Walsingham Cell
The Walsingham Cell at Christ Church exists to worship the Incarnate Lord, Jesus Christ, and honour his Mother.Honouring the Virgin Mary is not the same as worshipping her—that would be idolatry. Rather we honour her, for without her there would have been no Incarnation and without that, no salvation. Christ Jesus came into the world through Mary, and her acceptance of God’s will for her is a model for all mankind.
Our Lady has appeared in many places on earth: most famously at Lourdes, perhaps; Fatima in Portugal; Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia; Knock in Ireland; but also in England, and the tiny Norfolk village of Walsingham has been host to many thousands of pilgrims each year since the vision there in 1061, before the Norman Conquest.
This parish runs a pilgrimage of its own each summer, in which we are joined by Christians from our neighbouring Roman Catholic Churches and others from the area and further afield. It’s an ecumenical experience! We go to worship our Incarnate Lord and honour Mary in a place hallowed by her presence and where prayers are answered; and to spend time away from life’s hurly-burly to recharge the batteries. You can find out more about Walsingham and pilgrimages from the Shrine’s own website. The Millennium Pilgrimage was 7–9 July 2000, and there’s another page with an impression of what it is to be a pilgrim to Walsingham.
In June 2001 the Parish held its own “Spiritual Pilgrimage,” a day of devotion in our church which included most of the elements of an actual pilgrimage, including the Sprinkling with water from the well in the Shrine Church at Walsingham. Another page with photos and more details of what went on is being prepared.
We formed the Walsingham Cell at Christ Church in 1997, and we now have over twenty
members, meeting monthly for a Mass or to pray for specific intentions, including the Shrine at
Walsingham, its clergy and staff and the pilgrims who travel there. We try to re-create a little bit of the magic of
Walsingham in the midst of Eastbourne. Anyone is welcome to share in
the worship: if you’re in the area, come along!In the autumn of 1999 we realised a long-term ambition by getting a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham to place in the church as a focus for devotion. This was dedicated in memory of Fr Phillip Fordham (the late Vicar who founded the Cell) by local clergy including the Patron at a special service to mark the Cell’s second year, in December.
The Cell meets in the Chapel at Christ Church on the second Saturday of each month at noon. All are welcome.
The Cell’s Programme is available.
There’s a report of the Cell’s activities during the last calendar year in the Annual Report, available from our publications page.
We’ve included more information about the worship at Christ Church and what we do here.
