Unveiling the new avatar...

[TomUK]

I've had the same avatar pretty much ever since i've been here and thought it was time for a change, so here we are...

[cue to look up and to the right]

Tada!

[TomUK]

(I don't think Naomi will like it very much though)


:P

[AngCath]

Our Lady of Walsingham?

[TomUK]

It is indeed.

[longhair75]

walsingham?

[norbie]

It would be lovely if you can tell us a little more about it. I find it very beautyful. I always did respect Mary very much - She IS the Earthen Mother of Jesus and sure She went through a great Pain for this.
Norbie

[TomUK]

It would be lovely if you can tell us a little more about it. I find it very beautyful. I always did respect Mary very much - She IS the Earthen Mother of Jesus and sure She went through a great Pain for this.
Norbie

Sure. Like Longhair and Angcath said, it is an image of our Lady of Walsingham. Walsingham has always meant a huge deal to me and was hugely influential in both affirming my own faith as well as helping to establish my vocation. Walsingham is a place near the North Norfolk coast in England (think of the '[wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth]' of Britian and it's right at the top in the centre) and is Englands primary place of pilgrimage. It was established after the Lady Richeldis had a vision of the Mary in the 11th Century and she instructed Richeldis to build a replica house exactly as the Holy Family's house in Nazareth in honour of the annunciation. That is why all the images of our Lady of Walsingham include the Christ child as it is very much a shrine of the incarnation. I think it's important that the image does include Christ to help us avoid idolising Mary in any way. Also if you look at the image you'll see that Mary always has her hand gesturing towards Jesus. This helps us to understand the true role of Mary - she always points us towards her son.

Nowadays thousands of pilgrims flock Walsingham every year. Sadly the original Holy House could destroyed in the dissolution of the monastries and for a time all pilgrimages stopped to Walsingham (all public pilgrimages that is, i dare say many continued in private). Then at the end of of the 19th century Pope Leo XIII established a small chapel in Walsingham. This chapel has now spread out and forms the centre of the Roman Catholic shrine at Walsingham. However it was an Anglican early in the 20th century who lead the revival at Walsingham. Based on ancient seals he recreated an image of our Lady of Walsingham and placed in the Parish Church. A few years later he a new holy house was reconstructed and the image of our Lady was placed in there. What's amazing about this story is that when Richeldis initially started began the House, Mary indicated where it was to be built by creating a spring of water in the ground and this water became associated with healing. Sadly the original site has now been lost, but when Fr Hope Patten secured some land for building they discovered an ancient well at the site. On excavation they established that while it was probably not the original well it was certainly which ancient pilgrims would have used and in it there old walking sticks - perhaps sticks which were discarded after healings? The well now forms a central part of the pilgrimage and it too is associated with countless miracles and healings.

I am now very fortunate that i actually live less than an hour away from Walsingham and i go usually twice a year for a weekend. It is the most spiritual i have ever come across and the image i've now got in my avatar sort of sums up the story of Walsingham as well as my own spiritual story. If you need to know any more then please let me know - it is a source of great interest for me.

[longhair75]

Friend Tom,

Thanks for the explanation. my single word post "Walsingham?" was a question, as I had never heard of this shrine, nor the story of its destruction and rebirth.

[JeffreyLloyd]

Beautiful

[norbie]

Thank you Tom for this indept Report,
Norbie