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Description of the Shrine
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.
Shrine
Prayers and Intercessions
Shrine
of Our Lady of Clemency