Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – July 16th 1948 to July 16th 2018 – the 70th anniversary approaches of the solemn Consecration of England
+ Wales to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the ancient Priory Grounds of Walsingham.

July 16th 1948 was the date of when England as Mary`s Dowry and Wales were solemnly consecrated by Cardinal Griffin + the Bishops of England and
Wales in the ancient Priory Grounds in Walsingham to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Today July 9th marks the beginning of the Novena in honour of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Let us pray this together and then on Monday July 16th, the 70th anniversary let us renew the Act of Consecration.
Cardinal Griffin`s words are timeless and are as true today 70 years on, as they were in 1948.

`We want to win back the world to Christ and we want to do it God`s way and not our own. Our divine Lord came to the world through a human Mother
and it is through that same Mother that the world will return to Him.`

I present some of he thoughts here and also the Act of Consecration of 1948, which he prayed.

Cardinal Griffin preached on Mt. 17V20 `But there is no way of casting out such spirits as this except by prayer and fasting.`

The solemn Act of Consecration was preceded by the great Pilgrimage of the Cross when for 14 days, through the towns and villages of England, Mary`s
Dowry, people came on foot to Our Lady`s Shrine bearing the Cross as the emblem of Christ`s triumph over the world and the materialistic conditions in
which we live.
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The Great Pilgrimage of the Cross was an inspiration to thousands of Catholics throughout the land.

Cardinal Griffin preached: ` All have been converging on this spot for the solemn act which shortly will be performed. From all sides we have learned of the
enthusiasm with which these little bands have been greeted. We have read of those wonderful scenes where you have set up your Cross, recited the Rosary and
where the Word of God has been preached. Fourteen Days, travelling on foot is indeed a Pilgrimage.

But not merely that; it is an Act of penance and prayer.` . `We have to carry that same spirit of prayer and penance into our ordinary lives, into the affairs
of each day, no matter what their outward importance. Prayer, then, and penance is the answer to the materialism with which we are surrounded today.

This was Our Lord`s solution to the problems of His day. Do you remember when the apostles, having failed to cast out an evil spirit in a boy, asked Our Lord
what was the cause of their failure? He urged them to faith, and then explained that there is no way of casting out such spirits as this except by prayer and fasting.

What is this spirit? It is the spirit, which would set itself up in the place of God. It would endeavor to demand man`s total submission claiming his body and soul
as a master demands body and soul of his slave. It is the spirit of all that is evil, lying, hatred, and deceit.

It will deny both the almighty power of God and His loving care of all He has created. It would try to make this world alone the end of man. This same spirit of
materialism, of the denial of man`s high destiny and of his soul and spirit, will reduce man to the position he occupied during those pagan days when Christ
came to rescue the world.`

The Cardinal further said: The message of Fatima is the only solution to the problems, which we face today – Prayer and Penance! `We want to win back the
world to Christ and we want to do it God`s way and not our own. Our divine Lord came to the world through a human Mother and it is through that same
Mother that the world will return to Him.` Amen! Amen!

The Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady:

Monday July 16th: Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – 70th Anniversary of the arrival of :-

`The Great Cross Carrying Pilgrimage of Prayer and Penance for Peace`

11.00 am: Stations of the Cross

12.00 noon: Mass in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

There will be a small exhibition about the 1948 Cross Carrying pilgrimage at the Shrine