(Newman, centre right, 3rd cleric from the right with cotta)
There is little time within an Assistant Priests schedule for reading, it seems to me. Perhaps, one wonders, if I spent a little more time in prayer then I would have the time for uplifting spiritual reading as contained within Blessed John Henry Newman by Fr Michael Rear. Fr Michael presents a short but excellent biography of Newman. Clearly, in this fervent time of Newman-appreciation in which we are all gripped, it's good to take time and learn about the man who will be declared Blessed by the Pope in a few weeks time.Newman’s life spanned nearly the whole of the 19th century, spent almost equally in the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. Michael Rear begins by exploring Newman’s immense influence on the Anglican Church, and the events that led to him being denounced as a traitor’ and virtually expelled from that Church.
Only after four years of prayer and of his study of the development of doctrine, did Newman find his way clear to enter the Catholic Church. Founder of the Oratories, of a school, and a university in Ireland, his views on the laity, papal infallibility, education, and conscience led to misunderstanding, until, at the age of 78, he was made a Cardinal. A century later he was called an ‘unseen presence’ at the Second Vatican Council, and revered for his holiness.
His prediction of the secular society, in which Religion, ‘is a private luxury, which a man may have if he will; but which… he must not obtrude upon others, or indulge in to their annoyance’, has a very contemporary feel.
To possess you, Lover of Souls, is happiness, and the only happiness of the immortal soul. To enjoy the sight of you is the only happiness of eternity. What can give me happiness but you? To see you, to contemplate you, this alone is inexhaustible. You indeed are unchangeable, yet in you there are always more glorious depths and more varied attributes to search into; we shall ever be beginning as if we had never gazed upon you. How far am I from acting according to what I know so well! Rouse me from sloth and coldness, and make me desire you with my whole heart.
May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last.
My God, let me never forget that seasons of consolations are refreshments here, and nothing more. Here they are only intended to prepare us for doing and suffering. I pray you, my God, to give them to me from time to time, lest I go about my daily work in a dry spirit; but let me not rest in them. Let me use them for the purpose for which you give them. Let them carry me forward to the thought and the desire of heaven.
My Lord and Saviour, in your arms I am safe; keep me and I have nothing to fear; give me up and I have nothing to hope for. I pray you not to make me rich, I pray you not to make me very poor; but I leave it all to you, because you know and I do not. If you bring pain or sorrow on me, give me grace to bear it well. If you give me health and strength and success in this world, keep me ever on my guard lest these great gifts carry me away from you. Give me ever to aim at setting forth your glory; to live to and for you; to set a good example to all around me; give me to die just at that time and in that way which is most for your glory, and best for my salvation.
My God, I adore you, as the Third Person of the Ever-Blessed Trinity. You are that Living Love, wherewith the Father and the Son love each other. And you are the Author of supernatural love in our hearts. Increase in me this grace of love, in spite of all my unworthiness. It is more precious than anything else in the world. I accept it in place of all the world can give me. It is my life.
My God, teach me so to live, as one who does believe the great dignity, the great sanctity of that material frame in which you have lodged me. And therefore, O my dear Saviour! do I come so often and so earnestly to be partaker of your Body and Blood, that by means of your own ineffable holiness I may be made holy. Crucify my soul and body in all that is sinful in them, and make me pure as you are pure.
I know, my God, I must change; if I am to see your face. I must undergo the change of death. Body and soul must die to this world. My real self, my soul, must change by a true regeneration.
My God, my Saviour, I adore your Sacred Heart, for that heart is the seat and source of all your tenderest human affections for us sinners, all your Divine Charity towards us. When you condescend to suffer me to receive you, make my heart beat with your Heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel. So fill it with you, that in your love and your fear it may have peace.
My God, I know well, you could have saved us at your word, without yourself suffering; but you did choose to purchase us at the price of your Blood. I look on you, the Victim lifted up on Calvary, and I know that your death was an expiation for the sins of the whole world.
What mind of man can imagine the love which the Eternal Father bears towards the Only Begotten Son? It has been from everlasting - and it is infinite. And now what does He ask of me, but that, as He has loved me with an everlasting love, so I should love Him in such measures as I can show. Complete your work, Lord, and as you have loved me from the beginning, so make me to love you unto the end.
O Jesu, Lover of souls, we recommend unto you the souls of all your servants, who have departed with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace. We beseech you, Lord and Saviour, that, as in your mercy to them you became man, so now you would admit them to your presence above.
In asking for fervour, I ask for all that I can need, and all that you can give. In asking for fervour, and perseverance; I am asking for faith, hope and charity in their most heavenly exercise. In asking for fervour I am asking to be rid of the fear of man, and the desire of his praise; I am asking for the gift of prayer; I am asking for that loyal perception of duty, which follows on yearning affection; I am asking for sanctity, peace, and joy all at once.
My God, I adore you, Eternal Paraclete, the light and the life of my soul. You might have been content with merely giving me good suggestions, inspiring grace and helping from without. But in your infinite compassion you have from the first entered into my soul, and taken possession of it. You will go from me, if I sin; and I shall be left to my own miserable self. God forbid; I will use what you have given me; I will call on you when tried and tempted. Through you I will never forsake you.
Lord Jesus Christ, who, when you were about to suffer, did pray for your disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as you are in the Father, and the Father in you, 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 your Vicar and Representative; so that as there is but one holy company in heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying your holy name here below.
O Holy Mother, stand by me now at Mass time, when Christ comes to me, as you did minister to your infant Lord. Stand by me, Holy Mother, that I may gain somewhat of your purity, your innocence, your faith, and He may be the one object of my love and my adoration, as He was of yours.
The forthcoming beatification of John Henry Newman has led, perhaps more than ever, to a need for a simple Newman Prayer Book.
This selection of brief extracts from Cardinal Newman’s Meditations and Devotions will introduce people to the mind and spirit of Newman, and enable many to prepare and participate in the Church’s joy.
The selection of extracts has been arranged so that there is a prayer for each day of the month. Two morning and evening prayers, taken from his unpublished writings, are also included.
A Novena, composed from Newman’s writings, allowing people to pray through Newman’s intercession completes the Prayer Book.
