always possessed a well, from which the community derives its name, which means "spring at the foot of the hill". [1] The well was associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and with the church dedicated to her, St Mary's, Willesden. The church and well are of great antiquity, being mentioned in a royal charter of 939. [1] Whilst the origins of the pilgrimage tradition are lost in history, it is clear that a significant volume of pilgrims visited the site, and medieval pilgrim medals were struck and sold, a number of which have been uncovered by archeological investigation. [2] Thomas More was a pilgrim here only a fortnight before his arrest. [2]
A Visitation report dated 1249 reports two statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary at St Mary's Church. [1] It is uncertain what the second image was, but the primary one was the "Black Madonna" image of Our Lady of Willesden, the central point of veneration for the pilgrims who journeyed to Willesden. The statue was said to possess miraculous powers. [3]
At the Reformation the English shrines of Mary were destroyed, and their images burned. The "Black Madonna" image of Our Lady of Willesden was dragged to Chelsea in 1538, and burned there by the King's Commissioners. [2] [3]
In a similar manner to Our Lady of Walsingham, who is venerated at twin Anglican and Roman Catholic shrines a mile apart, Our Lady of Willesden today has two shrines. The original has been restored in the Anglican parish church of St Mary, and a Roman Catholic shrine has been established about two miles away in the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Willesden, where a crowned image of Our Lady forms the focus of the shrine. At both Walsingham and Willesden the twin shrines provide a vehicle for practical ecumenical endeavour between the two traditions. [4]
At the start of the twentieth century the Reverend James Dixon, Vicar of Willesden, restored the shrine, [2] and placed a gilded image of Mary and Jesus at the location within the parish church where the original had once stood. A small number of pilgrims began visiting the shrine. The Right Reverend Graham Leonard, Bishop of Willesden 1964–1973, actively promoted pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, and in 1972 a new "Black Madonna" statue was commissioned from the sculptor Catharni Stern. [2] On completion it was set in the former chapel of St Catherine within St Mary's parish church, Willesden, and the chapel was redesignated the Shrine Chapel. A visit to this chapel is now the climax of the Willesden pilgrimage.
The older image was left in place, so that since 1972 the shrine has housed two images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as it did in medieval times according to the 1249 visitation report.
The original spring and holy well at St Mary's Church, which had become lost through disuse after the Reformation, were rediscovered in 1998, and returned to use. [4]
The original shrine at St Mary's Church is administered by the parochial church council, working in close cooperation with the Chapter of Our Lady of Willesden. The day to day direction of the Companionate is in the hands of a chapter of capitular priests (usually numbering six, of whom the vicar of St Mary's, Willesden, is a member ex officio), and laity (of whom the churchwardens of St Mary's are also ex officio members). Chapter priests of Our Lady of Willesden are distinguished by a black mozzetta with pale blue buttons, piping of blue and gold, and the seal of Our Lady of Willesden embroidered on the left breast. [5] Lay members of chapter are distinguished by a pale blue collarette from which the shrine badge is displayed.
The Companionate of Our Lady of Willesden is an Anglican devotional society for those who wish to be associated with the shrine. It is headed by an Episcopal Patron, a bishop who provides the figurative leadership of the Companions. Members, not on the chapter, are known as a priest-companion or lay-companion, as the case may be. Companions wear the seal of Our Lady of Willesden as a badge, and undertake to pray for the work of the Shrine, and to visit it on pilgrimage when able.
Private pilgrimages and parish pilgrimages journey to the shrine of Our Lady of Willesden throughout the year, but the main national pilgrimage takes place on a Saturday in July. The format of the day usually involves a public procession in the morning, a celebration of mass at midday in St Mary's parish church, a variety of stalls and entertainments during the afternoon, sprinkling at the holy well in the late afternoon, and benediction of the blessed sacrament to end the pilgrimage day.
In 1885 a Catholic Mission was established in Harlesden for the growing Irish population. "[W]ith the help of the local Convent of Jesus and Mary, devotion was fostered to Our Lady of Willesden and a new statue blessed by Cardinal Vaughan in 1892." [6] The mission was served by a temporary chapel on Manor Park Road. In 1907, a larger church was built in Crown Hill. The mission became a parish in 1918 and a new church and shrine was built in 1931. The northeast chapel is the shrine chapel of Our Lady of Willesden. [7] The Guild of Our Lady of Willesden was established in 2002. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Willesden on 3 October. [8] The annual Catholic pilgrimage takes place in May. [9]
A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinations of Christian pilgrimages.
The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. Examples of the Black Madonna can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries.
Walsingham is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses. Walsingham is 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Norwich.
Our Lady of Ipswich was a popular English Marian shrine before the English Reformation. Among Marian shrines, only the shrine at Walsingham attracted more visitors.
Our Lady of China, the Great Mother, also known as Our Lady of Donglü, is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a reputed Marian apparition in Donglü, China in 1900.
Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of God, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, but generally rejected in other Christian denominations.
Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics and High Church Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English noblewoman, in 1061 in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England. Lady Richeldis had a structure built named "The Holy House" in Walsingham which later became a shrine and place of pilgrimage.
Our Lady often refers to:
Anglican Marian theology is the summation of the doctrines and beliefs of Anglicanism concerning Mary, mother of Jesus. As Anglicans believe that Jesus was both human and God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, within the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican movement, Mary is accorded honour as the theotokos, a Koiné Greek term that means "God-bearer" or "one who gives birth to God".
The Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham, informally known as the Slipper Chapel or the Chapel of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, is a Catholic basilica in Houghton Saint Giles, Norfolk, England. Built in 1340, it was the last chapel on the pilgrim route to Walsingham.
Our Lady of Grace is a Title of Mary. The feast day associated with this title is February 7. The title of Our Lady of Grace is venerated in many countries throughout the world under various aspects. Many parishes, churches, and schools bear this name.
Our Lady of Šiluva is Roman Catholic image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated at the Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Šiluva shrine in Lithuania. The patriotic icon is highly venerated in Lithuania and is often called Lithuania's greatest treasure.
Our Mother of Sheshan or Our Lady of Sheshan (佘山聖母), also known as Our Mother of Zo-sè, is a celebrated Marian title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Chinese Roman Catholics. Among its religious devotees, the statue is sometimes known as Our Lady of Luck or Our Lady of Good Luck due to the Chinese symbology of "Fu" (福) associated with the styling posture of the entire image. The original image is currently enshrined in the National Shrine and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan, in Shanghai, China.
A pilgrimage church is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims.
The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is a Church of England shrine church built in 1938 in Walsingham, Norfolk, England. Walsingham is the site of the reputed Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches in 1061. The Virgin Mary is therefore venerated at the shrine with the title of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás is, in Catholicism, a title of veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a reported private revelation to Gladys Quiroga de Motta, a middle-aged housewife, beginning in the 1980s in the city of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina. Quiroga said that she was tasked with promoting devotion to the Mother of God under this title, with an emphasis on key passages in the Bible and a particular mystical stellar symbolism.
Our Lady of Consolation or Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Catholic Church.
St Mary and All Saints Church is the parish church of Little Walsingham in the English county of Norfolk. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All Saints. Little Walsingham was the location of the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, destroyed at the Dissolution. The Anglican shrine was revived by Alfred Hope Patten, the Vicar of Little Walsingham, in 1922, and the image of Our Lady of Walsingham was in the church until its translation to the new priory in 1931.
Our Lady of the Annunciation Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. It was built in 1897, but incorporates parts of the former church on the same site that was built in 1845 and designed by Augustus Pugin. It is located on the corner of London Road and North Everard Street in the centre of the town. Its construction was partially paid for by the then Prince of Wales, Edward VII. It was also the national shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham until 1934. It is now a pontifical shrine, and was awarded Grade II listed status in 2022.
