St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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.11 -,I 115715 I W ll ls. ,a, .'1ig,:1j5, fjfgf 'Iwi .JATT1 ICSW!! 5.1 . the good faith of Catholics in general in a magazine article Newman protested and Kingsley rejoined in an irate pamphlet Newman s reply was the Apologia a br1ll1ant controversial work in which he lay bare the lnnermost secrets of his sensitive soul. He shrunk from this task with that horror which one always feels in making personal disclosures' but the time came when he could not longer resist the voice of duty. Then it was that he penned that famous work which has since become a classic. Shortly after this period, now no longer an object of suspicion, within or without the Church, he felt himself in a position to carry out one of the cherished dreams of his life. This was to found a Church at Oxford University for the benefit of Catholic undergraduates. But this dream, like all those which had pre- ceded, was in the end frustrated, and thus came another defeat. These repeated disappointments were almost too much for . 5 L W. .lu llll u - Ye . llg . lj . 1 W1 M -U ' 3 2 -- - ., H. ,,.. v, . ., 1 . ,w...,...,,. . . in -Nm ., .I X .. - ef.- l-.. M i 1f.1..fa1-ffmillla .1 1,1 . fl , Hllljll 5:71 'V -,V N - Y f ' I . ,al . If '1 gil 0 t 0 O I 1 I . 0 I I I I , , . ! . . 1 I , u . . I r 5 . . . . . . . . 7 ! I . . . . S I Hllll Hills 2 - ' Ill ' I E . illlllllllllll' him. He now resolved to retire from public life and resign him- self to the preparation for his last great journey. He would devote must prepare himself for death which seemed so near. So he re- solvedg but in that resolution he had not reckoned with the Almighty, who again called him to the defense of the Church in 1870. In that year he wrote his famous Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, an exposition of the doctrine of infallibility so ration- ally and clearly explained that it immediately dissipated the English prejudices concerning that prerogative of the Pope Here one cannot but help recall how frequently his creative genius engaged him in controversy, but never, in all the years of his life, save but once, did he employ his talents for the mere pleasure of conquest. His interests and his pursuits in life lay in fields far removed from the din of battle and the clash of combat With but one exception he engaged in controversy -for a cause removed from his own personal interests. Duty was ever the clarion call that drew him from his cloistered seclusion and per- suaded h1m to don the armor and engage in battle against the enemies of the Church. Always he fought for truth as he saw it bringing to its defense all the diverse powers of his intellect. The joy and the peace of his declining days were clouded by the unexpected death of Ambrose St. john, his bosom friend and fellow Oratorian. For thirty-two years they had traveled through life together sharing alike its joys and sorrows. No small wonder then that Newman's spirits sank to the depths of anguish in the loss of this angel guardian whom God had sent him when all other had failed him. With his death Newman l66ll lllillllllllllg Elllg gllllllg alll! Hllillllllllll himself to the ordinary ,tasks of the oratory, but above all he

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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

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manifested an ever increasing lassitude of mind and body. He is now an aged man who thinks himself swiftly approaching the valley of shadows, never for a moment dreaming that his light was yet to shine before the world a decade longer, during which he was to become the object of singular honors. With the death of the saintly Pius IX in 1878 came the great Leo, who was asked by English Catholics to bestow some mark of recognition upon Father Newman for his great labors and sanctity of life. The curious series of incidents which preceded the presentation of this suggestion to the Pope through Cardinal Manning showed the old antipathy which had placed these two great characters, Manning and Newman, at odds with each other. Cardinal Manning, for some unaccountable reason, delayed for several months and the matter would have been forgotten, after the manner that had been customary where honors for Newman were concerned, had not the Duke of Norfolk intervened. Shortly after, a letter of recommendation reached the Pope and he, relaxing the Roman rule of residence, summon- ed Newman to Rome where he was made the recipient of such honors as even Rome scarcely ever beheld. But after the recep- tion of such signal honors, Newman, the champion of Catholicity in England, returned home and only his tiny red skullcap marked him as a Prince of the Catholic Church. He had traveled the high seas of life exposed to the merciless winds of doubt, of loneliness and of misunderstanding. Storm after storm had waged about him, but through them all he moved onward, trusting in the kindly light that never failed him. He spent the remaining years of his life in the amenities of friendship and in the duties of his office. Those who were with him during this period ever speak of his noble accomplishments, his charming personality and his wonderful sanctity of life. Thus he lived in intimate communion with God and fellowmen until death came and flights of angels sang him to rest. ln life he expressed the desire that his body be laid beside that of Ambrose St. John. This wish was fulfilled for his body was borne to the little cemetery and laid to rest beside this friend whom God had given him in those trying years of his life, when all others had failed him. Thus ended the life of him who sailed o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent till the night had passed away, and upon other shores he beheld those angel faces smile whom he had loved long since and lost a while. l67ll