Just under a thousand years ago...

...in the 10th century, when militant Islam was on the march in the Middle East, and pilgrims found it difficult to reach the Holy Land in safety, something happened in a small village six miles from England's Eastern coast. In the year 1061, the Saxon lady of the manor of Walsingham had a vision of Mary, Christ's own mother, who told her to build a replica of the holy house at Nazareth, where people could visit and pray.

And she did, and for centuries pilgrims came by the thousand.

And now, in the 21st century, with pilgrims still arriving, the Pope has declared Walsingham to be a Minor Basilica, opening up a new chapter for this most fascinating of holy places. You can watch and hear the Bishop reading the powerful announcement in all its English-accented Latin glory, here...

There is much rejoiicing at Walsingham, and this will be an exciting year: there are many plans to enlarge and develop the shrine...and meanwhile the number of pilgrims will grow and grow. Coincidentally, just a few days ago I had a phone call about the big "New Dawn in the Church" gathering at Walsingham this August in which I have again been invited to take part...

One of the things that fascinates me about Walsingham is its name. The "ham" part, of course, simply indicates a small town or village - as in Caterham, Birmingham (yes, it was small once!), Woldingham, Cheltenham, Nottingham...

But the "wal" bit might indicate that this was a settlement where the ancient British people lived. The Angles,Saxons and Jutes  gradually invaded Britain from - well - Saxony and Jutland and so on, as the Roman empire disintegrated,  settling first naturally enough on our eastern coasts. Over the years, the English language - its roots are of course the same as German - developed. The Saxon word for a stranger is "Welsh" oir "Walsh": so settlements of old Britons tended to have this as the prefix: hence, for example Wallington in Surrey or Wallingford in Berkshire...and, of course, Wales.

The Britons had received the Christian faith during the Roman era - the invading Anglo-Saxons were of course pagan (we still commemorate their gods in the days of the week, Mars, Tui, Woden...). But they were converted in their turn (St Augustine, 597 AD etc).

And so we come to the Saxon lady of the manor, Richeldis, in Walsingham in the 11th century. The manor was held by the Royal family - she seems to have been a relative, perhaps by marriage, of the Saxon King Harold. The year was 1061. And in 1066 came the Norman invasion...

Thus there may well be, at Walsingham, an unbroken Christian link going right the way back to the first arrival of the Faith, in Roman times...and continuing through to the present. The only break came under Henry VIII, but the link was revived again in the 20th century and today the shrine attracts pilgrims as of old...