September 25, 2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, joined some 600 Anglicans for a pilgrimage at world-renowned shrine of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in the south of France. The five day visit was sponsored by the Society of Mary and the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham, two Anglican devotional societies that honour the person of the Virgin Mary in devotion and prayer, find Anglicans sharing the Jubilee celebration of the establishing of the shrine in 1858.

Seven bishops and some 60 priests joined in a concelebrated Anglican Eucharist in the Upper Basilica of the main church. The Anglican group has had a warm welcome by shrine officials and the pilgrimage is listed in the special shrine Jubilee programme for 2008. The Archbishop preached at the International Mass, with Cardinal Kaspar of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity as the celebrant.The day marks the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, the title given to Mary at the Anglican Shrine in the tiny village of Walsinghan, Norfolk, England where Anglicans gather in the thousands each May.

Walsingham also has chapels run by the Orthodox and Roman Catholics.

The Lourdes pilgrimage consists of prayers and Communion and times of quiet. Processions are held including the beloved candlelight gathering late in the evening. Lourdes is the place where a young girl named Bernadette, experienced a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The placed is known for its grotto and springs of water that are said to have healing properties; thus on the grounds one sees many people in wheelchairs and others being helped by shrine volunteers.

At the International Mass on Wednesday the Archbishop of Canterbury preached to over 20,000 people.

Anglican Communion News Service, London