Devotions in Honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the the twelfth century Shrine of Our Lady of Jesmond in Newcastle
One of the Pilgrims who took part writes about the recent Procession and Devotions to the Shrine of Our Lady of Jesmond in Newcastle
"A small part of England’s forgotten Catholic heritage was gloriously reclaimed in Mary’s month of October when well over a hundred pilgrims gathered to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the ruins of the twelfth century Shrine of Our Lady of Jesmond in Newcastle.
The shrine, of the same era as Walsingham, was once a major place of pilgrimage, and in 1428 Pope Martin V wrote that "Out of remarkable devotion a great many of the Faithful are wont to congregate at the Chapel of the Blessed Mary of Jesmond, on account of the various miracles the Most High has deigned to work there at the behest of the glorious Virgin"; and granted indulgences to those who visited the shrine on certain feasts of Our Lord and Our Lady. Not many people know that Pilgrim Street, in the centre of Newcastle, is in fact the old ‘Pilgrim Way’ to the shrine.
The procession on Sunday 23 October, however, began from the Church of the Holy Name in Jesmond, and pilgrims devoutly prayed the Rosary as they followed behind the statue of Our Lady carried by four young men.
People had travelled from all over the diocese to be present, and a particularly large group came by coach from St Joseph’s and St Mary’s Churches in Sunderland.
After a cold week, the day was unusually warm and sunny, and the trees which have grown around the ruins provided a natural canopy of beautiful autumn colours. As always, the shrine was decorated with flowers, regularly left by local pilgrims.
At the shrine, people sang the hymn ‘Holy Virgin by God’s Decree’ and listened reverently to the Gospel of the Annunciation and a litany of praises to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Fr Chris Warren, recently appointed to Hexham parish, returned to Newcastle to give the homily, and spoke of the urgent need to witness to Christ in today’s society, echoing Pope Benedict’s message of the papal visit last year. He warned people against viewing the shrine and devotion to Mary with sentimental nostalgia, as something belonging to a past era with no relevance to today.
Indeed, although the chapel fell into disuse following the reformation (even being used at one point as a barn for animals) in recent years a small but steadily growing stream of pilgrims have begun to return, a witness to the spiritual graces still received there through Our Lady’s intercession.
A young pilgrim consecrated to Mary commented, “The Rosary is the most powerful prayer. In contemplating the mysteries of Jesus’ life with Mary we are drawn spiritually into each of the events, and through Mary’s intercession we obtain the grace that Christ won for us by the mystery of his incarnation, life, death and resurrection – the grace of the Holy Spirit that enables us to conform our lives ever more fully to Christ. Nothing could me more relevant to the needs of society today.”
After the prayers at the shrine, some pilgrims made a short detour to see St Mary’s well nearby, supplied by a natural underground spring. Local legend has it that when William Coulson built a bathing place beside it in the early 18th century, and it would seem added a metal grill to prevent public access (the hinges are still present), the well miraculously dried up. Now full of water again, the stone above the well bears the inscription ‘gratia’.
Everyone then returned to the Church of the Holy Name, where they were joined by even more people who had been unable to walk the Rosary procession, for the high point of the day: sung evening prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament, and Benediction. The day ended as the full church joyously took up the strains of Salve Regina. "