(The new Shrine being built and will be dedicated on May 28, 2011 by His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. It is a 30 foot replica of the one in England's Nazareth.)
I am visiting Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston today, and was instantly struck with an idea: a annual National Pilgrimage to their new Shrine! Similar practices have been started with different degrees of success in the US before, but never have they had the unity that the forthcoming Ordinariate will have. Neither has there been a shrine quite like the one currently being finished in Houston.
(The courtyard that leads to the Shrine)
What better way to bring Anglican Ordinariate parishes, clergy, and people together on an annual basis like a National Pilgrimage to a Shrine here in our own country! Not to replace pilgrimages to Norfolk, of course, but it would be wonderful to have a shrine more of our own people could reasonably travel to and one we can call our own!
Next to the annual Anglican Use Conferences, which I hope will only grow in popularity, I can foresee parish trips to Houston as being an amazingly beneficial time of spiritual edification, of worshipping God through our patrimony, and for edifying each other as connections and relationships are made and sustained throughout the US Ordinariate!
(The high altar, modeled after the Slipper Chapel)
(Walsingham window)
(Houston's Holy House)
