(Our Lady of Walsingham, Nashotah House, Wisconsin)
My wife and I met because of a pilgrimage.Three years ago, as COVID started wind down, I took my eldest son and his friend on a 45 mile pilgrimage in Door County, Wisconsin from St. Joseph’s parish in Sturgeon Bay to the Our Lady of Champion Shrine, part of The Wisconsin Way pilgrim trail.
Most of the route followed the Ice Age Trail and I posted about our pilgrimage. Jennifer saw the posts, thought I was cute, and decided to friend me. She claims it’s because we shared “similar interests.” Her story is probably more accurate, but mine is funnier, so I’ll stick with it.
When we decided to get married, we initially planned to marry at an Episcopal church in Maryland with just us and a priest. However, my sister’s sudden death changed our plans, so we tried to find a parish in Wisconsin.
We discovered Grace Episcopal in Sheboygan. Inside the church is the American Proto-Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. As we got to know the priest there, who agreed to marry us, he told us that we might be the first couple to ever be married in the chapel. Further, he asked if we wanted to join the Guardians, the people responsible for promoting pilgrimage to the shrine. A quick yes followed.
So, you might ask, what’s the story behind Our Lady of Walsingham? In the year 1061, the Blessed Mother appeared to Richeldis de Faverches, a Saxon noble woman, living near Walsingham, England. She was instructed to build a replica of Mary’s house where the Archangel Gabriel visited her.
The site quickly became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in England receiving royal visits from a long list of kings and queens. Pilgrim houses sprung up to give hospitality and shelter to those visiting the shrine. By the time King Henry the VIII reached the throne, it was one of the four important places of pilgrimage along with St. David’s in Wales, Glastonbury, and Canterbury.
In 1538, the shrine was destroyed along with the Dissolution of the Monasteries instituted by Henry. The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham disappeared and the pilgrimages came to an end for the next few hundred years.
However, in 1897, the Roman Catholic church restored the Slipper Chapel, where medieval pilgrims took off their shoes to walk the last mile to the shrine and made it their official shrine.
The Anglican part of the shrine came into being when Hope Patten became the Vicar of Walsingham in 1921. He decided to commission a new Walsingham statue based on a medieval seal of the Walsingham priory. The statue was set up in 1922 at the Parish church of St. Mary and regular pilgrimages started, resulting in the modern shrine that now contains the Anglican, Roman and Orthodox shrines encouraging pilgrims from all three branches of the Apostolic tradition.
Not long after the founding of the Anglican shrine, a priest, A. Parker Curtiss took a pilgrimage to Walsingham. He decided to create an American shrine and added on to Grace Episcopal, in Sheboygan. Further, he commissioned a statue to be made. In 1951 the Reverend William Elwell, the rector of Grace, hosted the first national pilgrimage that continues today over the second weekend of October (this year is October 11 and 12th).
Many pilgrims over the years have shared that they make an effort to visit other sites around the country but most of all make the intention of coming to Sheboygan each year.
(Our Lady of Walsingham Shrine, Sheboygan, Wisconsin)
The Guardians of the Shrine were instituted and the group has waxed and waned through the decades. They are working on creating more pilgrimages to the shrine in Sheboygan, the Walsingham shrine in England and to other pilgrimage sites in the US, the UK and Ireland.
Further, there is an Anglican/Episcopal seminary at Nashotah House, a center of Anglo-Catholic spirituality in Wisconsin. The Chapel of St. Mary the Virigin has a stone statue on the outside of Our Lady of Walsingham.
As I looked at the map, I realized there was an easy way to hike from Nashotah House statue to the Sheboygan Shrine statue. Basically, the route follows the Ice Age trail, near Holy Hill and then turns off on the Plank Road trail into Sheboygan. The total mileage, give or take is about 110 miles. Instant pilgrim trail.
So, I want to invite all of you to help us start this pilgrim trail. How, you ask? I’m glad you asked.
First, there will be a small pilgrimage of about seven miles on May 18th. The small pilgrimage will start at St. Peter’s in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. Please contact Deacon Paul by May 12th and let them know you will be attending, so they can get an accurate count. Plus, you need to bring a stone that’s precious to you and we’ll explain the significance of this important pilgrimage tradition on that day. I’ll be there, so hope I get to meet you all.
As for the larger pilgrimage, Jennifer and I will be starting on June 22nd and 23rd at 7:00 AM from the Walsingham Statue on the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin Chapel at Nashotah House. We will start with morning prayer and hike 12 miles to to Kilbourne Parking Lot along the Ice Age Trail. Chances are, we will stop at a pub or brewery along the way.
On day two, we will hike from Kilbourne Parking to Holy Hill, a distance of about 10 miles. At Holy Hill, we will take time to pray and relax before we end that section of the pilgrimage.
After that, we will plan two more day hikes at a later date. I’ll post more details as we get closer. On the week of October 7th-11th, we will hike the rest of the trail to the shrine. That weekend, October 11th and 12th, the Guardians will be hosting a two day pilgrimage to the shrine. You don’t have to hike or walk to attend and I’ll post more details about that later as well.
On the last two days, the 10th and 11th, we will be hiking from All Saints Chapel to the shrine, then attend the pilgrimage events.
We’re really excited to start this adventure and the pilgrim trail. Currently, the Guardians do not have a website or social media. We’re working on that. Further, we’re hoping to connect to the larger Wisconsin Way in order to make the state a center of pilgrimage in America.
If you’re interested in doing any part of the walk with us, email me at catholicbootlegger@gmail.com
