Sunday, 26 May 2024

The Shrine Of Our Lady Of Consolation, West Grinstead, Sussex, And Its Dedicated Mass “Astitit Regina”.



Missale Romanum of Vindobonæ (Vienna), Austria, 
dated 1861.
In which is contained the Mass
IN FESTO.
BEATÆ MARIÆ VIRGINIS.
DE CONSOLATIONE APUD WEST GRINSTEAD.
SOCIETATIS CINCTURATORUM PATRONÆ.
Authorised by The Sacred Congregation of Rites, Rome,
17 July 1885.
The Mass is located in this Missal in the Section entitled:
MISSÆ PROPRIÆ
DIŒCESIUM ANGLIÆ
for the Second Sunday in July.
Photo: 25 May 2024.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zephyrinus.
All Illustrations: Zephyrinus.



The Introit of the Mass “Astitit Regina”.
(The Queen stood on Thy right hand, 
in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.)
(Psalm 44).




The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation.
Available on YouTube


The Web-Site of The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation can be found HERE

The following Text is from The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation.

Part of the Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, in West Grinstead, Sussex, is the first Shrine in honour of Our Blessed Lady to be established in England since before the Reformation.

Please use our Web-Site to discover more about the Shrine history and for information on Pilgrimages to the Shrine.

For all the latest Parish news and Mass times, please see our joint Web-Site with St Gabriel’s Church, Billingshurst.


Donations.

To make a donation, please go to the Diocese “Just Giving” page HERE and specify that your donation is for The Shrine Church of Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead.

Make a donation

Or better still please consider setting up a Standing Order, 
or increasing an existing one (for any amount, no matter how small). Please contact our Shrine Administrator, Kate Goddard, via westgrinstead@abdiocese.org.uk or phone 
01403 710273.

Thank you.


Shrine Prayer.

O God, who through The Virgin Mary has willed to give to your people the true consolation, Jesus Christ; grant to us who venerate her, under the title of Our Lady of Consolation, the grace to co-operate with her in the work of Redemption, we ask this through Christ Our Lord. 

Amen.

Our Lady of Consolation of West Grinstead, 
Have pity on us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, 
Pray for us.

Blessed Francis Bell, 
Pray for us.



History of The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation.
Available on YouTube


The following Text is from The Isle of Wight Catholic History Society. Their Web-Site is HERE

The Isle of Wight Catholic History Society arranged a Pilgrimage for The Year of Faith to The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation at West Grinstead and to Arundel Cathedral.

It is particularly pleasing for our Pilgrimage to be on this Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, 2013. (Those of us who are older Catholics, will remember it as the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, and the work of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom).

This day also marks the first anniversary of the installation of Bishop Philip Egan, as the eighth Bishop of Portsmouth.


We were delighted to have Fr. Jonathan and some members of the Ordinariate with us on the Feast of their principal Patron. If they are unable to go to Walsingham, this Pilgrimage is, surely, a most appropriate substitute.

West Grinstead was an important centre for The Church during penal times. The Faith was never lost, thanks largely to the Caryll family, who were a wealthy land-owning Sussex family who built the “Priest’s House”, (now the Presbytery) in the Mid-Sixteenth-Century.

During penal times, most Priests who secretly returned to England from abroad, headed for this West Grinstead House, ideally situated deep in the wooded area of West Sussex.


Our own two Island [Editor: Isle of Wight] Martyrs, Blessed Robert Anderton and Blessed William Marsden, were probably heading for West Grinstead when they were caught and executed in 1586.

West Grinstead’s seclusion and the well-planned secrecy with Priests disguised as servants and farm workers meant that no Priest was ever caught here. This we know from the fact that the house has survived, as it was the custom for the authorities to burn down any house where a Priest was found. From West Grinstead, Priests were sent to different parts of the Country to minister in secret to the Faithful. 

In the house is a Secret Hiding Hole for Priests and a Chapel, in what used to be the hay loft, where Secret Masses were Celebrated.


The end of the penal days brought an obvious end to the secrecy surrounding the place and the present magnificent Church was built in 1876. At the same time, a statue of Our Lady at West Grinstead was Crowned by the Papal Delegate, representing Pope Leo XIII. 

This solemn Crowning at The Shrine in the Sussex countryside, in thanksgiving for the preservation of The Faith in penal times, was the first such Crowning since the Reformation.

A school and orphanage was also opened. In 1889 Mgr. Denis’ curate, Fr. Francis Bourne (later to be Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster), started the first Diocesan Seminary for Priests here in the place where, 300 years earlier, the facilities at West Grinstead were not large enough for a Seminary, and, after a few years, it moved to a purpose-built new Seminary at Wonersh, near Guildford.


The present Shrine of Our Lady was erected in 1882 in thanksgiving for the preservation of The Faith and the important role that West Grinstead played in penal times. 

The Church, Sanctuary, and The High Altar, were Consecrated to The Glory of God and In Honour of Our Lady on 16 July 1896. 

The Shrine painting of Our Lady can be seen to the left of The High Altar with its stone canopy. The painting is based on the “Consolata” painting in Turin and the Church Dedicated to “Our Lady of Consolation”.


As you look at the Sanctuary, you will see that the Reredos depicts scenes from The Life of Mary: The Presentation; Assumption; Coronation of Our Lady; The wedding of Mary and Joseph. 

The four statues at the top of the Reredos show Saint Bruno, Saint Thomas, Saint Aloysius, Saint Francis of Assisi.

Outside in the graveyard are buried: The novelist, Antonia White; the portrait painter, James Gunn;  the famous writer and poet, Hilaire Belloc. This year (2013) marks the 60th anniversary of his death.


The Parish Priest [Editor: In 2013] is Fr. David Goddard, (a former Anglican Priest, and a contemporary of Fr. John Catlin), and is well-known to those of us in Ryde. 

About ten years ago, he visited Ryde twice to talk about the history of the Shrine and, on another occasion, about the Extraordinary Form of The Mass. 

He also advised Saint Mary’s Parish on the purchase of the new Organ in 2007. In 2009, his son, Fr. Matthew Goddard FSSP, came to Ryde shortly after his Ordination in 2009 for a Solemn High Mass at Saint Mary’s; and, again, in October 2013, for a Year of Faith Day of Recollection.

Most Pilgrims took the opportunity to visit the Secret Chapel and Priest’s Hiding Hole in the attic above the Presbytery (once the hay loft).

For further information on the West Grinstead 
Shrine visit: – www.consolation.org.uk

No comments:

Post a Comment