Happy Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham! As many of you will know, over the past two years we have been running a major fundraising campaign for the purchase of a house in Walsingham which we had been offered. We are delighted to announce that we have now purchased the property with our house in Dereham remaining as our formation house.
When we first embarked on this campaign it was with total trust in God’s providence, recognising that if he wanted it, he would bring things through to completion. The campaign was called Mary’s House Appeal as we see our mission house being very much a house for Our Lady, to be used to spread the joy of the Annunciation and to be a place of welcome for all the people she may bring there in the future.
We cannot thank you all enough for your donations and prayer support that made the purchase possible. We said throughout the fundraising campaign that even the smallest donation makes a difference and it really did: in the end it all built up and enabled us to obtain this amazing and unique property. As none of the rooms are suitable for a chapel, the fundraising will continue so we can eventually, with the necessary permissions, build a small chapel in the beautiful gardens.
Click HERE for further information and to donate to this appeal 
On Monday 23rd September, the vigil of the First National Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, early in the morning during morning prayer, Valentina (originally from the mountainous regions of northern Italy) was accepted into novitiate in our little chapel.On this occassion she also received the community medal which shows Our Lady of Walsingham on one side and the scene of the Annunciation on the reverse side.
In Sr Mairead’s own words: ‘How can I speak of the day: amazing, never thought the day of my first vows could be filled with so many graces and blessings. It was wonderful to share the day with some of my family from Ireland and France and friends from different parts of my life in the UK and of course with my sisters in COLW. All have been part of the journey to this every special day. I really feel that I am answering a call from God and I trust Him in the path He is leading me on. It is hard to pinpoint one moment in the past when I first thought, “Is God really calling me to religious life? No, He can’t be, so I’ll ignore it!” God had other ideas, in particular over the last 7 years and gradually an ever deepening desire to know more about my faith and COLW, helped me overcome fears and gain the courage to take the steps leading to first vows’.
