St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

Page 67 text:

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 -

Page 66 text:

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:

Page 68 text:

Ulllllllllllli , Y 1 ' i ' i gfmzmiaifaa v wi Q f , ,,, ' A A ' .... H E-i--2 i i ill i- he thought, he could seek retirement from the distracting mul- titudes of the world. But this he could never do. He was repeat- , ,511 edly called upon to exercise his creative genius in behalf of the ffl all Catholic Church. if' His keen insight into human nature, his broad learning and 'fff his contagious desire to engage in educational work was long '55 recognized by the Holy See. Hence he was invited to become the ' j' Rector of the Catholic University which struggling Catholics i - V. were endeavoring to found in Ireland. He hesitated long, for he never underestimated the difficulties of such an enterprise. W But at length, persuaded that the Pope had fostered the project, if he yielded. Peter had spoken, and, ever loyal to him, he under- 'E ' took this great task. From the very beginningthe project seemed jf' foredoomed to failure, and its failure was made the occasion for I+ .1 heaping new insults upon the only man who could have ever - - V made it a success. But even in the face of this discouragement, 'A l for seven years, during which period no phase of his work was V-l31fafgf,f - - vi? 1.1.- his indomitable spirit refused to be defeated. He struggled along f Q . too mean or too trivial to command his attention. He journeyed V4 through all Ireland endeavoring to inspire the people with enthusiasm for the proposed University, but in the end, his efforts proved fruitless, and when at length he found the task insuperable, he returned to Birmingham to begin that period gl ff, of his life which was, in many respects, the saddest he ever knew. fi It seemed to be God's will that he should take part in a whole succession of schemes, which, like the foregoing, were to end in if disillusionment and failure. Shortly after returning from Eng- 'fi .5 land, he was induced by Cardinal Wiseman to undertake the editorship of a new English version of the Scriptures. Newman P if welcomed the proposal and set to work with that studiousness 7 which characterized all his work. He enlisted contributors and , E threw himself into the work with all his old enthusiasm. But it l l was all useless. Booksellers with large stocks of the Douay Ver- A gl sion began to protest. Cardinal Wiseman finally dropped the matter and Newman had one more humiliating failure to add to , v his life. He was now an old man, sixty-three years of age. The future, how sterile and hopeless it appeared to him now, a few years of , insignificance and silence, and then the grave. But God never l j abandons those whom He loves. In the midst of his sadness there ' occurred an event that rekindled the fire of his soul and re- . established him forever in the heart of England. Charles Kings- I ley, a distinguished English Divine, attacked his good faith and , i A. 4' if 1 5 Qi:'aR,:L3,3-f53751rC2 1 . 'um H Q ... , , i ' ' ' 'u Il ir l65l