St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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Elllf , , , 1 . f . . . . . . . . Ullllllllllllh I 3 Z 2 a - . glllllls ' 5 Nnuamnui ,YT Jlllllllllllfd : 2 ,N nu Ill , ,, 1, slllaf Q D i amunumu I-,4 Y 1 3 1 its effects that it need not be repeated here. Such a movement directed at the very foundation of the English system of religion so comprehensive in scope and so vital to the heart of every true Englishman could not long remain unnoticed. It sought an out- let for its expression in the Tracts for the Times. Newman became the principal author of these. They were published at irregular intervals and were distributed throughout England, but, for the mo't part they never penetrated beyond the ranks of the clergy. Indeed, many of the English people would never have heard of the Tracts were it not for that famous Tract Ninety which broke upon England one morning causing such consternation as even England scarcely ever beheld. Men thought that the foundation of their carefully wrought religious palladium.was being torn from under their feet. Like the tyrannical mob of old, clamoring for the death of the Saviour, England rose and demanded the perpetrator of this treacherous attack. lt was in such an hour of high national excitement that the man who had once been the moral and the intellectual leader of the greatest center of learn- ing in all England, fell. The very moment that English patriots learned that Newman was the author of this Tract, his life was no longer a matter of private interest. 'It became thereafter the property of England. Thus the man who had gloried in peaceful study within the four-walled cloister of his little room, was there- after dogged and disgraced, the object of public and private suspicion and hatred in every act he performed. ' He was ordered to withdraw his Tract. But this heuwould never do. He could never be persuaded to witness against truth. Throughout life he sought truth zealously, and, once he found it, no power upon earth could force him to relinquish it. He pre- ferred to sacrifice all things in life rather than ever to stand witness against the eternal truth. He preferred to incur the hatred and the animosity of all England, and even of the Oxford he loved so well rather than ever to retract the truth In the meantime England showed its displeasure. F rom every quarter came letters of denunciation. He was branded an agent of Rome. He was dogged and watched, hated and despised, in- sulted and spurned upon the streets. But through it all Newman held his peace. He kept up his studies, preached upon occasions and felt his way groplngly. As the months passed the necessity of resigning his post at St. lVIary's became a growing conviction. And thus came a day when the tall gaunt figure of Newman was no longer seen in the principal church at Oxford. Thus ceased that bell-like voice which so often rang through the church .mum m 5 11,9 F . ill Ili - i if alll.. 1llfO lllllllll 7 I Xl ll53ll 4 I n ill. alll:

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E 'E I E Elllllli Slllllli z E 5 5 n a 'llllllllillllf' 6 6 ' . . . . l ? . 'Ill . -mnmngur site 1 r jlll' lllllls Ill zant of the truth that much will be required of him to whom much has been given. With this ideal before his mind his days were passed in the fulfillment of his duties to God and his fellow- men. In respect to the latter he was always gracious and charit- able He was 1n every sense of the word the true gentleman He lived a life of sacrifice and love so akin to sainthood that often it seemed as if St Augustine had reappeared to walk the ways of men. His personality and powers grew with the passing of years and won, four years after his ordination in the Church of England, the curacy of St. Mary's. Here he became the moral and intellec- tual leader of this great center of learning. Here his powers as a 'preacher drew the young Oxonians to worship at his feet. Here, too, he spent himself in his work, so much so that it began to affect his health. He was badly in need of a rest. Hence, when Hurrel Froude, his bosom friend, likewise delicate in health, invited him to make a trip to southern Europe, he gladly accept- ed. There he found opportunity to renew his failing health in the doubly soothing atmosphere of European skies and affectionate friendship. Together these two tired souls cruised along the Mediterranean, seeking the fountains of health amidst the once resplendent glories of the ancient world. During this cruise, in the hours of loneliness and foreboding that frequently overcame him, he wrote some eighty-five verses, one of which has endeared 'itself to the hearts of all those who seek light amidst the en- circling gloom of this earthly pilgrimage. Early in 1833 he was back in England ready to begin those years of unimaginable sorrow that lay before him. He returned just in time to become involved in the scholarly Oxford Move- ment. This was an attempt upon the part of some of the in- tellectuals at Oxford to revive in the failing religious fervor of the Anglican Church that fiery ardor and hunger for the king- dom of God which characterized the primitive Church. Fervor zeal and the old enthusiasm had given way to a deadening com- placency. The great bulk of the clergy walked along the smooth path of least resistance enjoying an honorable prestige among their people by the few external functions they performed upon Sundays. For the rest they differed neither outwardly nor in- wardly from the great bulk of the laity to whom the Church was .a useful organization for the maintenance of Religion, as by law established But the awakening came at last. It was brought about by the famous Oxford Movement, a historical event so prodigious in .-l--- 'llllllllllllll' 7 7 7 ! ' H A mmunum , fi , umumuuu: s 5 - ,glllg , slllllla : z 2 f- .. .. - - 'illllllllllllli ' , V ' . , Q! ll62ll

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Illllllllllllla gllls Ellllllg alll: Slllllllllllllk ui. I ' -llll I- 3 I1 3 7 77 7 t 7 . . . . , . ' - n ! Y f ' ' . . tion. But wherever that voice summoned him he went' to the 7 . r 7 Y ? S - u mums. 5 1 g 'f E 'mumnm' of St. Mary s charming the multitudes of eager students who came to seek peace under the wondrous spell of this inspired prophet of the Most High. Thus came the awful pause which fell on Oxford when that voice had ceased and we knew we should hear it no more. For Oxford he had forever ceased to speak. In the meantime Newman retired to Littlemore, a dreary little v1llage just outside of Oxford. Here, with a mere handful of faithful followers he led a life of prayer and study. What heartaches his sens1t1ve soul now suffered, in rejection and aban- donment by those he so deeply loved, is a story, a tale of anguish of which the world knows little. Picture him seated at his desk, among his books, his sole source of consolation in these hours of great trial. Here he probed the annals of the past searching and praying for that light which by degrees appeared upon the horizon, revealing the broad high- ways that lead to life and truth. Every advance in his studies brought him nearer to the truth, daily strengthening the growing conviction which reason accepted but heart rejected, that he must leave the Church of England, the very soul of his life. But through it all he never faltered. Courageously he struggled on guided by principle until conviction swept him from his last Anglican mooring and brought him, one rainy night in October 1845 into the bosom of the true Church H The news of Newman s conversion rekindled the dying embers of animosity The land was Hooded with denunciations of the man who alone succeeded in awakening the Established Church from her age-old self-complacency. But Newman never flinched He obeyed the voice of duty without question, unselfishly giving whatever it demanded Sometimes it spoke to him from -the pages of some forgotten textg sometimes from the unbroken silence of the sickroom' sometimes during moments of medita- ministry to the forefront of a great cause, to Littlemore and its loneliness or to the great Renunciation. Now, too, the voice called him and though the storm of denunciation was great, it never for a moment deterred him from the truth as he saw it He preferred to drink the cup of sorrow to its last dregs rather than to compromise the truth as he saw it The year following his conversion he went to Rome. Two years later now a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, he returned to England determined to lead a life of retirement. All his life he craved solltude now was the time for its realization. At last S2 ll54ll Ellllllff glllllllllllli J L .- 11 r ! 7 0 . 7 7 . . ! 9 . . . . . . - ! v i . - 2 -