Alfred Hope Patten
Encyclopedia
Alfred Hope Patten known as Pat to his friends, was an Anglo-Catholic priest in the Church of England
, best known for his restoration of the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
.
in 1906 and being profoundly influence by their abbot, Aelred Carlyle
. After attending Lichfield Theological College he was ordained deacon in 1913 at Holy Cross Church
in the St Pancras
area. After three other curacies, in 1921 he became vicar of Great and Little Walsingham with St Giles' Houghton and, within months of arriving, he had a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham modelled on the medieval priory's seal and placed it in the parish's main church, St Mary's. He also started Marian devotions in his church and - aided by the League of Our Lady (later the Society of Mary) - the first pilgrimages from London. His bishop opposed the statue and Hope agreed to move it out of the church, using this as a chance to rebuild the Holy House in 1931 (rebuilt in 1938 to accommodate rising pilgrim numbers). On his death he was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, best known for his restoration of the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham is a title used for Mary, the mother of Jesus. The title derives from the belief that Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England...
.
Life
An introspective only child, he became an Anglo-Catholic in Brighton whilst still a teenager, becoming interested in not only the medieval church but also the religious life, visiting the Anglican Benedictines at PainsthorpePainsthorpe
Painsthorpe is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.It is located about east of the village of Kirby Underdale, the area is remote - the nearest settlement of any size is the small town of Pocklington some to the south. It forms part of the civil parish of Kirby Underdale and was the...
in 1906 and being profoundly influence by their abbot, Aelred Carlyle
Aelred Carlyle
Aelred Carlyle, O.S.B. founded, around 1895, the first Anglican Benedictine community of monks.Born Benjamin Fearnley Carlyle, he was educated at Blundell's School. In 1892, he commenced medical training at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He did not complete his medical training...
. After attending Lichfield Theological College he was ordained deacon in 1913 at Holy Cross Church
Holy Cross church, St Pancras
Holy Cross church is a church on Cromer Street in the St Pancras area of the London Borough of Camden. It was built 1887–88 by Joseph Peacock.The church began as a district chapelry in 1876 before becoming a parish in 1888...
in the St Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
area. After three other curacies, in 1921 he became vicar of Great and Little Walsingham with St Giles' Houghton and, within months of arriving, he had a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham modelled on the medieval priory's seal and placed it in the parish's main church, St Mary's. He also started Marian devotions in his church and - aided by the League of Our Lady (later the Society of Mary) - the first pilgrimages from London. His bishop opposed the statue and Hope agreed to move it out of the church, using this as a chance to rebuild the Holy House in 1931 (rebuilt in 1938 to accommodate rising pilgrim numbers). On his death he was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's.
Works
- Pilgrims' Manual (1928)
- England's National Shrine of Our Lady Past and Present (1939)
- Mary's Shrine of the Holy House, Walsingham (1954)
- Our Lady's Mirror, a quarterly paper set up in 1926 by Hope for the members of the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham