Tag: John Henry Newman

Newman Conference in Pittsburgh

2010 Newman Conference August 5-7, 2010

National Institute for Newman Studies


This year’s conference theme is “A
Reflection on the Life, Thought, and Spirituality of John Henry Newman in
Celebration of His Beatification.”

JH Newman.jpg

Over 25 speakers will deliver papers
on such varied topics as “Principles of Newman’s Theological Reading of the
Fathers,” “Newman and Twentieth-Century Literary Converts: Lowell, Merton, and
Day” and “Holiness in the Parochial and Plain Sermons: Its Nature, Aids, and
Obstacles.” 


Keynote addresses will be given by Fr. Ian Ker, of Oxford
University, Dr. Terrence Merrigan, of the Catholic University of Leuven, and
Dr. Cyril O’Regan of the University of Notre Dame. 

The August conference in Pittsburgh will begin with a Mass celebrated by Pittsburgh Bishop David
Zubik. Deacon Jack Sullivan, the man who was healed through Newman’s intercession,
will offer the homily.


Conference details and registration information is
available on the Newman Association’s website.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

OL of Mt Carmel & St Simon jpgCardinal Newman in his admirable “Letter addressed to the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D., on occasion of his Eirenicon” (1865) says very aptly: “Theology is occupied with supernatural matters, and is ever running into mysteries, which reason can neither explain nor adjust. Its lines of thought come to an abrupt termination, and to pursue them or to complete them is to plunge down the abyss. St. Augustine warns us that, if we attempt to find and to tie together the ends of lines which run into infinity, we shall only succeed in contradicting ourselves” (Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching, 5th ed., p. 430). It is widely agreed that the ultimate considerations which determine a true estimate of all particular points of the Christian tradition are doctrinal. No purely historical arguments, whether from antiquity or from silence, are ever decisive. They are subject to a further theological scrutiny and revision in the perspective of the total Christian faith, taken as a whole. The ultimate question is simply this: does one really keep the faith of the Bible and of the Church, does one accept and recite the Catholic Creed exactly in that sense in which it had been drafted and supposed to be taken and understood, does one really believe in the truth of the Incarnation?

Let me quote Newman once more. “I say then,” he proceeds, “when once we have mastered the idea, that Mary bore, suckled, and handled the Eternal in the form of a child, what limit is conceivable to the rush and flood of thoughts which such a doctrine involves? What awe and surprise must attend upon the knowledge, that a creature has been brought so close to the Divine Essence?” (op. cit., page 431). Fortunately, a Catholic theologian is not left alone with logic and erudition. He is led by the faith; credo ut intelligam. Faith illuminates the reason. And erudition, the memory of the past, is quickened in the continuous experience of the Church.

A Catholic theologian is guided by the teaching authority of the Church, by its living tradition. But above all, he himself lives in the Church, which is the Body of Christ. The mystery of the Incarnation is still, as it were, continuously enacted in the Church, and its “implications” are revealed and disclosed in devotional experience and in sacramental participation. In the Communion of Saints, which is the true Church Universal and Catholic, the mystery of the New Humanity is disclosed as a new existential situation. And in this perspective and living context of the Mystical Body of Christ the person of the Blessed Virgin Mother appears in full light and full glory. The Church now contemplates her in the state of perfection. She is now seen as inseparably united with her Son, who “sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” For her the final consummation of life has already come-in an anticipation. “Thou art passed over into Life, who art the Mother of Life,” acknowledges the Church, “Neither grave nor death had power over the Mother of God… for the Mother of Life hath been brought into Life by him who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb” (Troparion and Kontakion for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary).

Again, it is not so much a heavenly reward for her purity and virtue, as an “implication” of her sublime office, of her being the Mother of God, the Theotokos. The Church Triumphant is above all the worshipping Church, her existence is a living participation in Christ’s office of intercession and his redeeming love. Incorporation into Christ, which is the essence of the Church and of the whole Christian existence, is first of all an incorporation into his sacrificial love for mankind. And here there is a special place for her who is united with the Redeemer in the unique intimacy of motherly affection and devotion. The Mother of God is truly the common mother of all living, of the whole Christian race, born or reborn in the Spirit and truth. An affectionate identification with the child, which is the spiritual essence of motherhood, is here consummated in its ultimate perfection. The Church does not dogmatize much about these mysteries of her own existence. For the mystery of Mary is precisely the mystery of the Church. Mater Ecclesia and Virgo Alater, both are birthgivers of the New Life. And both are orantes.

The Church invites the faithful and helps them to grow spiritually into these mysteries of faith which are as well the mysteries of their own existence and spiritual destiny. In the Church they learn to contemplate and to adore the living Christ together with the whole assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven (Heb. 12:23). And in this glorious assembly they discern the eminent person of the Virgin Mother of the Lord and Redeemer, full of grace and love, of charity and compassion — “More honorable than the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim, who without spot didst bear the Eternal Word.” In the light of this contemplation and in the spirit of faith the theologian must fulfill his office of interpreting to believers and to those who seek the truth the overwhelming mystery of the Incarnation. This mystery is still symbolized, as it was in the age of the Fathers, by a single and glorious name: Mary Theotokos, the Mother of God Incarnate.

The Ever-Virgin Mother of God
Archpriest George Florovsky

Zeal and Meekness

CHRIST bade His followers take the sword;
And yet He chid the deed,
When Peter seized upon His word,
And made a foe to bleed.
The gospel Creed, a sword of strife,
Meek hands alone may rear;
And ever Zeal begins its life
In silent thought and fear.
Ye, who would weed the Vineyard’s soil,
Treasure the lesson given;
Lest in the judgment-books ye toil
For Satan, not for heaven.
John Henry Newman
Off Sardinia
June 20, 1833
Verses on Various Occasions, 170

Newman beatification to happen at Coventry Airport

Britain’s Catholic Herald reports today that John Henry Newman’s beatification ceremony, conducted by the Holy Father himself, will happen at Coventry Airport, while the pope is visiting England and Scotland from 16-19 September 2010. As we all know, the Pope is dispensing himself of his own rule for beatification ceremonies. Newman’s beatification is a great grace not only for the Congregation of the Oratory (Oratorians) but for England and the theological world.

John Henry Newman to be beatified by Benedict XVI

It was announced this morning by the Holy See that Pope
Benedict XVI will beatify John Henry Newman on 19th September 2010, during his
visit to the U.K., in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. The Cause of Newman’s
Canonisation has released the following statement:

Newman in cappa.jpg

The Fathers and many friends
of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our
Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry
Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in
September. Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life,
first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the
Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in
the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.

The Holy Father’s life-long
devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth
and significance of our founder’s legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in
person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have
drawn inspiration from Newman’s life and work.

We joyfully look forward to
welcoming the Holy Father, as well as the many pilgrims and visitors who will
come to the Beatification ceremony and visit Newman’s shrine at the Birmingham
Oratory.

We also look forward to the challenging work of preparing for the
Beatification in conjunction with Church and civil authorities. We pray that
the Beatification will fittingly reflect both Newman’s significance for the
Universal Church and the honour paid to our Archdiocese and our country by the
Holy Father’s presence among us.

Very Rev. Richard Duffield

Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Actor of the Cause of
John Henry Newman

Additionally, the Procurator of the Congregation of the Oratory, Very Reverend Father Edoardo Aldo Cerrato, CO, has written to the all the Oratories of the world on this great gesture of Pope Benedict XVI in personally beatifying the Venerable Servant of God John Henry Newman. The letter is here: Letter-of-the-Procurator-General-of-the-Oratory-Confederation-March-2010.pdf

Blessed John Henry Newman

JH Newman2.jpgThe Holy Father recognized the 2001 healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan as a miracle by way of the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman‘s intercession. This was the final step in the beatification process of the English cardinal; of course, the canonization process will continue to its natural end. Now the details of the beatification ceremony are pending which is likely to be England.

We rejoice with the Congregation of the Oratory and the 82 Oratorian Houses –indeed with the entire Church in the Pope’s decision to beatify Newman because it gives us another authentic guide to Christ.

At the Birmingham Oratory you can read

Some of his works can be found here.

Cardinal Newman miracle approved by cardinals

JHN detail.jpgThe commission of cardinals approved of the miracle presented to them for the dossier proposing John Henry Cardinal Newman as a “beatus” (blessed).

The next step is for the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, to prepare a document for the Holy Father to study the case. Read the Times Online story of the recent events.

Newman’s biographer resists the revisionists

The recent article in the UK’s Catholic Herald of John Henry Newman’s biographer who takes on the gay revisionists who try to rewrite the life of the late convert-cardinal-now-saint-hopeful. Father Ian Kerr defends Newman by trying to understand the meaning of the man’s life and words. I think the 19th century priest Father St. John is correct: we’ve lost a concept of affectionate friendship that’s not sexual.