Dear Parishioners:
I am happy to announce that my time as Administrator pro tem at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church and St. Vincent De Paul Church in Coventry ended on October 5th. Their pastor is back and I’m now back at OLM! I thank Fr. Barrow, the OLM Staff and you for your patience and understanding during the eight weeks I served in Coventry. It’s good to be back full-time at OLM!!
Last Sunday at Mass our talented musicians sang a hymn, entitled Lead, Kindly Light. The words were written in 1833 by Saint John Henry Newman as a poem titled "the Pillar and the Cloud". Newman was canonized a saint last Sunday by Pope Francis. As a young priest, Newman became sick while in Italy and was unable to travel for almost three weeks. In his own words: “I was aching to get home, yet for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. I began to visit the churches, and they calmed my impatience, though I did not attend any services. At last I got off in an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. We were becalmed for whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio, and it was there that I wrote the lines, Lead, Kindly Light, which have since become so well known.”
The lyrics of Newman’s poetic hymn read: “Lead, kindly light, amidst th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home, lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on; I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on! I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will. Remember not past years! So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on. O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone, and with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since, and lost awhile! Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, Thyself hast trod, lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God. To rest forever after earthly strife in the calm light of everlasting life.”
Nearly two centuries ago, John Henry Newman was England’s most well-known Anglican priest, until he risked everything to become a Catholic. Newman was a 19th-century theologian, poet, Catholic priest and cardinal. Born in 1801, well before his conversion he was a well-known and highly-respected Oxford academic, Anglican preacher, and public intellectual.
In 1845 his conversion to the Catholic faith resulted in the loss of many friends, including his own sister who never spoke to him again. He became a Catholic priest in 1847 and founded the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England. In 1879, Pope Leo XII named him a Cardinal. Newman was dedicated to education and founded schools as well as the Catholic University of Ireland. His “Idea of a University” became a foundational text on Catholic higher education. He was a prolific author, poet and letter writer. Newman died in Birmingham in 1890 at age 89.
Pope Francis named Cardinal John Henry Newman a saint last Sunday and told Catholics that the goal of life is a transforming encounter with Jesus. He said: “The ultimate goal is not health or wellness, but the encounter with Jesus. He alone frees us from evil and heals our hearts. Only an encounter with him can save, can make life full and beautiful,”
The canonization was attended by Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, along with delegates from the Church of England. At the Canonization Mass, Pope Francis read a quote from one of Newman’s sermons describing the holiness of daily life . Newman wrote: “The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not. The Christian is cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming; has no pretense with so little that is unusual or striking in his bearing, that he may easily be taken at first sight for an ordinary man.”
On Monday night, Dominican Father Alan Piper, OP, Theology Professor at PC, leads our Devotions and offers a reflection on the rosary. He also hears Confessions beginning at 6;00PM. I hope you can join us as we pray the rosary.
Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us! Oremus pro invicem!