| Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham[1] | |
|---|---|
| "Chapel of Saint Catherine of Alexandria" | |
"The Slipper Chapel" | |
 Front entrance of the Slipper Chapel | |
![Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham[1] is located in Norfolk](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNorfolk_UK_location_map.svg) ![Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham[1]](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fwikipedia%2fcommons%2fthumb%2f0%2f0c%2fRed_pog.svg%2f8px-Red_pog.svg.png&f=jpg&w=240) Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham[1] | |
| 52°52′52″N0°51′12″E / 52.88112°N 0.85331°E /52.88112; 0.85331 | |
| Location | Houghton Saint Giles |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Website | walsingham.org.uk |
| History | |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1340 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | National Shrine |
| Heritage designation | Grade I listed[2] |
| Designated | 6 March 1959 |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Garner |
| Style | Gothic Romanesque |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of East Anglia |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Peter Collins |
| Rector | Robert Billing[3] |
TheBasilica of Our Lady of Walsingham,[4] informally known as theSlipper Chapel or theChapel of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, is aCatholic basilica inHoughton Saint Giles,Norfolk,England. Built in 1340, it was the last chapel on thepilgrim route toWalsingham.
Pope Pius XII granted acanonical coronation to the venerated statue of theBlessed Virgin Mary under the title ofOur Lady of Walsingham presently enshrined within the chapel on 15 August 1954.
Pope Francis raised the sanctuary to the status of aminor basilica via an apostolic decree on 27 December 2015.
When the Slipper Chapel was built, Walsingham was second only toCanterbury in the ranks of importance in English pilgrimage.
In 1538, afterKing Henry VIII'sEnglish Reformation, the chapel fell into disuse and was variously used as a poor house, a forge, a cowshed[5][6] and a barn.[7] In 1863, the chapel was identified by a wealthy local woman, Miss Charlotte Pearson Boyd (1837–1906), a convert to Catholicism fromAnglicanism. She bought the building from the farm owner in 1896, restored it and then donated the chapel toDownside Abbey for Catholic use.[8] On 6 February 1897, the chapel was re-established as a shrine authorising the image for public veneration bypapal rescript fromPope Leo XIII. It was restored in 1904 byThomas Garner.
On the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August 1934, theBishop of Northampton,Laurence Youens celebrated the first publicMass in the Slipper Chapel for four hundred years, and two days later CardinalFrancis Bourne led a national pilgrimage of the Catholic bishops ofEngland and Wales and more than 10,000 people to the shrine. From this date it became the CatholicNational Shrine of Our Lady.[9]
Twenty years later on 15 August 1954,Pope Pius XII delegated hisPapal nuncio, MonsignorGerald O'Hara to crown the venerated image of the Virgin Mary under the same title in his apostolic name, funded by gold donated by female devotees and accompanied by his papal bull from theSacred Congregation of Rites.
Moments after the coronation ceremony, two white doves descended on the lap of the image, which was considered miraculous by devotees.[10][11] The ceremony was accompanied by both British and American pilots who sponsored the security for the event, and devotees who processedbarefoot in the "Holy Mile" leading into the shrine.
Many modern pilgrims remove their shoes at the Slipper Chapel and walk the last mile, called the "Holy Mile", into Walsingham barefoot. The Slipper Chapel contains a stone statue of theVirgin Mary carved byMarcel Barbeau. The statue was taken toWembley to be blessed byPope John Paul II when he visited England on 29 May 1982.
Each year on 8 September, on theFeast of the Birth of Our Lady, the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham is carried for several miles in a procession which begins at the Slipper Chapel.[5]
TheGrade II listed presbytery was built in 1904, probably by Garner.[12] Today the complex surrounding the Slipper Chapel includes the Chapel of Reconciliation, built in 1982, which can seat up to 350 people for services and can be opened towards the pilgrimage area on occasions of bigger ceremonies; a bookshop; and a tearoom.
In 2007 the Slipper Chapel featured in theBBC documentary seriesHow We Built Britain presented byDavid Dimbleby.[13][14]
Pope Francis raised the sanctuary to the status of aminor basilica on 27 December 2015, along with the Catholic shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham via a pontifical decree from theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.[15][16][17]
