When England Goes Back to Walsingham

It is common knowledge that King Henry VIII of England broke with the Catholic Church, deciding to create his own church. He was influenced by a woman, Anne Boleyn, who would later become the queen of England. Only three years later, Anne ended up beheaded because of claims of adultery.

King Henry VIII

However, what few people know is that this same king was actually a fervent Catholic and a strong opponent of Martin Luther. In fact, Martin Luther had published a controversial work called The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, claiming the seven sacraments were corruptions and papist inventions.

When that book reached England, Thomas More composed a theological treatise called Assertio Septem Sacramentorum contra Martinum Lutherum (“In Defense of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther”). King Henry then claimed authorship of the book and was thus given the title “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Leo X, who said:

Having thus weighed and diligently considered your singular merits, we could not have devised a more suitable name, nor one more worthy of your Majesty than this most excellent title, which whenever you hear or read it, you shall remember your own virtues and highest merits.

Walsingham Shrine

Another little-known fact is the pilgrimage he did to the town of Walsingham. There, in 1061, the Lady of the Manor, Richeldis de Faverches, was taken in spirit to Nazareth, shown the house where the Annunciation took place, and asked by Our Lady to build a replica in Norfolk. She was promised that ‘Whoever seeks my help there will not go away empty-handed.’

Walsingham then became one of the foremost shrines of medieval Christendom, and among its pilgrims, there was King Henry III in 1226, Edward I (eleven times), Edward II in 1315,  Edward III in 1361, Richard II in 1383, Edward IV in 1469, Henry VI many times, and finally Henry VIII, who was asking for a male heir. However, when that didn’t work, he closed the place and even burned the image of the virgin. Curiously also, Walsingham is also the name of Francis Walsingham, who was Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster to counter Catholicism and who sanctioned the use of torture against Catholic priests.

Anglican

Still, anyone who goes today to a Church of England (“Anglican”) service will swear he is in a regular Catholic mass. The priest, the church, the prayers, the communion…all the same. Even more curious are the gorgeous stained glasses of the churches, which had to be rebuilt, as Anne Boleyn ordered all destroyed thanks to that idea that no image or drawing of God can be made. Even more striking, is the recent move from Rev. Jonathan Goodall, who was a bishop for the Church of England and said he was stepping down to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Return to the Catholic Church

Thus, it is impossible not to feel a sense of wanting to return to the Catholic faith. And there is an important message here: many times we do things expecting some reward and when that does not come, we blame God for it. We convert, we do a pilgrimage, we say we will do this and that, but not with the idea of just pleasing our Father in heaven, but with some secret agenda, to try to convince him to do something for us.

The end result is easy to spot: a house built on sand, a religiosity built not on the love of God, but on the love of whatever we need. Once we are lost, we try desperately to return to our faith, but we are unable as we feel hurt, disappointed, for not having been granted whatever we thought we deserved.

In the case of Henry VIII, he must have thought that because he had defended the church, that because he had done that pilgrimage, etc it would only be logical to be granted a male child or at least be given a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragón. When that did not happen, the house built on sand fell down.

In the case of England, the words of William FitzStephen, secretary to Thomas Becket circa 1173 are interesting: “London is blest in its reverence for the Christian faith, the honour of its citizens and the chastity of its women”. In this, the words of Pope Leo XIII resonate: “When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will come back to England”. Let’s pray that happens to that country and to ourselves too.