St John Henry Newman

Today is the Feast of St John Henry Newman. The date was selected as it is the anniversary of his reception into the Catholic Church by Bl. Dominic Barberi in The College at Littlemore in 1845.

The Newman Canonisation Resource has an illustrated biography with a fine selection of quotations from his writings at About Newman — Saint John Henry

St John Henry Newman about the time of his reception into the Catholic Church.

The original drawing was done in 1844 by George Richmond. After Newman joined Oratory in 1848 this engraved version was produced showing him with an Oratorian collar. It is said that Richmond persuaded him to remove his spectacles so that as an artist he could capture this image, presenting a Newman slightly idealised as a spiritual man, a man with a mission.

Image: Maryvale Institute

Of the writing of books about Newman there seems to be no end, aided in part by the great volume of his writings, both for publication and as private correspondence. His wide ranging intellect and his scholarly method resulted in a treasure trove of Catholic thought and spirituality. Whilst his literary style is, naturally, that of his time it is also elegant and, in that sense, classical English prose, easy to follow in its lucidity, but enriching in its profundity. His writings, like his whole life, were a blending of a very English, Oxford education with deep personal faith that led him on this day 179 years ago, into the Catholic Church, and his embrace of its vast spiritual treasury. A man of the English nineteenth century he developed into one of universal interest and appeal.

A late photograph of St John Henry in his robes as a Cardinal. In reality he very rarely wore them.

Image:Reddit

St John Henry Newman Pray for us

Night walk to Littlemore

Last night I joined in the annual night walk to Littlemore to commemorate the reception into the Catholic Church of Bl. John Henry Newman by Bl. Dominic Barberi. The walk takes in places associated with Newman's life in Oxford and the events of October 8th 1845 when Bl. Dominic arrived here and travelled out to Littlemore. The following day - now Newman's feast day - Bl Dominic received him and others into the Church, the One Fold of the Redeemer. This was the 170th anniversary of those events.

Not only does the walk commemorate an historical anniversary but it also is designed as an act of prayerful witness, with stations for readings and collects along the way and ends with a Holy Hour in the Catholic church in Littlemore and then moves to the College where Newman and his friends were received in the oratory.

I have done the walk each year since my reception into the Church in 2005, and despite something of a gammy leg, - and after giving two walking tours of Oxford in the afternoon - I managed one again to do the walk. It is an occasion upon which one can have a series of intentions to offer as well as offering up any minor hardships.

I was asked to be the voice of Bl. John Henry in the readings at the various stops we made en route from the Oxford Oratory to Littlemore. This was a gesture I appreciated as not only a convert from Anglicanism but also a member of Oriel.

Following the reflections and benediction in the church of Bl. Dominic Barberi we processed into the College for the final readings in the library, and prayers and veneration of a relic of Bl. John Henry in the restored chapel.

The Library in the College at Littlemore

It was here that Newman knelt at Barberi's feet to seek admission to the Church

Image: Supremacy and Survival

As is customary on this occasion - and seemingly all other visits to the College - the pilgrims were provided with tea and cake by the Sisters of the Work who care for the building and provide an always warm and kindly welcome to this very special place. The College has a quiet holiness that derives from what Newman created there in the years leading up to his reception for himself and his companions - or perhaps I should say was provided for them by Higher Powers - and which so impressed Bl. Dominic - he remarked that the life of Newman and his friends there was much stricter than that of most contemporary orders.

The meeting of the two future beati - a bronze relief in Littlemore Catholic church

Image: newmanfriendsinternational.org

Walking to Littlemore

Last night I participated in the annual Night Walk from the Oxford Oratory to Littlemore to mark the 169th anniversary of Bl. John Henry Newman's reception into the Catholic Church. This is the tenth consecutive year that I have done the walk, and I always find it a spiritually rewarding as well as an enjoyable occasion.

It appears now to be mandatory that if we have a procession I am required to wear a yellow safety jacket as a marshal. As last year I was the whipper in at the back - I think I ought to take lessons from my friends in the Christ Church Beagles...

We began as usual at the Oxford Oratory and walked via sites associated with Newman - Trinity College, St Mary's Church, Oriel College, the site of the Angel Inn where Bl. Dominic arrived soaking wet from travelling on the roof of the stage coach in 1845, the site of old St Clement's Church where Newman was assistant curate in the 1820s, and reflected at Greyfriars on his lament for the loss of Catholicism in the University of his day by contrast with the era of Duns Scotus. We also paused at the two houses at Rose Hill on the way to Littlemore occupied by his mother and sisters in the 1830s.

At Littlemore we had a Holy Hour in the modern church of Bl.Dominic Barberi led by Fr Hancock, the parish priest, before processing to the College.

Bl. John Henry Newman and Bl. Dominic Barberi in 1845

A bronze relief by Faith Tolkien in Littlemore church made in 1995

Image: newmanfriendsinternational.org

There is an intersting piece about this meeting of Bl. Dominic and Bl. John Henry, their reaction to one another and the latter's memories of the Passionist in the post from the website of the Friends of Newman International which can be seen here.

"The door opened and what a spectacle it was for me to see at my feet John Henry Newman begging me to hear his confession and to admit him into the bosom of the Catholic Church!"

Words of Bl. Dominic Barberi






The reconstructed fireplace in the Library at The College in Littlemore where John Henry Newman knelt to greet the Passionist Father Dominic Barberi.

Image:reginamag.com 








The Library at Littlemore today

Image: newmanfriendsinternational.org

Newman’s bedroom restored to as it was when he lived there.

Newman’s writing desk is preserved in the Library. It was on this surface that Blessed Dominic Barberi celebrated the Mass in the chapel after Newman’s reception. Newman never wrote on it again and kept it inverted after the Mass.

Images:1catholicsalmon.com 

 

The Chapel in the College

Image:newmanfriends international 

At the conclusion of our pilgrimage we were able to venerate a relic of Bl. John Henry in the chapel before receiving a very welcome cup of tea from the Sisters of the Work, who care with great devotion for the College and provide a generous and very spiritual welcome for visitors. If you have not already visited this remarkable place, or encountered Newman at the hinge event of his life, I would urge you to do so.

Newman Night Walk - October 8th

A week tonight the annual Newman Night Walk from Oxford to Littlemore will take place on Wednesday October 8th.

A bronze relief in the Catholic church in Littlemore 

depicting the meeting of Bl. John Henry and Bl Dominic 

The evening begins at the Oxford Oratory with a short meditation at 7.45, followed by the walk to Littlemore, stopping at places associated with Bl.John Henry Newman and Bl.Dominic Barberi.

At 9.39 there begins the candlelit procession from 89 Rose Hill to the church of Bl.Dominic Barberi in Littlemore where from 10.00 there is a Holy Hour concluding Benediction. Confessions will be heard in the church during this Holy Hour.

The evening concludes with the procession reforming and going to the College where the two beati met on October 8th 1845 and the evening ends with a thanksgiving in the chapel there.

The Chapel where Newman was received and made his first Catholic communion

Participants are invited to join the events at any stage, and light refreshments will be provided afterwards at the College by the Sisters of the Work.

The Library at the College

This is always a most enjoyable as well as prayerful evening, a suitable way in which to reflect upon Bl.John Henry's conversion and reception into "the one true fold of the Redeemer ".

Newman's writing desk

“… as I made Littlemore a place of retirement for myself, so did I offer it to others…”

(Apologia pro vita sua, 160).

Images: newmanfriendsinternational

FSSP Newman Pilgrimage

Earlier today I had the pleasure and privilege of guiding some 40 US and Canadian pilgrims around sites in Oxford and Littlemore associated with Bl.John Henry Newman, as well as other places of Catholic and historic interest. This was part of a week long pilgrimage to England organised by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, whose website can be seen here.

I admire the energy of the party - so far this week they have visited Walsingham, York, the Birmingham Oratory and Stratford, and have certainly London and Ramsgate to follow.

We began from the Oxford Oratory, going to Trinity where Newman was an undergraduate from 1817 to 1821, to St Mary's, where he was vicar from 1828 until 1843 and to Oriel where he was a Fellow from 1822 until 1845 and his reception into the Catholic Church.

Bl. John Henry Newman about the time of his reception - a portrait at Keble College

Image: Oriel College website

After a pause for tourist shopping we returned to the Oratory for Mass celebrated by their chaplain, Fr Michael Stinson FSSP. With him, and acting as the server, was one of the Fraternity's seminarians, James Mawdsley, whom readers may recall from his activities as a campaigner for human rights in Burma - there is something about that here. He hopes to be ordained as a deacon next year.

For the Mass and for lunch at a nearby restaurant we were joined by theChairman of the Latin Mass Society, Dr Joe Shaw, who had helped arrange the programme for the group, and indeed suggested me as a tour guide to them.

In the afternoon we travelled down to Littlemore, where Newman built the parish church and school for this outlying part of the parish of St Mary's, and where he largely based himself in the College, which he acquired in April 1842 until he left Oxford early in 1846, and where he was received on October 9th 1845.

The College Littlemore

Image: newmanfriendsinternational.org 

At the College we were welcomed by the Sisters of the Work who administer it on behalf of the Birmingham Oratory.

The garden inside the College

Image: newmanfriendsinternational.org

We had a tour of the library where Newman worked and where he met Bl.Dominic Barberi on the night of October 8th 1845, and the pilgrims were able to receive Benediction in the restored chapel.

This was a particularly appropriate day on which to visit Littlemore as it was the 165th anniversary of the death of Bl.Dominic at Reading in 1849 - his feast day is assigned to yesterday.

Bl. Dominic Barberi

Image:southwarkvocations.blogspot.co.uk

I bade the pilgrims God speed at littlemore and wish them well for the remainder of their stay here in England, and their continuing Christian pilgrimage.

Forty Hours at Littlemore this weekend

This coming weekend the Sisters of the Work are organising the Forty Hours Devotion at the College at Littlemore from Friday February 28th until Sunday March 2nd.

The Forty Hours Devotion

will be held in
in Bl. John Henry Newman's
Chapel at the College in Littlemore,

with prayers for any in need entrusted

to Blessed John Henry Newman’s intercession

Friday February 28th  9am Votive Mass of The Most Holy Eucharist 

followed by Exposition until 9pm

Saturday March 1st  Exposition 7am until 9pm

4.00 pm  Talk by Dr Paul Shrimpton, Magdalen College School, Oxford:

  “Newman's idea of human flourishing at University ”

Dr Shrimpton is the author of A Catholic Eton? Newman's Oratory School (2005) and the forth coming The 'making of men'; Newman's university in Oxford and Dublin (2014)

Sunday March 2nd   Exposition 7am until 9pm

Daily Prayer will be celebrated as follows:

7 am Morning Prayer
12 noon Midday Prayer
5 pm Vespers
8 pm Holy Hour
with meditations and hymns

concluding with Benediction and Night Prayer

                           
 

Confessions will be available

Images: International Friends of Newman

Walking with Bl. John Henry and Bl Dominic to Littlemore

Last night, and for the ninth year in succession, I did the night walk to Littlemore to commemorate the journey of Bl.Dominic Barberi there on October 8th 1845 to receive Bl. John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church. It is always an occasion I enjoy and it combines the narrative of Newman's conversion with places he knew and a chance to reflect on one's own, faltering, spiritual progress.

Here are a set of expandable photos of our journey last night, taken by a friend and which she has kindly forwarded to me to use on this blog: 

As seems to happen whenever the Oratory organises a public procession I get appointed as a marshal with the privilege of wearing a yellow safety jacket - the Provost, Fr Daniel, said to me at the end of the evening that if I am ever canonised the yellow jacket will be one of my attributes...

For many of thjos eon this walking Pilgrimage this was their first visit under any circumstances to Littlemore, and in many ways it is a very good occasion on which to see the College for the first time.

I have to admit that I set off on the walk in a not especially holy frame of mind - my Yorkshire grumpiness was having an outing - but I did find that as we progreesed through the city centre and suburbs and prayed the rosary that sensation began to fade and I had considerably greater peace of mind at the end of the evening than in the earlier stages.

Our route took us from the Oratory to Trinity College, where Newman was a an undergraduate, St Mary's Church, of which he was Vicar, Oriel College, where he was a Fellow, past the site of the Angel inn where Bl.Dominic alighted from the stage coach that wet October evening 168 years ago to be met by John Dalgairns, and past the site of St Clement's church where Newman served his first Anglican curacy. Passing Greyfriars we stopped at Rosemount where Mrs Newman and his suisters lived from 1833 to 1836, and the cottages they used in 1830-33 as a summer retreat and base for nursing the 1831 cholera victims in Littlemore.

We had a candlelit procession from the house occupied by the Sisters of the Work at Rose Hill, and singing "Lead Kindly Light" walked into Littlemore to a Holy Hour with meditations drawn from Newman's writings before the Blessed Sacrament in the modern church of Bl. Dominic Barberi. Finally we went to the College for our final narrative reflection in the library and then veneration of the relic of Bl. John Henry in the restored chapel where he was received on October 9th, and made his first Catholic communion on October 10th 1845.

Forthcoming events

For any readers who are able to attend here are some events in Oxford, and in one case London. in October and early November which may be of interest:

Tuesday October 8th Night Walk to Littlemore to commemorate the reception of Bl.John Henry Newman into the Church ( "the one true fold of the Redeemer" ) in 1845. The walk begins at 7.45pm in the Oxford Oratory. 9.30pm Candlelit procession from  Rosehill,  10pm Holy Hour in Bl.Dominic Barberi church, conclusion at The College for devotions in the chapel and refeshments. Lifts are normally available afterwards for the return to Oxford. Always a good occasion to participate in.

Wednesday October 9th  6 pm Solemn Mass in honour of Bl. John Henry Newman at the Oxford Oratory.
  
Saturday October 12th  The Rosary Crusade of Reparation, London. Starting at 2.15pm from Westminster Cathedral, the procession will end at Brompton Oratory with Benediction. More details from: http://rosarycrusadeofreparation.blogspot.co.uk

Friday October 18th- Sunday October 20th Forty Hours Devotion at the Oxford Oratory. A highlight of the year - more details to follow. It is also a busy weekend for those keen on liturgical traditional or devotion:
  
Saturday October 19th Latin Mass Society Pilgrimage to Oxford.The annual pilgrimage in honour of the Oxford Martyrs. High Mass in the Dominican Rite at Blackfriars at 11.00am. This is followed by lunch, then procession, beginning at the end of Cornmarket by the church of St Michael at the North Gate, at 2.00pm. The Pilgrimage will then process through the streets to the site of the martyrdomsof 1589 at the end of Holywell Street, the site of the town gallows, and then returns to Blackfriars for Benediction at 3.00pm. Bring packed lunch or have a pub lunch locally.

Meanwhile there is also on the same day

Saturday October 19th "A Seminar on True Devotion to Jesus through Mary" at Greyfriars in Iffley Road, beginning with Mass at 9.30am and talks from 10 until 1. Refreshments will be provided.

Sunday October 20th 12 noon EF Sung High Mass at SS Gregory and Augustine Oxford.

Sunday October  27th  3pm Church of Bl. Dominic Barberi Littlemore will have the celebration of Vespers with Bishop William Kenney, himself a Passionist, presiding to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bl. Dominic's Beatification. 

Saturday November 9th  Stabat Mater  - a recital by Camerata of Curiosities at the Oxford Oratory in aid of the Oratory Appeal at 8pm. Music by Bach, Monteverrdi, Grandi and Sances. Tickets for donations fron £10 to £10,000...

Pilgrimage to Littlemore

Last night I went, as has been my wont each year since my reception as a Catholic, on the annual walking Pilgrimage to Littlemore to commemorate Bl. Dominic Barberi's reception of Bl. John Henry Newman into the Church on October 8th-9th 1845.

The rather damp weather may have deterred some, but it was still a good sized group who set off from the Oxford Oratory led by Fr Richard Duffield Cong.Orat. to walk in silence or saying the rosary to various of the places associated with Newman and with his reception. At the various stops we paused for readings - this year the voice of Newman was Fr Guy Nicholls from the Birmingham Oratory - and for an appropriate Collect.

Bl. Dominic Barberi

Image:southwarkvocations.blogspot.co.uk

Bl. John Henry Newman about the time of his reception - a portrait at Keble College

Image: Oriel College website

The meeting of Bl. John Henry and Bl. Dominic

A bronze relief in Bl.Dominic Barberi church Littlemore

Image: tunbridgewells-ordinariate.com

At Littlemore we observed a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament in the parish church dedicated to Bl.Dominic and the devotions included two readings drawn from one of Bl. John Henry's meditations, and chosen for their suitability for the Year of Faith :

Noli incredulus esse, sed fidelis.
Be not faithless, but believing.

1. I ADORE Thee, O my God, who art so awful, because Thou art hidden and unseen! I adore Thee, and I desire to live by faith in what I do not see; and considering what I am, a disinherited outcast, I think it has indeed gone well with me that I am allowed, O my unseen Lord and Saviour, to worship Thee anyhow. O my God, I know that it is sin that has separated between Thee and me. I know it is sin that has brought on me the penalty of ignorance. Adam, before he fell, was visited by Angels. Thy Saints, too, who keep close to Thee, see visions, and in many ways are brought into sensible perception of Thy presence. But to a sinner such as I am, what is left but to possess Thee without seeing Thee? Ah, should I not rejoice at having that most extreme mercy and favour of possessing Thee at all? It is sin that has reduced me to live by faith, as I must at best, and should I not rejoice in such a life, O {362} Lord my God? I see and know, O my good Jesus, that the only way in which I can possibly approach Thee in this world is the way of faith, faith in what Thou hast told me, and I thankfully follow this only way which Thou hast given me.

2. O my God, Thou dost over-abound in mercy! To live by faith is my necessity, from my present state of being and from my sin; but Thou hast pronounced a blessing on it. Thou hast said that I am more blessed if I believe on Thee, than if I saw Thee. Give me to share that blessedness, give it to me in its fulness. Enable me to believe as if I saw; let me have Thee always before me as if Thou wert always bodily and sensibly present. Let me ever hold communion with Thee, my hidden, but my living God. Thou art in my innermost heart. Thou art the life of my life. Every breath I breathe, every thought of my mind, every good desire of my heart, is from the presence within me of the unseen God. By nature and by grace Thou art in me. I see Thee not in the material world except dimly, but I recognise Thy voice in my own intimate consciousness. I turn round and say Rabboni. O be ever thus with me; and if I am tempted to leave Thee, do not Thou, O my God, leave me!

3. O my dear Saviour, would that I had any right to ask to be allowed to make reparation to Thee for all the unbelief of the world, and all the insults offered to Thy Name, Thy Word, Thy Church, and the Sacrament of Thy Love! But, alas, I have a long score of unbelief and ingratitude of my {363} own to atone for. Thou art in the Sacrifice of the Mass, Thou art in the Tabernacle, verily and indeed, in flesh and blood; and the world not only disbelieves, but mocks at this gracious truth. Thou didst warn us long ago by Thyself and by Thy Apostles that Thou wouldest hide Thyself from the world. The prophecy is fulfilled more than ever now; but I know what the world knows not. O accept my homage, my praise, my adoration!—let me at least not be found wanting. I cannot help the sins of others—but one at least of those whom Thou hast redeemed shall turn round and with a loud voice glorify God. The more men scoff, the more will I believe in Thee, the good God, the good Jesus, the hidden Lord of life, who hast done me nothing else but good from the very first moment that I began to live.

Meditations and Devotions, 361-2

With acknowlegements to Newman reader - a very useful resource in itself.

The College Littlemore

Bl Dominic wrote of it as "the monastery established about three years back by Rev.John Henry Newman. There these Oxford men lead a penitential life much more severe than that usually led by Religious"

Image: Wikipedia

We concluded with prayers and veneration of a relic of Bl.John Henry Newman in the restored Chapel in the College where he and his spiritual companions were received into the One Fold of the Redeemer.

After that there was the usual generous hospitality of the Sisters of the Work, who administer the College as a place of prayer and welcome to Newman pilgrims, before our return to the cenre of Oxford. As always amoving and worthwhile evening.

The feast of Bl.John Henry in Oxford

The Oxford Oratory will begin its celebrations of the feast of Bl. John Henry Newman  with a Triduum of prayers on Saturday October 6th and Sunday October 7th at 6, and on Monday October 8th at 6.30.

Following that on the evening of Monday October 8th there will be the annual Night Walk to Littlemore to commemorate the journey of Bl.Dominic Barberi to receive Bl. John Henry Newman into the Church.

The pilgrimage begins at the Oxford Oratory at 7.45, pausing for readings and prayers at places associated with Newman. At 9.30 there will be a candlelit procession from 89 Rose Hill to the church of Bl. Dominic Barberi in Littlemore for a Holy Hour with Exposition beginning at 10, during which Confessions will be available. Following Benediction, at 10.45 the pilgrims will process to the College at Littlemore to conclude in Newman's Chapel there. Refreshments are available afterwards at the College.

Bl John Henry Hewman asks Bl Dominic Barberi to receive him into the Church

Image: Bl Dominic Barberi church website on Communigate

This is always an enjoyable and interesting occasion, as well as a prayerful one.

On the evening of Tuesday October 9th there will be a Solemn Mass at the Oxford Oratory to mark the feast day of Bl. John Henry at 6.

Forty Hours at Littlemore

Over the weekend of February 17th-19th
there will be
the Forty Hours Devotion
in Bl. John Henry Newman's
Chapel at the College in Littlemore.

Friday February 17th 9 am Mass followed by Exposition until 9 pm

Saturday February 18th Exposition 7 am until 9 pm

Sunday February 19th Exposition 7 am until 9 pm

Daily Prayer will be celebrated as follows:

7 am Morning Prayer
12 noon Midday Prayer
5 pm Vespers
8 pm Holy Hour
with meditations and hymns

concluding with Benediction and Night Prayer

Confessions available

Walking with Newman to Littlemore

As has been my wont since I was received into the "one true fold ofthe Redeemer" I took part in the annual night walk to Littlemore last Saturday evening to commemorate the reception of Bl. John Henry Newman into the Church there in 1845.

I knew in advance that once more I was to be vested in a flourescent yellow jacket as a front or back marker for the procession, but I was surprised, and flattered, to be met at the door of the oratory church with a request from Br. Oliver, the new member of the community who was leading the procession, that I should be the voice of Newman in the readings at the various stations we mark on the walk. As a convert and an Orielensis this was perhapsd appropriate, but it was an honour I appreciated.

Tracing not only Bl. Dominic Barberi's route from Oxford to Littlemore on the evening of October 8th 1845 but also Newman's life from Trinity to Oriel, the churches of St Mary the Virgin and St Clement, his ideas about Catholic education within the University, and the houses he and his mother and sisters occupied at Rose Hill we arrived at Littlemore for reflections on his decision in October 1845.

In the church of Bl.Dominic Barberi at Littlemore, which might be described as an interesting example of the period which built it (the 1960s) , and might indeed be described in less charitable terms, we had a Holy Hour with Exposition and Benediction. For this I exchanged, thankfully, my yellow jacket for a cassock and cotta so as to act as thurifer before we proceeded to the College, and after the final prayers and blessing we were able to venerate the relic of Bl. John Henry in the restored chapel where he and his companions were received.

This walking pilgrimage is always an enjoyable and spiritual event, and if you are ever in Oxford on the night of October 8th I would encourage you to follow in Newman's footsteps to Littlemore, and who knows where else the kindly light may lead.

Image: Oriel College website by kind permission of the Warden and Fellows of Keble College

Commemorating Bl.John Henry Newman in Oxford

To celebrate the approaching Feast of Bl John Henry Newman the following events will be held in Oxford this coming week:

On Thursday and Friday following the 6pm Mass at the Oxford Oratory, and at 6 pm on Saturday before Mass, there will be a Triduum of prayers and Benediction to prepare for the Feast.

Saturday October 8th

Pilgrimage to Littlemore

The annual pilgrimage is centred on the church of Bl.Dominic Barberi with confessions available 11.15-11.45, Mass at 12 noon, the principal celebrant and preacher being the Rt.Rev.Mgr Andrew Burnham.

This will be followed by refreshments in the adjacent parish hall - bring a packed lunch.

After lunch there will be a lecture by Fr Ian Ker on Newman and the Vocation of the Christian in the World.
During the afternoon there will be tours of the College and of the Anglican parish church of St Mary and St Nicholas which was built by Newman in the 1830s.

The Night Walk to Littlemore

7.45 pm, starting at The Oxford Oratory, the annual Night Walk to Littlemore, stopping at places associated with Newman and following Bl. Dominic Barberi's route to Littlemore on October 8th 1845.
9.30 pm Candlelit procession from 89 Rose Hill to Littlemore Church.
10 pm Holy Hour and Benediction in the church of Bl. Dominic Barberi.
10.45 pm Procession to the College for thanksgiving prayers.
This is always an enjoyable and interesting, as well as prayerful and reflective, occasion.

Sunday October 9th

11 Solemn Mass for the feast at the Oxford Oratory.

Bl.Dominic Barberi greeting Newman. Bl.Dominic Barberi has just come in from the wet and cold. It is late at night on October 8th 1845 and he is trying to dry himself in front of the fire at the College in Littlemore. Newman is on one knee requesting of Dominic Barberi that he be received into the Church. A relief by Faith Tolkien in the Church of Bl.Dominic Barberi at Littlemore Image: Communigate

Walking Pilgrimage to Littlemore

Today a number of us from the Brothers of the Oxford Oratory - the Secular Oratory - went on a walking pilgrimage to the College at Littlemore, which this weekend is holding its Forty Hours Devotion, with its special intention for the Unity of the Church. We set off after the 10 Mass and devotions to Our Lady of Oxford at the Oratory. Led by our Prefect of Oratory, Fr Jerome Bertram, we followed St Philip Neri's model, making it a Seven Churches walk, with pauses for prayer and recollection at the various churches en-route. Part of the walk was on the tow path by the Thames, and we saw the earlier stages of the Torpids races being rowed on the river before walking through Iffley village, with its spectacular Norman church, crossing the by-pass and making our way through Littlemore to the modern church of Bl.Dominic Barberi. There we prayed the following prayer by Bl. John Henry Newman: Lord Jesus Christ, who when thou wert about to suffer, didst pray for thy disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as thou art in the Father and Father in thee, break down the walls of separation which divide one party and denomination of Christians from another. Teach all men that the see of St Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre and instrument of unity. Open their hearts to the long-forgotten truth that our Holy Father, the Pope, is thy vicar and representative, so that there is but one holy company in Heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying thy holy name here below We then went on to the College to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. We lunched in the library at the College and took the opportunity to reflect upon how Brothers could mark Lent and what new initiatives we could undertake. As on previous occasions this was an enjoyable and thoughtful occasion, drawing upon Oratorian practice and linking devotion to Our Lord with veneration of 'Our Cardinal' and building up those bonds which link the Brothers one to another and to the Oratory.

Newman en français

I spent a very agreeable morning showing a group of 28 seminarians, together with five of their tutors, around Oxford, and specifically places associated with Bl.John Henry Newman. They were from the Séminaire Saint-Yves in Rennes. It's patron, St Yves or Ivo of Kermartin 1253-1303, was a canon lawyer and parish priest whose relics are in the former cathedral at Tréguier. As a priest he was noted for the holiness of his life and his devotion to his people and their spiritual growth. His feast day is May 19.

Saint Yves of Kermartin portrayed by Rogier van der Weyden.

Image: Wikipedia

Given the schoolboy nature of my French I could only hope to speak slowly and awkwardly, but I had the assistance of Philippe Lefebvre, a friend formerly based in Oxford and who now works for the pilgrimage centre at the Birmingham Oratory to act as my interpreter. As a Frenchman he made easy work of rendering my enthusiam for the topic into clear and cogent French for his fellowcountrymen, and sought, successfully I think, to translate my witticisms and asides. My own efforts in French were limited, especially when facing an audience of native speakers - what one can do in one's head does not emerge as well when one starts speaking in public! However I was clearly not unintelligible, which is reassuring.

We started, like Newman, at Trinity and walked via St Mary's church, where Newman was vicar from 1828 until 1843, to Oriel. In both colleges we looked at the chapels and halls, as well as where Newman had his rooms.

In the afternoon their party walked, in the rain, out to the College at Littlemore and had Mass in the church of Bl. Dominic Barberi, before returning to the city centre. There I was able to rejoin them and join them for a convivial supper which I had helped to arrange before they went off on the next stage of their pilgrimage to Birmingham and a visit to the Oratory there.

The seminary provides training for the four modern dioceses of Brittany which form part of the ecclesiastical province of Rennes.

Rennes Cathedral

The whole of the seminary student community was on this pilgrimage to England. Most were Bretons, but they also included Haitians and Vietnamese who are training to serve in France. Brittany is, of course, noted as an area where devotion has remained strong, and they seemed to be living proof of this. One came from the Paris area, but had found the Bretons so welcoming when living there that he had decided to study there as well.

They were interested in the nature of Anglicanism - not always that easy to explain, but a combination of my French, their English and some Franglais sufficed, I think, to answer their questions. We also talked about Newman and Conscience, and how his views on that subject are often misrepresented, and whether I thought Thomas More's example had been an influence on Newman. They were also interested in the way Oxford functions, and appreciated the advantages the collegiate system provides in creating communities of scholarship as well as friendship.

I think I impressed the visitors by my knowledge that there were seven dioceses under the Duchy and ancien regime and other bits of Breton history, such as the battle and the shrine at Auray, which I had gleaned from Peter Lewis's wonderful seminars in past years on late medieval French history at All Souls when Michael "Brittany" Jones came to speak.

They all appeared to me to be excellent young men who will, I am sure, be good and faithful priests, and, hopefully, may further an awareness of Bl.John Henry Newman in Brittany and beyond. I said I would keep them in my prayers and commend them to those of my readers.