St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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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

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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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