Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of the Undercroft in Canterbury Cathedral

The second stage of the pilgrimage is to the mother church of the Gregorian mission to convert the English at Canterbury. The St Augustine or Canterbury Gospels believed to have been brought by St Augustine in 597 are to be present at the Coronation on May 6th. There is a Mail Online article about the volume which can be seen at England's oldest book the Augustine Gospels will be used in Coronation

Beneath the choir and the Trinity Chapel in the extensive crypt there is still the pilgrimage chapel of Our Lady of the Undercroft.

The shrine of Our Lady of the Undercroft was a major centre of devotion and where Edward Prince of Wales wished to be buried in 1376. I recently attended an online lecture from the Church Monuments Society about the recent work on his tomb which suggested that the stone screen work around the chapel was the gift of the Prince. It is not clear if he is buried there or underneath his effigy in the Trinity Chapel in the cathedral above.

Like Glastonbury Canterbury is a witness to where the relationship of Church and Crown could go violently wrong with the story of St Thomas Backet. Yet it is also a story of reconciliation and how St Thomas was the bearer for the use of future monarchs of holy oil delivered to him by the Virgin Mary. The first monarch for whom that was used was King Henry IV, who was to be buried at Canterbury and whose tomb bears representations of the eagle ampulla.

The history of the shrine can be accessed at Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of the Undercroft in Canterbury Cathedral

Our Lady of the Undercroft Pray for The King and The Queen and for us all