Soli Deo Gloria

"To God alone be the Glory," is a translation from the Latin. It is the motto of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory and I'd like to dedicate it here on this blog.

Last weekend, I was running in my fourth half-marathon in Nashville, Tennessee. It was pouring the rain and the temperature was hovering in the low 40 degrees. Now running for me has always been prayer, focusing my energies and clearing my head to be totally accessible to receiving God's love. However, this particular race was killing me. I have never thought of quitting a race so much as I did in Nashville, especially around mile 8. As I was nearing the home stretch, somewhere around mile 10, I started praying the rosary audibly. Using the power of positive thoughts can help you when your body is telling you that you're insane! "Hail Mary," I'd say and keep going through the prayer. I'd ask for Our Lady of Walsingham to pray for me and to protect my body in this crazy endeavor. Believe it or not, it worked. As I trodded into Titan's Stadium where the finish line was, I kept it up. Praying hard and moving my lips prevented me from dwelling on the pain in my knees. At last, I crossed the finish line utterly spent and exhausted. The rain managed to suck the morale from me that day, but the Rosary and the intercessions of Our Lady of Walsingham won the day.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Walsingham: The Naked Truth

Warning: This is not for the overly pious.

The Sewanee Way

New Printing of Walsingham Way

Walsingham Way: Alfred Hope Patten and the Restoration of the Shrine of Our Lady by Colin Stephenson is the latest book to come out regarding Our Lady of Walsingham and the shrine's restorer, Fr. Alfred Hope Patten. Published first in 1970, this edition by Canterbury Press (UK) became available in February of this year. You can find it available through Amazon and other book retailers on the net. There are some floating around on e-Bay too.

From the Publisher: Alfred Hope Patten was a larger than life figure, terrifying to some, but determined to realise his vision of restoring the medieval shrine in the Norfolk countryside that had been closed at the Reformation. Colin Stephenson's account of his ambitious enterprise, his successes and failures (including a failed attempt to establish religious communities of men and women at Walsingham), his penchant for flamboyant clerical dress, his love of the Roman Church but his dislike of Roman Catholics, does not claim to be the last word in historical scholarship, but is a warm, engaging and entertaining account of one the highest achievements of Anglo-Catholicism in the last century and of one of its most colourful and controversial personalities.

About the Author: COLIN STEPHENSON was Guardian of Walsingham from 1958 until his death in 1973. Walsingham Way was first published in 1970, and followed by his autobiography, Merrily On High in 1973.

I have not been able to find any reviews on this book. I'll purchase a copy soon and let you know what I think. Needless to say, most titles regarding OLW have more to do with the devotional nature of the Shrine and less objective historical analysis regarding the motives behind Patten's desire to restore the Shrine and so forth.