Walsingham Way

by Colin Stephenson

Walsingham - England's Nazareth - is one of the most remarkable phenomena in English Church life this a restored medieval shrine in a remote part of Norfolk, to which thousands of pilgrims journey every year. An eleventh century Lady of the Manor had a vision of Mary and, following instructions, built a replica of Christ's home in Nazareth. A healing well sprang up. Pilgrims came; miracles happened. But the Reformation saw an end of the Shrine until 1921, when Fr. Hope Patten restored it. A holy and entertaining eccentric, he was Administrator at Walsingham until Colin Stephenson succeeded him. Walsingham Way is the first full-length book about the Shrine, and about Hope Patten. It is a story told with candour and a good deal of humour by the one man ideally qualified to tell it.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating history of the rise, fall, and resurrection of the Shrine to Our Lady of Walshingham. Particularly interesting is the profound impact of a parish priest on not only the shrine but those around him. Truly a quaint English story for American Christians.

[Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and detailed account of the restoration of the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham through the death of Fr Hope Patten. The modern portion includes some amusing anecdotes (familiar to those who have read the author's "Merrily on High"!) but the historical section (the shrine through the end of the 19th century) is also informative and worth reading. Fr Patten's efforts in the parish, the shrine, and surrounding ventures is treated kindly, but honestly--Stephenson is quite fair in pointing out areas in which Patten was less than successful; like Anson's treatment of Carlyle, charity prevails, but not at the expense of truth.