Live a Fuller Life!

An overview of the most exciting and influential - and controversial! - pilgrimage centre in the whole of Europe

A newsletter and stimulus to deeper devotion straight from the heart of Medjugorje with a comment from Surrey in England

II. The Maw of History - A Meditation on 9/11

An essay describing a visit to St. Mary's, Thorpe, Surrey immediately following 9/11. St. Mary's is an ancient Anglican Church with roots in the Roman period (and before!) and strong Anglo-American ties.

III. Walsingham - England's Nazareth

Information about England's premier pilgrimage site for both Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

IV. St. Matilda's

Fr. Ted's Virtual Church revealing the vibrant reality of the Christian world! (Or you may choose to visit the church he attends and where he assisted during his retirement)

In the past each month the Director of Camberley Medjugorje Centre would send a copy of the latest message from Medjugorje with a comment to friends and to The Society of Our Lady of Medjugorje. These newsletters were usually the same, but sometimes differed slightly because of the different interests and background of the two groups.

Dear Children,

I am looking at you and in your hearts I do not see joy.

Today I desire to give you the joy of the Risen One, that He may lead you and embrace you with His love and tenderness.

I love you and I am praying for your conversion without ceasing before my Son Jesus.

Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Pilgrimage to Medjugorje is questioned by many. This is because of a misunderstanding on the part of both those who believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary is appearing there regularly and also on the part of those who do not.

The simple facts can be reduced to two: first nobody knows for certain what is the true nature and origin of the reported visions and other phenomena; second a great many lives are changed for the better through visiting Medjugorje.

It is this second fact that led the late Pope, John Paul II, to his validation of private visits there whilst at the same time avoiding the necessity of pontificating on the matter. We should all, I think, follow his example! I do wish and pray that the opponents of Medjugorje would understand this point. What is taught in Medjugorje is, for the most part, solid, traditional Christian teaching of a kind acceptable not only in Western catholicism, but also, to my mind, throughout Christendom, East and West.

Understanding the nature of Christian truth gives us good reason for hope in a dangerous and despondent world.

We should continue, therefore, to suggest a Medjugorje pilgrimage to those we feel would benefit. At the same time we ought to point out that there is no official declaration made as to the nature of the apparitions. We should not be too worried if the outcome of official investigation appears negative. There are too many positives around Medjugorje for that!

I value the positive results I and my colleagues, particularly my late wife, Hannelore, have received there. After all, if Bishop Peric, the local Diocesan, is right - that there is nothing supernatural about the apparitions, that those at the centre are normal and healthy catholics, and that to say you are having visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary doesn't mean you are mad - then the parish of Medjugorje is to be complimented for showing us all the benefits of a healthy devotion to Mary and Jesus.

It means also, and this cannot be emphasised enough, that in organising visits there, every pilgrim should ensure that a sensible and experienced spiritual director goes with them. I write this with some passion as so much of the movement against the events there has come from those who went on their own, on the off-chance, to see what was happening, got into the wrong company, and were deceived as to what was going on.

Decide and plan properly, therefore, for your pilgrimage this year.

It doesn't have to be Medjugorje - here in the UK we have a marvellous Marian centre of activity at Walsingham - but it might just be the right idea for you this year!

Why not check it out?

Here you will find details of the ministry with which he is associated, along with aspirations as to the future reality of parish life in England (with lessons for elsewhere in the world). See section IV. (below).

A primary aim of the Medjugorje Apostolate is the establishment of peace at every level from within the individual to peace and contentment between nations and cultural or ethnic groups. The following essay was written at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York. It is retained here as an expression of the scenario faced by the world when peace is forgotten. The essay is set in the context of the church attended by the directors.

(A Meditation written one week after 9/11)

'It is the most ancient of Christian sites in the country.' the guide said. 'The Phoenicians were here first, apart from a few ancient Brits with whom they traded.' 'Look, here is our oldest parishioner.' A Jar was taken from a shelve in the chancel. 'He gives the Vicar less trouble than anyone else!.' It was a grey pot, cracked and stuck together again, the inside stained by ashes. 'He was Christian. We know that. First, because the pot has wavy lines around it to tell us he had been baptised. Second, the urn was found on top of the altar stone there,' a cursory nod towards the shelf and a small piece of stone with crosses on the corners. 'The date has to be around 150 AD'.

We marvelled at such antiquity being on display as the parade around the church continued, stories of ancient tombs, courtiers - for this was a royal church, Saxon princes, Tudor ladies still resplendent and perfectly preserved until the fresh air got to them.

Then out into the churchyard. More tombs, a Roman Basilica now hidden below the nave and out across the churchyard to make a mound for the daffodils, 'Stinking Willy' the butcher of Culloden, with his butler and alleged catamite laid in the ground across the bottom of his feet, bits of Captain Hardy, Nelson’s own 'Kiss-Me-Quick,' (was it really ’Kiss-me’ or Kismet’ - who’s to know or care, or spoil a good story?) Christina Rossetti in best stone modelling an angel on a gravestone. We pictured 'See, amid the winter’s snow', and the photographers among us made a note to return the when the snow came, and brightened and whitened and enlivened her stone-grey hair.

So we re-entered and returned to the church’s latest extension - a modern Chapter House, built with proceeds of the land, now a Theme Park next door, and a Millennium grant. Here met Church Councils, Diocesan Committees, the Sunday School, and the Vicar’s various groups. An adjacent room was to house the parish office and our counselling centre. In the modern magnificence of the main room registers were signed after Weddings, as newly-weds and their witnesses tidied each other, went to the loo, and moistened dry mouths at the parochial kitchen. Hither after Mass on Sunday, we came ourselves for coffee, a biscuit, a gossip and chat. From time to time parties are held here and refreshments for those attending concerts and lectures in the main church.

Thus we finished our refreshments, and returned to our cars or to walk home, regaled by two thousand years of history in these 'Ancient and Modern' monuments around our spiritual home.

A week later, the 'Stars and Stripes' flew at half-mast above the mellowing brick of the Tudor tower. The Queen had graciously given her consent to it being flown, here alone, for our American colleagues.

Never before had anything so un-British been flown above a public building. More history. Around this we could not wander in deference. History had moved us. It challenged and consumed us. From its jaws oozed blood and the grey dust of New York and Washington. It swallowed our hearts, and from its maw we could not escape. Many friends and family were directly involved. History had taken us into itself. (The Reverend Doctor Edward Baty, 18th September 2001)

The quiet village of Walsingham in the English County of Norfolk is centre to a remarkable story of renewal and revival which continues to this day. Today’s pilgrims to the shrines in and around Walsingham follow the footsteps of Kings, Queens, other monarchs, and pilgrims of every class who flocked to Walsingham in the Middle Ages.

The shrines at Walsingham form one of the greatest of God’s gifts to Christian formation in the United Kingdom, and England in particular. There are Anglican and Roman Catholic shrines, an Orthodox Monastery, and a Methodist Chapel at which John Wesley himself preached. There is an Orthodox Chapel in the Anglican shrine. Here we concern ourselves primarily with the Anglican shrine.

The Roman Catholic Shrine is designated as the National Shrine of the Roman Catholic Church in England. Youth Pilgrimages are held each summer at both shrines.

The history of the shrines at Walsingham goes back to the eleventh century, before the Norman conquest, and the time of the earliest Crusades when Richeldis de Faverches, the founder of the shrine, was a Saxon noblewoman, the widow of the local Lord of the Manor.

She had a deep faith in God, a strong devotion to Mary, and was very active in good works. In 1061 she had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which she was shown the house in Nazareth where the Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ took place. Mary asked Richeldis to build an exact replica of that house in Walsingham. The vision was repeated three times after which the Holy House was rebuilt in Walsingham, according to legend by miraculous means, a simple wooden structure which gave Little Walsingham the name of 'England‘s Nazareth.'

In time a magnificent Priory Church was built adjacent to the Holy House which came under royal patronage throughout the medieval and early Renaissance periods. Pilgrims returned to Walsingham in 1897 with the restoration of the 'Slipper Chapel' as a Roman Catholic shrine. Anglican pilgrimages began in the Parish Church until a new shrine was constructed.

This was dedicated in 1931 and incorporated the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham which is based on the image of the original medieval statue of Our Lady believed to be shown on the seal of the medieval priory, placed in the Anglican parish church in 1922.

Facilities to house the pilgrims have grown through the years and provide excellent facilities for the many who flock there year by year, as well as facilities for conferences, retreats and similar events.

There is a strong educational side to the work of the shrine, which has 2,000 'Priests Associate of the Holy House' and 4,000 Lay Members of 'The Society of Our Lady of Walsingham,' all of whom undertake regular prayer and monthly masses in support of the work of the shrine. (Information by The Reverend Doctor Edward Baty, himself a 'Priest Associate of the Holy House,' based on information from the Marian Shrines at Walsingham)

- pastoral care, counselling, and psychotherapy - explored, experienced, practised and taught at every level from the most basic to post-graduate;

- architectural history - his life before ordination was in the building and civil engineering industries as a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and his academic background is in the history of art, architecture and design, including the design of musical instruments and their music;

- evangelism - his parish anticipated the much-vaunted 'Decade of Evangelism' (the 1990s) by a good seven or eight years working mainly with Billy Graham and English evangelist Daniel Cozens. The Decade failed, the parish succeeded.

From these areas essential insights were gained and have been put onto a dedicated church website, reflecting the outgoing character so much missing from far too many parishes, churches, and chapels today:

Visit if you dare! The site is full of detail as to Fr. Ted’s present ministry, the organisations he works with, the church at which he has helped and attended in recent years (lightly disguised) and aspirations as to the ways parish life in England and throughout the world can be revitalised for the benefit of everyone.

A new page has been added giving news and gossip from around the parish and Diocese including an update on the recent pilgrimage to Clonmacnoise by the Ordinariate group.