Walsingham has had an amazing history and has an even more wonderful future to look forward to. You will find quite a lot about its history and message on other pages in this section of the site.
By way of introduction we can say that the inspiration for the name of our community was received in the Slipper Chapel itself. Hence we see the community as a particular gift of Our Lady to the Blessed Trinity. She is our mother, sister, teacher and model of discipleship and the one who is the cause of our joy. She has accompanied us closely throughout the years and we have no doubt that she will be especially close as we open a permanent base there in June 2016 .
We have been invited by Bishop Alan Hopes (bishop of East Anglia Diocese) to run the new retreat centre for the shrine. It will be called the House of Our Lady’s Dowry and will open its doors to residential guests in late 2016. We will be involved in running the Welcome Centre based in the House and will offer spiritual accompaniment for retreat ants and those living in the area. In effect, we will be running it on similar terms to our presence at Abbotswick.
We know that Our Lady will also provide our own house in or near Walsingham when the time is right. In the meantime, we are looking for a field nearby where we can build hermitages for those wishing to spend more time in solitude in England’s Nazareth.
We are part of the pastoral team being established at the Shrine (which is now a minor Basilica since the end of 2015) and the developments there are well worth keeping up with. Walsingham, under the care of Fr John Armitage, is slowly becoming the centre for evangelisation that we always hoped it would become. You can even watch Mass live from the Basilica here: http://www.walsingham.org.uk/live-stream