“Our Lady Of Grace”. Mediæval Marian Shrine, Cambridge, England. “Our Lady Of Grace” Is The Patron Saint Of Motor-Cyclists.

The present Chapel at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. The statue of Our Lady of Grace, in Cambridge, was in The Dominican Priory on the Eastern Side of the Town centre. In 1584, Emmanuel College was established on the site of the former Dominican Priory. What had been The Chapel of The Dominican Priory became the Dining Hall of Emmanuel College.

Illustration: EMMANUEL COLLEGE

Steve McQueen's 1934 Indian Sport Scout Motorcycle.

“Our Lady Of Grace” Is The Patron Saint Of Motor-Cyclists.

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“Our Lady of Grace”, in Cambridge.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,

ONCE I WAS A CLEVER BOY

Fr Hunwicke’s Spiritual Pilgrimage (see FR HUNWICKE'S MUTUAL ENRICHMENT). around the Mediæval Marian shrines of England, today reaches Our Lady of Grace in Cambridge. This is another of those Shrines which is not well known today, but which, before its removal in 1538, attracted considerable Devotion.

In general, the expression “Our Lady of Grace” is of Mediæval origin. It is especially well known in France, and connected there frequently with the Marian Sanctuary of Cambrai, which originated in 1412.

However, the Title appears to be considerably older - the Shrine at Ipswich was also Dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, and that goes back to at least 1152.

The origins of this particular Title are much older still. They are of Biblical origin, where Mary is called “kecharitomene”: “The Fully-Graced One”, “The All-Graced One” (Lk 1:28). The Eastern Tradition calls Mary “Panhagia”: “The All-Holy One”.

The first meaning of Our Lady of Grace refers to her own Holiness. However, very early on, Mary was invoked as “The Uniquely Blessed One” (see the “Sub Tuum Præsidium”, dating to the 4th-Century A.D.) and as “The Mother of Mercy” (see the great Orthodox Acathist Hymn, perhaps originating around 530 A.D., and certainly before 626 A.D.). She is also the one who intercedes for us with God to obtain His Grace.

The statue of Our Lady of Grace in Cambridge was in The Dominican Priory on the Eastern Side of the Town centre. 

On 30 August 1538, Bishop John Hilsey O.P., of Rochester, Kent, the successor of Saint John Fisher, but a reform-minded Dominican who, that same year, publicly derided the Veneration of The Holy Rood, of Boxley, and The Holy Blood, of Hailes, wrote to Thomas Cromwell, from London.

The bearer of the Letter was The Prior of The Black Friars at Cambridge, Gregory Dod, who was, in the opinion of the Bishop, “a man of good learning and a Preacher of God’s true Gospel”, who wished to be allowed to take away an image of Our Lady in his house, “which has had much Pilgrimage to her, especially at Sturbridge Fair, which is drawing near.” Hilsey continued by asking Cromwell to take the Cambridge house into the King's hands.

From Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII, xiii(2) 224. 

This is not quite as the story told in The History of The University of Cambridge (Vol I, P 330, N 119), which has Thomas Cromwell initiating its removal, although he did doubtless happily concur with Prior Dod’s request.

In 1584, Emmanuel College was established on the site of the former Dominican Priory and what had been its Chapel became The Dining Hall.

Stourbridge Fair, at Cambridge, originated with a Charter from King John in 1211 to raise funds for the local Leper Hospital, by granting them a two-day Fair at The Feast of The Exaltation of The Holy Cross.

This was just after The University of Cambridge was begun in 1208. With both the new Academic Foundation, and The Fair, Cambridge, being a focus of routes, meant that both were to become successful.

The Fair became bigger and longer lasting, and, arguably, the largest one in England, if not, indeed, Europe, at one point. In 1538, Hilsey and Dod’s concern was that it was a focus to attract potential Pilgrims to Our Lady of Grace from the surrounding region.

Unfortunately, The Fair declined in the 19th-Century and, when it was last held in 1933, its attractions consisted of merely a youth with an ice-cream barrow. It was abolished in 1934. In 2011, a Commemoration of it was held on its 800th Anniversary and attempts have been made to revive it in some form in recent years.

There is more about Stourbridge Fair from Wikipedia at Stourbridge Fair, from the University of Cambridge at The 800-Year-Old Story Of Stourbridge Fair, and about modern attempts at a revival at Stourbridge Fair.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Our Lady of Grace is a Title of Mary. The Feast Day associated with this Title is 7 February. The Title of Our Lady of Grace is Venerated in many Countries throughout the World under various aspects. Many Parishes, Churches, and Schools bear this Title.

A major Shrine in Pre-Reformation England was that of "Our Lady of Grace", at Ipswich, also known as "Our Lady of Ipswich". Its first recorded mention is in 1152.[1]

In 1297, the marriage of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, took place at The Shrine of Our Lady of Grace.[2] During The Middle Ages, The Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Grace was a famous Pilgrimage destination, and attracted many Pilgrims, including King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon.[3]

Only Walsingham attracted more Pilgrims. At the Reformation, the Statue was taken away to London to be burned in 1538, though some claim that it survived and is preserved at Nettuno, Italy.[4] Whether it was taken there by Catholic Sailors, according to local legend, or simply sold by associates of Thomas Cromwell, the Nettuno Statue appears to bear an English provenance.[5]

The Poly-Chromed Wooden Statue of Our Lady of Grace is carried in procession every year in Nettuno on The First Saturday of May. The Anglican Church of Saint Mary At The Elms, in Ipswich, England, houses a Copy of the Nettuno Statue.[6] Every year, Parishioners from Saint Mary's and The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Pancras, Ipswich, join in a Pilgrimage to the former site of The Shrine, which was just outside the City's West Gate.

With thanks to the Web-Site of The International Marian Research Institute at Dayton Ohio, HERE.