Shrine of Our Lady of Clemency
by the Rev'd Franklin Joiner, Rector 1920-1955

The Feast of Our Lady of Clemency is celebrated on 24th September. This is the Feast Day of our own Shrine of Our Lady of Clemency and everyone should attempt to be present for the High Mass at 7.00 pm. that evening. The following article is reprinted from Ave, the magazine of the Society of Mary, from a 1948 issue.

he Shrine of Our Lady of Clemency is a new foundation. Even this is a new title for S. Mary. It is adapted, of course, from the dedication of the Church where the new Shrine has been erected. Clemency is a synonym for mercy, gentleness, compassion, sympathetic under-standing, kindness, all attributes that belong in superabundance to the Holy Mother of God. In this Shrine of her clemency we have pictured our Lady "clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars," as S. John was privileged to see her in Heaven. It is to her clemency that we poor exiled children cry, and it is from her immaculate and most clement heart that she offers our invocations to her Divine Son. Instantly she turns to us with the answer she has already made classic at Cana in Galilee, when to the importunate servants she replied: "Whatsoever He saith unto you do it."

In this statue of Our Lady of Clemency she holds a Sceptre in her right hand, while her left hand rests above her most pure heart. And with the scepter she points us to the tabernacle upon the High Altar where the Most Holy, the Sacramental Presence of her Divine Son, is always abiding. Our Lady's dedication from the moment of the Annunciation is to draw all men to her divine Son. And here, in the center we have established for her to receive her clients in prayer and devotion, we have set Our Lady forth for all to see this essential and unswerving purpose of her life and example: "Magnificat anima mea Dominum." Every one who comes to Mary finds Jesus. Every one who comes to Mary hears the echo of her inspired direction: "Whatsoever He saith unto you do it." And if we are her children our one great and burning desire must be to do His will. We cannot love her without loving Jesus. And if we really love Him, we must love his Mother too.

"And as He loves thee Mother dear,
We too will love thee well;
And to His glory, year by year,
Thy joy and honour tell."

The Shrine was designed by Wilfred Edward Anthony, an eminent New York architect after suggestions by the Rector of S. Clement's Church, and the wood-work as built by the Master Wood Craft Company of New York, with Henry E. Beretta as the sculptor. Robert Robbins, also of New York, who has done the other colour work and polychroming in S. Clement's Church, did the gilding and the painting.

The Statue is of unusual design and great beauty, and must be seen to be fully appreciated. The figure of Our Lady (some six feet in height) rests on a polychromed pedestal (seven feet high) of octagonal build, with a heavy and ornate corbal in the midst, and all very richly coloured. Two hand-wrought candle rings of unique design and exquisite workmanship, made by the Ferro Studios of New York, surround the base. From behind the figure highly burnished rays of glory waver out in the shape of a great vesica. Above the statue is a deep valance of delicate wood-carving, gilded and painted in medieval gothic colours, and surmounted by a tall spire of open wood-work and the carving, heavily gilded and touched with colour, that soars up into the rafters of the ceiling for another twelve feet, making a total height for the shrine, from the floor to the tip of the pinnacle, of about twenty-five feet.

At the side of the Shrine, towards the Lady Chapel, from a restored flowered iron bracket hangs an Italian Lamp of antique silver in the form of three cherubs, copied from a lamp in the Church of S. Maria del Populo in Rome, holding in their uplifted hands a crown of silver roses and buds, in which is resting a blue glass lamp with a light that burns continuously.

The Fund for the erection of the Shrine was subscribed by innumerable members of the congregation and friends of the Parish. No one gave any large sum. It represents the devoted gifts of many people who love Our Lady, and who wished to see her honoured by a Shrine in S. Clement's Church. These gifts have been recorded in a Book of Remembrance which is kept with the Annals of the Parish.

As soon as the shrine was set up it was evident that this could be no mere Parish Shrine; it was a shrine that belonged to the whole Church, to all, whoever they were and whatever they might be, to all who love Our Lady and long to promote the honour that is her due. So a Continuous Novena was at once established, advertised in the Church Press, and announced in all the Parish publications. Novenas and Offerings are received, not as yet in any great numbers, but they come from all over the world. Petitions are in many instances followed shortly by Novenas of Thanksgiving for prayers that have been so promptly answered. Devotions are conducted every day at the Shrine. Some general prayers, pertinent to the Shrine and its purpose are offered first, then follow the special Novenas, and as each Novena is closed on the ninth day, a candle is lighted at the shrine to mark its end and to leave there a Votive for each completed invocation. The devotions close with a recitation of the Rosary, the mysteries following through the week in their usual order, and each prefaced by the leader with some suggestion for prayer that is appropriate to either the current season of the Church Year or to the Saint whose commemoration is in the Kalendar for that day. Our prayers and devotions are linked each evening with those being offered in England at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The formal prayers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Clemency are thus begun: "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let us pray for a greater devotion to Our Lady, S. Mary, and for a wider practice of her invocation. Let us give thanks for the privilege of these evening devotions at this Shrine of her Clemency. Let us remember all those who have ever prayed at this Shrine, or offered their Novenas here. Let us pray for all those absent from us who are joining their prayers with ours at this time. And let us join our intentions with those offered this evening at the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Our Lady of Clemency,
Our Lady of Walsingham,
Queen of Peace, Pray for us.

The Shrine was dedicated and blessed on Lady Day, 1943. Since then the Continuous Novena and the Daily Devotions have been carried on without interruption. We believe that as the Shrine becomes better known and the daily intercessions find a place in the lives of more people, it will become the center of spiritual power and enlightenment that will fulfill its purpose: to promote the honour due Our Lady as the Holy Mother of God, and to strengthen the consciousness of the Church and her children in the meaning of the Communion of Saints.

Sancta Maria, Regina Sanctorum omnium: ora pro nobis.