The article offers description of the Marianism of the English Catholic Church - in particular as manifested in the celebration of the definition of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and the solemn consecration of England to the Virgin in 1893 - in order to comment on the community's (and more particularly, its leadership's) changing perception of its identity and situation over the course of the later nineteenth century. In doing so, it places particular emphasis on the presence of apocalyptic belief, reflective and supportive of a profound alienation from contemporary English society, which was fundamental in shaping the Catholic body's modern history. © 2014 Religious History Association.