THE
P RTAL
May 2019
Page 21
OLW visits Warwick Street
T he P ortal was present too
A s part
of her Dowry Pilgrimage around the Catholic cathedrals of this land, the image of Our
Lady of Walsingham visited our Mother Church of The Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street in
London. There were three days of celebration, and The Portal just had to be present.
On the Saturday, as well as devotions all day and – of
course – holy mass, Choral Evensong and Benediction
was a highlight. Members of other denominations were
invited to make it a truly Ecumenical Event as befits
the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
We are, after all, an Ecumenical People in the Catholic
Church. The CofE Bishop, Robert Ladds, accepted the
invitation to preach. He not only accepted, but gave a
most excellent homily.
on the Dowry. He began by explaining about Dowry,
Our Lady and England. “Unique among all the
nations, the Catholics of England have believed for
centuries that their country is in a special sense the
“Dowry of Mary.”
The word “dowry” (from the Latin dos, meaning
“donation”, “gift” or “endowment”) is commonly
understood as the donation accompanying a bride
upon marriage. In medieval English law, however,
He began with Blessed John Henry Newman’s the meaning was reversed, in that a husband would
profound thoughts on Our Lady. His meditations set apart a portion of his estate designated for the
on Our Lady were composed towards the end of maintenance of his wife, should she become a widow.
Newman’s long life, but have roots traceable back to his On landed estates the ‘Dower House’ is a property set
days at St Mary’s Oxford. Bishop Ladds was especially aside for precisely that purpose.
drawn to Newman’s meditation for the 4 th May where
Mary is “Virgo Praedicanda” the Virgin who is to be
The historical understanding of England as “Mary’s
Proclaimed, the Virgin to be Heralded, literally the Dowry” is understood in this sense — that England
Virgin to be Preached.
has been “set apart” for Our Lady. Indeed, the very
use of the term ‘Our Lady’ or the “The Lady Mary” to
He told us that Dowry is centred on giving, brought refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, although common
with a promise; the giving being our devotion and in Western Europe from the twelfth century onwards,
the gift that of the Incarnation of Our Lord. He said, has a more ancient history in England, where the first
“Preaching Mary is to be the Glory of that child upon extant example comes from an Anglo-Saxon poet at
the throne of her knee, because it makes known the the end of the eighth century.
very salvation of the world – the wonder of God’s love
for each human soul.” He continued, “Here, in our
Towards the end of his talk, Mgr Armitage asked,
own time, and at this present moment, we have the “What does it mean to re-dedicate England as the
privilege of preaching Mary, that this Dowry of the Dowry of Mary today?” He answered his own question,
Annunciation might be again more greatly and widely “In the past, England was given as a gift to Our Lady,
known and seen again in our own generation.”
a donation reflecting the great love of her people who
sought Mary’s prayers and protection.
At the reception that followed our worship, Bishop
Ladds told The Portal, “I have always felt that Our
The gift to be given in 2020 will likewise reflect that
Lady is both the cause of unity and the path to unity. same love of the Mother of God, but what will be
I feel Our Lady is the cause of unity because from the offered will not be the country of England, but the
cross she is given to be our mother, with no distinction gift of the personal faith of the people of this country
she is given to be our mother. She is the mother of as we seek once again the prayers and protection of
all believers, so I think she is the cause of our unity. the Mother God. In particular, we ask Mary to assist
I also think, because she is the bearer of the word, the Church in the New Evangelisation, bringing the
the Immaculate Virgin, that she is the inspiration of Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of today by
all Christians. Therefore, she is the road to unity. She the witness of the Catholic community.”
gives us that which unifies us, which is our faith.”
We all look forward to this re-dedication. T he P ortal
Earlier, Mgr John Armitage, Rector of the Catholic will have all the details as they are published, both here
Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham had given a talk and on our Facebook page.