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  Administrator's Letter

 

Bishop Lindsay Urwin OGS, the Shrine Administrator writes:
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Recently the Shrine was given an extraordinary stone sculpture of the Annunciation which we think was originally from a French Cathedral.

What is so interesting and thought provoking is that the space one associates with Mary’s womb is carved in stone rings, as one imagines a pond when a stone has disturbed the waters, or perhaps even more so of an explosion as its consequences radiate beyond the point of impact.

Of course in this case it is above all an explosion of love and mercy, a continual echoing of God’s yes to our best, if fitful, pleas for forgiveness and restoration. Even Mary’s yes is small in comparison to God’s most positive of responses to my wayward heart.

Like all good art it draws more from us than perhaps the artist intended. In this carving, the fingers of Mary’s right hand are drawn together and placed right in the centre of the place of divine impact, the place of the implanting of the One whom we believe to be both God and man. As I write this, the closeness of Holy Week makes me think of another who was invited to put his fingers into a place of glorious impact. Jesus invited Thomas to touch his wounds and they became for him the place of recognition. It truly was the risen Lord!

Did he dare to be obedient? Did he actually do what Jesus asked and touch the wounds caused by his and all our sins? Scholars and preachers have disagreed. Some say the sight of them was enough to elicit the acclamation of faith.

I hope so much that he did! For those wounds are first a gift from the Son to the Father, and then a gift to Thomas and to us, given, as the much beloved Anima Christi prayer reminds us, to hide in, to shelter in. Those glorious scars invite us to touch and to trust in their efficacy.

It seems to me that we find a clue to what is happening through the Church’s ministry of healing by reflecting on this resurrection encounter. Whether it is the laying on of hands or the Sacraments of Anointing and Confession, these various ways are given by the

Lord to us who cannot see him physically ‘because’, as Newman says in a sermon ‘historically speaking, time has gone on, and the Holy One is away’. They ‘bring us again under His shadow’. In these sacred encounters we entrust our own wounded selves into those risen ‘yet visible above’ wounds, with the hope of transformation and renewal. We do not tell him what to do, but ask ‘our Lord and God’ for mercy and grace hoping for a touch now of the resurrection that is to come.

I am convinced that Mary wants this place to be known increasingly as a place of healing and reconciliation. Our Saturday and Tuesday evening liturgies when these ministries are particularly offered seem alive with a sense of God’s desire to reach out to a bruised and hurting world, and to those with secret burdens of unforgiveness. On such occasions, Mary, who has her moments in the pilgrimage routine, seems content to leave centre stage as her Son gives that which only he can give. Many of you will know what I mean when I say that there is a palpable sense of the Spirit at work, sometimes wrestling with a fearful heart, sometimes bringing the unsure forward for anointing, sometimes gently drawing a pilgrim from their seat to an unplanned encounter in the confessional. I have lost count of the number of times I have had to find more priests and discreet corners in the Church because there are so many wanting to be unburdened of their sins.

These days Sisters from the Convent share in the ministry of laying on of hands and their ministry is clearly appreciated as pilgrims patiently queue at the side chapels to ask for prayer for themselves or another. The gentle murmuring of needs, the entrusting ‘Amen’ following the silence of the laying on of hands, the quiet anointing prayers spoken with assurance by the priest, pilgrims courteously making their way around an often crowded building to find the gift they need.

Walsingham truly becomes a House of Glory, the Church is at its most beautiful, and there is no better place to be.

+Lindsay OGS Administrator


FROM THE MASTER AND THE ADMINISTRATOR

There have inevitably been many responses to the announcement on Tuesday 20 October of the forthcoming publication of an Apostolic Constitution that would provide for some a possible and appropriate way to full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The details of the Constitution will require careful study and consideration in due course.

We appreciate this initiative from the Holy Father; as Guardians of the Anglican Shrine we remain committed to searching for the paths that lead to unity and wish to identify with the statement by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster:

The Apostolic Constitution is further recognition of the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition. Without the dialogues of the past forty years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured. In this sense, this Apostolic Constitution is one consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

The on-going official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion provides the basis for our continuing cooperation. The Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) agreements make clear the path we will follow together.

In Walsingham we speak of two Shrines but one domain. We live daily with the knowledge and joys of our common faith, as well as the reality and diminishment caused by our sad divisions. Our daily prayer is for the unity that Christ wills. Until that gift is realised between our two communions we remain committed to the pattern of discipleship outlined by the Archbishops, in which “we grow together in unity and mission, in witness to the Gospel in our country, and in the Church at large”.

Martin Warner
Master of the Guardians
+ Lindsay Urwin
 Administrator
 
   

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