THE P RTAL
June 2018 Page 19 precious jewels , and gold and silver . There is an iron screen both before and behind , with canopy and hangings , beside divers cloths , sticks for candles and offerings of fine account for such a church . The image is most certainly abused with much superstition , many people coming to it from Kilburn and Paddington and the neighbourhood .
“ Yes , even at our coming there were five folk praying before it , two old men and a woman with a child , and one that had brought an offering of flowers … We did strip the image that we found to be of wood , in colour like ebony , of ancient workmanship , only save the upper part is thoroughly plated with silver .”
The image was burned along with those from Walsingham , Ipswich , Caversham , and Penrhys . Yet , as with other pilgrimage places , the devotion never really died out .
Prebendary Norman Wallwork
Revd Adam Stevenson
The Irish who were building the railways in the nineteenth century were Catholic . By then persecution had softened and a priest was sent by the Archbishop of Westminster to say mass for them . Gradually the modern Catholic parish grew and the present church replaced previous ones . The Catholic shrine is wonderful , and contains a black Madonna . Indeed , so does the Anglican Parish .
The Revd Dr Phillip Swingler celebrated a beautiful mass in the Catholic parish church at which Fr Mark Woodruff gave a splendid homily , which is published on The Portal facebook page . After some coffee we listened to a splendid talk by the Parish Priest , Fr Stephen Willis , in which he took us through the history of the area , churches and shrine . We made our devotions to Our Lady of Willesden before walking the short distance to the local Methodist Church . Here we had lunch ( wonderful cup cakes provided !) and listened to a talk by the Minister , The Revd Leo Neto . Before setting off again , we celebrated the Ecumenical Office of Our Lady led by the Revd Adam Stevenson .
A short ride on a London ‘ Bus took us to the Anglican parish church where we were met by the Churchwardens , Kathy Watters and Roger Macklen . They welcomed us with a short description of the church and its history . We were able to venerate the image before singing the Akathist Hymn to The Mother of God . Fr Woodruff led us and we all joined in with the singing . This was wonderful , moving and inspirational .
This Pilgrimage , like all those organised by the Ecumenical Marian Pilgrimage Trust , was truly ecumenical . The customs , beliefs and practices of the various denominations taking part were not only respected , but celebrated . As well as Catholics , we had Anglicans , Methodists , Orthodox and Presbyterians . There may well have been others ; if there were we apologise for missing them out .
The Revd Prebendary Norman Wallwork led us in a lovely meditation on the Mother of God in the Gospel according to St John . Finally , our dear old friend The Revd Canon Stephen Gallagher led us in Sprinkling . There was just time for a welcome cup of tea and more cakes – provided by our hosts – before it was time to go home . It had been a splendid day . One felt sorry for those who were not present .
The next pilgrimage organised by the splendid Ecumenical Marian Pilgrimage Trust is to Our Lady of Walsingham from 19th to 22nd March 2019 . Details will be here in The Portal and on the Trust ’ s web site www . ecumenicalmarianpilgrimage . org . uk .
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