THE P RTAL
January 2017 Page 23
Letter to the Editor
From Antonia Moffat
I was delighted with the evening of honour and celebration of Our Lady of Walsingham on her great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in Westminster Cathedral . We can always count on the Cathedral for beautiful and solemn ceremonial and thanks are due for their support and encouragement for this project .
I have immense gratitude to God and his Holy Mother for the amazing night of blessing and grace in honour of Our Lady of Walsingham when her new Shrine was solemnly blessed and the statue enthroned in the Mother Cathedral of our land .
This was something God really wanted for his Blessed Mother - an honouring which is long overdue - not just in Westminster Cathedral but throughout our land .
As the statue was carried in procession there was a sense of a long line of saints , martyrs and Holy Souls in Purgatory all singing : “ When England goes back to Walsingham , Our Lady will come back to England ” and then they joined us in the singing of “ Immaculate Mary , reign o ’ er us once more , be England thy Dowry as in days of yore . Ave , Ave , Ave Maria .” It was a moment of great spiritual importance for the Church in our nation and especially for Our Lady of Walsingham .
Mark Stella Sawicki , who planned the restoration , gathered an amazing group of soldiers dedicated to Christ and His Holy Church and who deeply love the Blessed Mother .
I , in my turn , received help from many , known and unknown , priests and laity and also had wonderful support and help from the staff of the National Shrine of Our Lady .
All those soldiers of Our Lady ’ s army from England and Poland were willing to go the extra mile , and for some thousands of miles , to put their gifts and talents totally in service of God and Our Lady of Walsingham . The Polish Church has helped give England a great gift in this new shrine in Westminster Cathedral , where I am sure many thousands will come to pray and venerate Our Lady of Walsingham .
You may get a flavour of the evening by visiting the web link on the Westminster Cathedral web site .
United in prayer with Our Lady of Walsingham . Blessings
Antonia Moffatt Walsingham
The views expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of the Editors Letters for publication should be sent to :
The Editors , The Portal , 56 Woodlands Farm Road , Birmingham B24 0PG editors @ portalmag . co . uk
On 8th December in Westminster Cathedral a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was enthroned in the new Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs