The ‘Guild of Our Lady of Willesden’ is a new initiative both for the parish and, we hope, the Church in England and Wales at large. H.E. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, who has graciously agreed to be its first ‘President’, launched the Guild at the Annual Marian Procession on 12 May 2002.

President: H.E. Cormac Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, Ph.L., S.T.L.
Master: Mr John Rick Miller
Patrons: Our Lady of Willesden
St Michael the Archangel
The Guardian Angel of London
St Joseph
St Edward the Confessor
St Thomas More and
the Martyrs of London
Bl. Dominic Barberi

So, what is the ‘Guild’? A group of devotees of Our Lady of Willesden, led by John Rick Miller, realised Willesden’s unique position of being a Marian shrine in the heart of London and the need for an organisation that prayed for the needs and protection of the capital and the country. This is as necessary now as it has ever been, with rising teenage pregnancies, divorce rates, abortions, alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution and occultism.

The Guild hopes that the shrine of Our Lady of Willesden will become a centre of prayer for the protection and evangelisation of the city, with the special patronage of Mary under her title of “Our Lady of Willesden”. In this way, the shrine would resemble other urban spiritual centres across the industrialised world ­ for example, the Basilique du Sacré Coeur on Montmartre, where the faithful gather for Perpetual Adoration to pray for the city of Paris.

Members of the Guild commit themselves to daily prayers for the conversion and protection of London. An essential goal of the Guild is also the reawakening of the ‘National Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden’ as the active Marian Sanctuary of London. The Guild hopes to plan pilgrimages to the shrine as well as organise solemn celebrations of the principal Feasts of Our Lady. For more information on how you may join the Guild or can contribute, please contact Rick Miller on (tel) and (fax)