This is Your Dowry, O Pious Virgin

One of the most famous paintings in the National Gallery in London is the Wilton Dyptych (above). This was a travelling altar showing King Richard II praying before Our Lady. Behind him are his patrons, St John the Baptist, St Edward the Confessor and St Edmund. In 1399 Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to his suffragan bishops:

“The contemplation of the great mystery of the Incarnation has drawn all Christian nations to venerate her from whom came the first beginnings of our Redemption. But we English, being the servants of her special inheritance and her own dowry, as we are commonly called, ought to surpass others in the fervour of our praises and devotions.”

So, the title of England as ‘The Dowry of Mary’ was definitely in use by the end of the fourteenth century, but Archbishop Arundel’s letter seems to indicate that at the time of his writing it was already in common use, indicating an earlier origin.

“When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England”

These prophetic words of Pope Leo XIII seem to indicate that Walsingham is intimately associated with the spiritual health of England. The Walsingham (Pynson) Ballad reflects the tradition that the title ‘Dowry of Mary’ goes back to St Edward the Confessor, in whose reign (1042-1066) the Holy House was built. Whether the title originated in Walsingham or not, the title was certainly promoted there. The Holy House in Walsingham was erected as a replica of Mary’s house in Nazareth, which led to England becoming known as the “Holy Land, Our Lady’s Dowry”, and Walsingham being called the “New Nazareth”

So the 2020 rededication will be the offering of the faith of the people of this country to the Mother of God, to seek Our Lady’s prayers for the loving care and protection of our country.