Two hundred years ago, on Wednesday 23 June 1824, John Henry Newman preached his first sermon. It was delivered in the evening at Holy Trinity Church, Over Worton, a village seventeen miles north of Oxford, in the parish of Rev. Walter Mayers, who had been Newman’s principal mentor since the religious conversion he underwent in 1816. Four days later, on Sunday 27 June, Newman took up duties as curate in the parish of St. Clement’s, Oxford and preached his second sermon at a morning service presided over by the elderly rector, John Gutch. During his nineteen months as curate at St. Clement’s, Newman prepared and preached 150 different sermons, a most unusual feat for a newly ordained clergyman.
Two hundred years ago, on Sunday 13 June 1824, John Henry Newman was ordained a deacon of the Church of England in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. In preparation for this momentous day, he had been fasting for three months. Two days before taking holy orders, he wrote in his private journal (which acted as a prayer diary), “As the time approaches for my ordination, thank God, I feel more and more happy. Make me Thy instrument … make use of me, when Thou wilt, and dash me to pieces when Thou wilt. Let me […] be Thine.”
The Rev. Isaac Williams (1802–1865) was a contemporary of John Henry Newman at Trinity College, Oxford, and served as assistant curate to Newman at Littlemore. He contributed several Tracts, and several of his letters to Newman are now included in the NINS Digital Collections.
The Sisters of Mercy are probably one of the best-known female Catholic congregations, having even entered popular culture; so much so that in 1971 musician and singer Leonard Cohen used their name as a title for one of his songs. Later in 1980 a newly formed rock band also took the name, having been influenced by Cohen’s song. However conflicted anybody might feel about the use of the name in these contexts, it demonstrates the indelible impression that the congregation has made on society in general, in a way that few others have.
With the recent digitization of a small number of archives from the Monastery of the Visitation, an interesting collection of items held within are now available related to the Jesuit missionary Father Law, a convert of the Oxford Movement and his tragic expedition up the Zambesi.
Over the years, John Henry Newman’s famous book on the nature of a university, referred to simply as Idea, has invited observations from many writers, as indeed it did even during his lifetime. This essay identifies and locates in it those well-phrased remarks he makes, some of which having acquired wide familiarity.
As part of my role with the Catholic Archives Society, I routinely monitor the internet for Catholic archival material being offered for sale and work with relevant repositories to ensure its safe acquisition. In 2023 a bound collection of 19 original manuscript letters from Cardinal Henry Edward Manning to the Rev. Thomas Penyngton Kirkman (1806-1895) appeared for sale -- never previously shared in public. In them Manning discusses his views on philosophy and evolution, his views on Herbert Spencer, and even sketches of his ideas for a solution to Pascal’s Theorem.
For many, it is easier to be caught up in the academic, fiscal, or calendar years than the liturgical year that indicates the ultimate frame of our lives. In my case, this is especially true during Lent. This year, I came across a pithy meditation of Newman’s, “A Short Road to Perfection”, which I hope can reframe the way I understand Lent and discipleship more generally.
Our most recent addition to the NINS Digital Collections is a newly publicized collection of items from the community archives of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, including letters from Cardinals Newman, Wiseman, and Manning, and Father Bede Jarrett, the founder of Blackfriars, Oxford.
In the English-speaking world, the Catholic Literary Revival is associated with the work of G. K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, and Graham Greene: novels that chart the solitary figure of a priest or layman in spiritual combat with the world around him. But in fact, the Revival’s most numerous members were women, many of whom have been almost entirely forgotten. When these women are put back in the frame we need to adjust our understanding of the Revival’s nature and scope.
