The partially restored Augustinian friary, which, of course, makes this all the more topical as a place of Pilgrimage, in the historic town of Clare, and the related Marian devotion is introduced in my set of linked posts from last year in Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Clare
Like many friaries in caputs of great lordships it owed much to the aristocratic patronage of the local great family based at the nearby castle. As I wrote in one of my previous posts Clare is a charming, sleepy, East Anglian town rich in historic associations and buildings, including not just the friary, but also the very striking parish church, the remains of the castle ( enclosing a closed Victorian railway station), and many sixteenth or seventeenth century houses which are often bedecked in shades of ‘Suffolk Pink’
I should add that it is not entirely clear if the friary was an established focus for medieval Marian pilgrims, although it was very clearly a recognised house of prayer and of aristocratic burial. The contemporary life of the buildings as a retreat house with the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel may be a modern extrapolation of life there in the medieval centuries rather than a revival.
May Our Lady of Clare pray for Pope Leo XIV
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