Our Lady of Cardigan
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Our Lady of Cardigan (Welsh: Mair o Aberteifi), the national Catholic shrine of Wales, is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in a chapel in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales.
[edit] History
According to the legend, a statue of Our Lady and Child was found beside the River Teifi with a burning taper (candle) in her hand. The statue was taken to the local parish church, although it was moved several times before a church was specially built to house the shrine. The present St Mary's church dates back to around 1158, making the shrine more than 800 years old.
The original statue is believed to have been taken to London and destroyed in 1538 along with other Marian artefacts on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, chief minister of King Henry VIII.
In 1952, the local bishop was informed that Cardigan had once possessed a famous shrine and pilgrimage site, and a new statue was carved based on the description of the original. The new statue was blessed at Westminster Cathedral in London and taken to every parish in the Diocese of Menevia before arriving in Cardigan where it was placed in Our Lady of Sorrows church. Fourteen years later, a new church, Our Lady of the Taper, was consecrated, and the statue was placed in its current home.
[edit] The shrine today
The statue was recast in bronze in 1986 and blessed at Cardiff Cathedral, taken around Wales and then installed before 4,500 pilgrims. A candle blessed by Pope John Paul II in Rome was placed in the statue's hand.
The shrine is still visited by many pilgrims each year.
