from
OLM Winter/Spring Number 1938
Little
headway has been made yet towards the work on the Orthodox Eastern
Chapel. The Russian Orthodox seem very keen about this work, and hope
that it may not be too long in materialising. They are so essentially
a pilgrimage-loving race, and now that they are deprived of the joy
of visiting their own Holy Places, some are turning their thoughts
to Our Lady of Walsingham, and hope to find a Shrine where they can
join with us, and yet by possessing their own Chapel can celebrate
their Liturgy and receive the Sacraments according to their own rite.
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from
OLM Summer Number 1938
The following morning [7 June] at 9 o’clock, Archbishop Nestor,
assisted by the Archimandrites Nicholas and Nathaniel, and other Ministers
and Servers, sang the “Holy Orthodox Liturgy” at which Bishop
O’Rorke assisted in cope and mitre, attended by Father Patten and
Father Lingwood, Prince Galitzine acted as lector and administered the
lavabo to His Grace. During the Mass special mention was made by name
of Bishop O’Rorke, Father Patten and Father Lingwood and the Archbishop
not only personally came from the Altar to incense them, but also to give
each of them the kiss of peace. At
the conclusion of the Liturgy bread was blessed and distributed by the
Archbishop to all at the Altar and in the congregation. This
wonderful conclusion to the Blessing of the Extension was, we believe,
the first time the “Orthodox Liturgy” has been offered in
Walsingham ever, and we hope and pray that it may be the beginning of
new relations culminating in complete reunion of the great Churches of
the East with those of Canterbury and York and the Churches in communion
with them.
from
OLM Summer Number 1945
Father Fynes-Clinton, that untiring and most devoted of all the friends
of Walsingham, led the annual Catholic League Pilgrimage to the Shrine
at Whitsun. Among the pilgrims was Bishop Savva, the Orthodox Chaplain
General of the Polish forces in this country. The Bishop was at one
time Assistant Bishop to the Diocesan of Warsaw, and is now the Diocesan
of Grodno. With him came a small Orthodox Choir who sang at the dedication
of the Chapel in the Pilgrimage Church, which was placed under the
patronage of our Lady of Perpetual Succour – as we know it in
the West. After the dedication the Liturgy was sung for the first
time in this Chapel, the Eastern Mass having been celebrated in the
past at the High Altar of the Shrine Church. The Chapel was packed
to overflowing, as too were the stairs approaching it. At the end
of the Liturgy all received the blessed Bread from the hands of the
Bishop. On Whit-Sunday his Lordship preached at the High Mass in the
Parish Church, and in the afternoon they offered the Moleben in the
Holy House. |
from
OLM Winter/Spring Number 1949
We are pleased
to tell our readers that the Orthodox Chapel has a resident priest, Dr
Najdanovich, who is now living in Walsingham. Dr Najdanovich is a Serb
who is in exile from his country for religious reasons. At various times
the strains of the Orthodox Liturgy intermingle with the singing of the
College Chapter Mass. We ask our readers to pray that God will bless Dr
Najdanovich’s ministry here, and that those of the Orthodox faith
who are exiles in this country may come to know our Lady under her ancient
title of Walsingham.
It
was Fr Fynes-Clinton who encouraged Orthodox prelates to make the pilgrimage
to the shrine, and among the earliest visitors were Bishop
Velimirovitch and Bishop Irenej of Dalmatia of the Serbian Church and
Father Najdanovitch, another Serb, who established an Orthodox Chaplaincy
for displaced persons based at the Anglican Shrine. Archimandrite Nicholas
Gibbes, former English tutor to the Tsarevich Alexis Nikolaivitch and
the Grand Princesses, backed up Fynes-Clinton and brought Archbishop Nestor
from Shanghai to Walsingham. Eventually an Orthodox Chapel [pictured right]
was consecrated by Bishop Savva of Grodno, Chaplain-General to the Polish
Orthodox servicemen in exile. This Chapel was designed by Archimandrite
Nicholas Gibbes.
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During
the building of the Shrine Church Archbishop Seraphim came over
from Paris and consecrated the site of the Orthodox Chapel, adjoining
the south-east side of the new building [as in the above plan].
It was so far proposed at the time of the opening of the Church
that it was shown in the fifth edition of the
guide book [marked 17 on the plan], although Fr Patten wrote
that it was not yet built and "your generous alms are solicited".
Perhaps
fund-raising was not easy in the uncertain times just before the
outbreak of War - whatever the reason the chapel extension was
never built, but the present Orthodox chapel, up the stairs inside
the Church [pictured below], was dedicated at Whitsun, 21 May
1945 [see left].
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The
Orthodox Chapel
in the Shrine Church
from
OLM Winter Number 1942 |
