Preview: "Christ in the Saint" on the Son Rise Morning Show

On Monday, December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we'll continue our Advent series on the Son Rise Morning Show with Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson's reflections on "Christ in the Saint" from The Friendship of Christ.

I'll be on the air with Matt Swaim (Anna Mitchell is on maternity leave after the birth of her son) at my usual time about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central; please listen live here or catch the podcast later here. 

Since it is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8--a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics--we'll focus on Benson's comments about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in this segment.

In the first section of The Friendship of Christ, Benson focuses on the interior relationship; in the second, on the exterior, with the argument that we want to respond to Jesus's desire to be our friend in every way that He reaches out to us:

We pass now to consider another avenue along which Christ approaches us and seeks our friendship; another mode, and, indeed, other gifts which He conveys to us. It is not enough to know Christ in one manner only: we are bound, if we desire to know Him on His own terms and not on ours, to recognize Him under every form which He chooses to use. It is not enough to say, "Interiorly He is my Friend, therefore I need nothing else." It is not loyal friendship to repudiate, for example, the Church or the Sacraments as unnecessary, without first inquiring whether or no He has instituted these things as ways through which He designs to approach us.

So Benson goes on to review several of those forms "He chooses to use" starting with The Eucharist, The Church, and The Priest before commenting on "Christ in the Saint". In that chapter he begins with Mary, the Mother of God as he examines how Christ is present to us in "Personal Holiness or Moral Sanctity":

I. When we examine the Catholic religion as it actually surrounds us, we find that the Saints, and, above all, Mary, Queen of Saints, are vital and essential elements in the system. It is certainly true to say that no person born of human parents has exercised and exercises such an influence on the human race as Mary, the Mother of our Lord -- or (to put it yet more gently) that no influence is ascribed to any such person as is ascribed to Mary.

As any student of art (East and West) and choral and classical music knows, Mary has inspired countless paintings, stained glass windows, icons, sculptures, hymns, chants, antiphons, poems, churches, cathedrals, etc., etc.:

It is impossible to grasp with the imagination what her Personality has meant to the human race -- as is illustrated by the countless services in her honour, the rosaries recited for her intercession and for her praise, the invocations of her name, -- in fact, the place she occupies as a whole in the human consciousness. Her name runs through Christian history as inextricably as the Holy Name of Jesus itself. There is not a circumstance in life, not a situation, not a crisis -- we might almost say, not a joy or sorrow -- in which, at one time or another, Mary has not been called to take a part.

. . . To the Catholic mind the thought of Mary is united with the thought of Jesus, as inextricably as the two natures in Christ; since, after all, one of those natures come from her.

 In response to those who object that Catholics are "worshipping" Mary as we worship Jesus, Benson replies:

It is unnecessary to answer this at any length, since every Catholic knows perfectly well that all the worship and honour given to Mary are given with the sole object of uniting the worshipper with that "blessed fruit of her womb,"{1} whom she extends to us in every image, whether as the Child of Joy or as the Man of Sorrows. It is only those who are doubtful, or at least doctrinally vague, as to the absolute Deity of Christ, who can conceive it even as possible for an intelligent Christian to confound Christ with His Mother, or to imagine the Creator and the Creature as standing even in the remotest competition one with the other.

Then he demonstrates how Mary is always with Jesus at crucial moments, from His Incarnation in her womb to the Cross:

First, then, when we turn to the Gospel -- that ground-plan of God's designs for mankind -- we find that, according to scale, so to speak, Mary occupies a place of dignity beside Jesus wonderfully proportionate to her place in the more explicit Catholic system; since, whenever Her Son comes to a moment of human crisis, whenever a new or startling and fundamental fact is to be revealed concerning Him, Mary is at His side, and is presented, so to speak, in a significant attitude.

Benson makes the comparison between Eve in the Garden of Eden and Mary in Nazareth: 

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a virgin . . . and the virgin's name was Mary."{2} In such words the first actual step of the Incarnation itself is described, corresponding in an extraordinary manner to that first actual step in the process of the Fall. In both alike we see an Immaculate Maiden, a supernatural messenger, and a choice offered upon which the future shall depend. In the one case Eve's disobedience and love of self was preliminary to the sin by which the race fell; in the other, Mary's obedience and love of God was preliminary to the process by which the same race was redeemed.

Then Benson continues with more examples from the Gospels: 

Again -- as Christ lies in Bethlehem, receiving for the first time as God-made-man the adoration of mankind, it is Mary who kneels beside Him; as Christ through thirty years "learns obedience"{3} as the Son of Man, it is from Mary that He takes His orders. As He steps out into the world to begin that transformation of things common into things divine, it is at Mary's prayer that, in token of His Mission, He turns the water into wine. As He closes His ministry by that yet more amazing miracle to which all other of His signs pointed forward -- His own Death upon Calvary -- "there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother"{4} -- as, centuries before, Eve, the mother of the fallen, had stood by that Tree of Death by which the First Adam died. Whether then, we turn to Tradition -- that imperishable memory and mind of the Church from which she brings out continually "things new and old"{5} -- or to the written record of that Life during which her whole treasure was committed to her care; in either case we find alike that Mary walks always with Jesus -- that when we see Him as a new-born Child, we can only find Him "with Mary His Mother";{6} when we adore Him as man, obedient as He would have us obedient, it is in Her house that He lives; when we creep to the Cross to wash ourselves in His Precious Blood, Mary is looking at us from His side. For history too, tells us the same, that where Mary is loved, Jesus is adored; where Mary, the Mother of His Humanity, is despised or slighted, the light of His Divinity goes out. . . .

Benson concludes this chapter--without using the words--reflecting on the Communion of Saints:

Here, then, Christ comes to us, extending Himself in that Court of His friends who stand about His Throne. Upon His Right Hand stands the Queen in "gilded clothing," herself a" King's daughter";{10} and on every side, in their orders, those who have learned to call Him Friend, conceived and born in sin, yet who "through many tribulations"{11} have first restored and then retained that image in which they were made, and have so identified themselves with Christ that it is possible to say of them that although they live, it is "now not (they); but Christ that liveth in them."{12}

To seek to separate Christ from His friends, to banish the Queen Mother from the steps of Her Son's throne, lest she should receive too much love or homage -- this is a strange way to seek the Friendship of Him who is their All!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

All Holy Men and Women, pray for us!

Image of the Holy Family, Stained Glass from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Colwich, Kansas (C) Stephanie A. Mann 2016 and 2025

Image Credit (Public Domain): Immaculate Mary, Juan Sánchez Cotán (Compare to the cover image of the December issue of Magnificat by the same artist)

A "Son Rise Morning Show" Advent Series: Benson's "Friendship of Christ"

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson didn't use the term "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ"; instead he refers to "The Friendship of Christ" in his 1912 book of the same title. He emphasizes that Jesus wants to be our friend; indeed He is Our Savior and Redeemer, Our Lord and Our God, AND in His human nature He wants to be our friend and for us to take Him as our friend. We'll begin an Advent series on the Son Rise Morning Show--Anna Mitchell is on maternity leave--on December 1 as Matt Swaim and I look at this collection of sermons. I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central; please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

There are several editions of this book available and because it's out of copyright, it's also readily available on line. I have an older Scepter edition.

The book is in three parts: I) Christ in the Interior Soul (including a general overview of "the Friendship of Christ and chapters on the Purgative and Illuminative Way); II) Christ in the Exterior (seven chapters) and III) Christ in His Historical Life (Good Friday meditations on the Seven Last Words and an Easter Sunday sermon on "Christ Our Friend Vindicated). In this Advent series, we'll start with the General overview on December 1 and discuss some highlights from section two, especially "Christ in the Saint" for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

The book begins with a poem:

THIS IS MY FRIEND

From an old manuscript.

Let me tell you how I made His acquaintance.
I had heard much of Him, but took no heed.
He sent daily gifts and presents, but I never thanked Him.
He often seemed to want my friendship, but I remained cold.
I was homeless, and wretched, and starving and in peril every hour; and He offered me shelter and comfort and food and safety; but I was ungrateful still.
At last He crossed my path and with tears in His eyes He besought me saying, Come and abide with me.

Let me tell you how he treats me now.
He supplies all my wants.
He gives me more than I dare ask.
He anticipates my every need.
He begs me to ask for more.
He never reminds me of my past ingratitude.
He never rebukes me for my past follies.

Let me tell you further what I think of Him.
He is as good as He is great.
His love is as ardent as it is true.
He is as lavish of His promises as He is faithful in keeping them.
He is as jealous of my love as He is deserving of it.
I am in all things His debtor, but He bids me call Him Friend.

The last line seems the key to Benson's argument in the first chapter with the General overview of the Friendship of Christ, using Genesis 2:18 as the starting point "It is not good for man to be alone.":

THE emotion of friendship is amongst the most mighty and the most mysterious of human instincts. Materialistic philosophers delight in tracing even the most exalted emotions -- art, religion, romance -- to purely carnal sources; to the instincts of the propagation or sustentation of physical life; and yet in this single experience at any rate -- when we class together, as we can, all those varied relationships between men and men, women and women, as well as between men and women, under the common title of friendship -- materialistic philosophy wholly breaks down. It is not a manifestation of sex, for David can cry to Jonathan "Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women"; it is not a sympathy arising from common interests, for the sage and the fool can form a friendship at least as strong as any between two sages or two fools; it is not a relationship based on the exchange of ideas, for the deepest friendships thrive better in silence than in speech. "No man is truly my friend," says Maeterlinck, "until we have each learned to be silent in one another's company."

Benson notes that friends can hurt us more than others because of the love and loyalty we share with them; when those friendships fail (and even when they succeed), however, that points to our one true Friend, Jesus Christ:

There is but one intelligible explanation then for the desires which it generates yet never fulfils; there is but one supreme friendship to which all human friendships point; one Ideal Friend in whom we find perfect and complete that for which we look in type and shadow in the faces of our human lovers.

Benson suggests that Catholics can rely too much on their own efforts in practicing their faith and miss this fulfillment of the friendship and companionship they crave:

They pray, they frequent the sacraments, they do their utmost to fulfil the Christian precepts; and, when all is done, they find themselves solitary. They adore Christ as God, they feed on Him in Communion, cleanse themselves in His precious Blood, look to the time when they shall see Him as their Judge; yet of that intimate knowledge of and companionship with Him in which the Divine Friendship consists, they have experienced little or nothing. They long, they say, for one who can stand by their side and upon their own level, who can not merely remove suffering, but can himself suffer with them, one to whom they can express in silence the thoughts which no speech can utter; and they seem not to understand that this is the very post which Jesus Christ Himself desires to win, that the supreme longing of His Sacred Heart is that He should be admitted, not merely to the throne of the heart or to the tribunal of conscience, but to that inner secret chamber of the soul where a man is most himself, and therefore most utterly alone.

James Tissot (1836-1902), “Jesus in Bethany”

"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus." (John 11:5)

Benson cites various examples from the Gospels to prove that Jesus wanted friends during His time with us: John 11:5; Mark 10:21; Matthew 26:41, 28:20, etc. These examples, Benson writes, demonstrate that this remains true now:

If then there is anything clear in the Gospels it is this -- that Jesus Christ first and foremost desires our friendship. It is His reproach to the world, not that the Saviour came to the lost, and that the lost ran from Him to lose themselves more deeply, not that the Creator came to the Creature and that the Creature rejected Him; but that the Friend "came unto His own, and that His own received Him not." (John 1:11)

While we can use the model of human friendship to some extent, the Friendship of Christ is something much greater:

Now it must be remembered that while this friendship between Christ and the soul is, from one point of view, perfectly comparable to friendship between man and man, from another point of view it is incomparable. Certainly it is a friendship between His Soul and ours; but that Soul of His is united to Divinity. A single individualistic friendship with Him therefore does not exhaust His capacities. He is Man, but He is not merely A Man: He is The Son, rather than A Son of man. He is the Eternal Word by whom all things were made and are sustained. . . .

He approaches us therefore along countless avenues, although it is the same Figure that advances down each. It is not enough to know Him interiorly only: He must be known (if His relation with us is to be that which He desires) in all those activities and manifestations in which He displays Himself.

And Benson concludes this introduction:

Let us then consider the Friendship of Christ under some of these aspects. Truly we cannot live without Him, for He is the Life. It is impossible to come to the Father except by Him who is the Way. It is useless to toil in pursuit of truth, unless we first possess It. Even the most sacred experiences of life are barren unless His Friendship sanctifies them. The holiest love is obscure except it burns in His shadow. The purest affection -- that affection that unites my dearest friend to myself -- is a counterfeit and an usurper unless I love my friend in Christ -- unless He, the Ideal and Absolute Friend, is the personal bond that unites us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, be to me a Jesus! 

Preview: 1880: Cardinal Newman Attends the Trinity College "Gaudy"

When Pope Leo XIII named the Oratorian Father John Henry Newman a Cardinal Deacon of the Church in 1879, the recipient remarked that “The cloud is lifted from me forever.” Even after the Apologia pro Vita Sua had clarified his reasons for becoming a Catholic, he had felt the distrust of certain members of the hierarchy; there had been an uncommunicated "delation for heresy" to Rome after he wrote "On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine". Projects like an Oratory of Saint Peter Neri in Oxford to serve Catholics finally able to attend the colleges there without swearing an Oath to the 39 Articles of the Church of England had been thwarted because of his personal involvement. He was still "The Most Dangerous Man in England" as Monsignor George Talbot had written in 1867. 

Two years before in 1877, he'd been elected the first honorary fellow of Trinity College, his alma mater, and in 1880 he was invited to the Gaudy of that college. This 145th anniversary of Newman going back to Oxford again will be the next Son Rise Morning Show Anniversary on Monday, November 24--I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

This will be the last 2025 Anniversary to examine as Advent begins Sunday, November 30!

What is a "Gaudy"? and why was Newman invited? If you've read Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night, a Wimsey-Vane mystery novel, you might recognize the word. 

A Trinity College Gaudy is for "Old Fellows"--a festive college reunion for alumni. The current Trinity College website posts this information: "Gaudy reunions are held two or three times a year, and we usually invite three or more matriculation years to return to Trinity at a time for a dinner and stay in College. Invitations will be sent automatically to those who are eligible . . ." Matriculation refers to the date the alumni entered the college. In the USA, our high school or college reunions are based on the year of graduation and are usually just for one year.

So this was another honor for Newman and coming from his college it meant much to him. When he had been invited to receive the honorary fellowship, he'd written to his Bishop, Dr. Ullathorne:

My old College, Trinity College, where I was an undergraduate from the age of 16 to 21, till I gained a Fellowship at Oriel, has made me an Honorary Fellow of their Society. Of course it involves no duties, rights or conditions, not even that of belonging to the University, certainly not that of having a vote as Master of Arts, but it is a mark of extreme kindness to me from men I have never seen, and it is the only instance of their exercising their power since it was given them.

Trinity College has been the one and only seat of my affections at Oxford, and to see once more, before I am taken away, what I never thought I should see again, the place where I began the battle of life, with my good angel by my side, is a prospect almost too much for me to bear.

So it's not Oriel College, where he'd served as Fellow (and Tutor for a time) but Trinity, that he held most dear in his memory. He had been confirmed and received his first Anglican communion in the Trinity College Chapel, on Sunday November 30 1817 and he wrote in the Apologia pro Vita Sua that "Trinity had never been unkind to me."

After receiving the Cardinal's hat, Trinity honored him again! Some details about this Gaudy from Ward's Life of Newman:

Trinity College, Oxford, invited the new Cardinal to dine at the College Gaudy on Trinity Monday 1880. The Cardinal accepted, and preached on Trinity Sunday at the Jesuit Church in Oxford [now the Oxford Oratory] to a crowded congregation. The dinner on the Monday was a far more stately function than that which he had attended in February 1878, after his election as Honorary Fellow. There were numerous guests, and ladies were invited to a reception in the evening. These were presented in turn to the Cardinal, who received them in semi-royal state. The late Sir Richard Jebb was at the dinner, and told the present writer that Newman's informal speech on the occasion was a model of perfect tact and grace. For half an hour or so, sitting in his chair, he talked to the table of Oxford memories—of Whately, Pusey, Blanco White, Hawkins, and many another, not forgetting his old Trinity tutor Thomas Short, who had passed away since his visit of 1878.

These functions were physically exhausting to the Cardinal, but they were the outward symbols of work done for the good cause and were intensely grateful to him. . . .

As to the lasting significance of this anniversary: Trinity College has a page dedicated to Saint John Henry Newman and his career there, including this detail about the College Dining Hall:

Trinity’s dining hall includes a portrait of John Henry Newman painted by Bessie Johnson, daughter of John Percival (President of Trinity from 1878-87) as a gift to the College when the family left Oxford. It is a copy of a portrait by Walter William Ouless, which hangs in Oriel College. Newman wears his Cardinal’s robes, and a golden Cardinal’s hat that adorns the frame. [You can see the portrait on the right wall in this picture.]

There's also a bust of Newman in the Trinity College Gardens by the French artist Léon-Joseph Chavaillard.

Oriel College, while perhaps second in his affections, has also honored Saint John Henry Newman, with statements here and here about his being named both a Doctor of the Church and co-Patron of Catholic education with Saint Thomas Aquinas! The College chapel has an oratory and stained glass window dedicated to Newman.

Finally, as devotion to Saint John Henry Newman has increased, at least as evidenced by his canonization and proclamation as a Doctor and Patron (and more and more books!), there might be signs of a "Catholic revival in Oxford" although some Anglican authorities are still a little uncertain about how to receive all this news about one who "poped" 180 years ago  . . . 

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Center picture: view of Trinity College through the college gates, copyright Stephanie A. Mann, 2025 (taken in 2003).

"The Choral" and "The Dream of Gerontius"

I made a presentation on the First Friday of October at Mary, Seat of Wisdom, a classical high school here in Wichita on Saint John Henry Newman and "the Wichita Connection", tracing the history of the the programs, events, topics, and speakers presented at different venues here since 1979 and my memories of them. This was after Pope Leo XIV had approved the Cause for Saint John Henry Newman to be named the 38th Doctor of the Church. 

I noted that Newman was indeed in the news, not only for that proclamation but for other reasons: King Charles III visiting the Birmingham Oratory, Newman being the co-patron of Catholic Education with Saint Thomas Aquinas by Pope Leo XIV--and the ongoing attention paid to Sir Edward Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius based on Newman's poem of the same name. I also mentioned that more and more books and studies will be published about Newman and I just finished reading one of the latest, The Most Dangerous Man in England: Newman & the Laity by Paul Shrimpton, published by Word On Fire (review to come).

I highlighted Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius because yet another CD had been announced, a live performance from the 2022 BBC Proms--and now there's yet another announced by Hyperion. And those two on the heals of one from Finland!

Not only that but now there's a film, The Choral, which features a performance of that great work in an English village during the crisis of World War I. As the young men of the village, the basses, baritones, and tenors who sing in the Church of England's choir, enlist for military service--including the chorus master himself--how will the traditions of the community survive?

By hiring a new chorus master and performing Elgar's Dream of Gerontius! In spite of the fact the chorus master's been working in Germany (the enemy) and the work is all about a Soul destined for Purgatory, which Anglicans don't believe in!

Presto Music has posted a summary of the film and reactions of several men who have conducted or performed in the work (no mezzo-soprano Angels!?!?):

Starring Ralph Fiennes as a brilliant, controversial conductor, Roger Allam as an enthusiastic but overparted amateur tenor and Simon Russell Beale* as an irascible Edward Elgar, Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner's The Choral centres on a Yorkshire choral society's ambitious quest to perform Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius in 1916 - with their tenor and bass sections depleted by conscription, a Palm Court trio standing in for Elgar's vast orchestra, and a traumatised young soldier newly returned from the Front in the daunting title-role.

* Coincidentally, I had just re-watched God's Composer (Music by Tomás Luis de Victoria from the Church of San Antonio de los Alemanes, Madrid (Single DVD) Presented by Simon Russell Beale; Featuring Harry Christophers & The Sixteen)!

The new release from Hyperion of yet another Dream has a tie-in with the movie in a way because it features a village choral society, from a village much like the one featured in the film, as the Huddersfield Choral Society website emphasizes:

There are just so many parallels between the fictitious choral society in the film and HCS: The Choral is set in a mill town called Ramsden; and the choir is set to perform Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Well, we thought, we’re known as The Choral by those who love us; Huddersfield was owned by the Ramsden estate until the 1920s; and we’re the choral society that made the first recording of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. And we’ve just made another!

Choir member and social history enthusiast, Gaynor Haliday, decided to delve deeper into the archives and uncover the experiences of HCS during the First World War. And with the season of Remembrance upon us we’d like to share this with you. It’s longer than our usual posts, so you might want to settle down with a cuppa . . .

If you click on that link, there's another link to a document describing how the village of Huddersfield endured the losses of World War I. Hyperion Records--the CD will be released in January, 2026--also provides a .pdf of their booklet with the same article, and notes the strong connection between the society and the Dream:

It was the Huddersfield Choral Society which made the first complete recording of ‘Gerontius’ on 8-12 April 1945; this latest chapter in the Society’s ties to the work was recorded eighty years later, virtually to the day, on 5 April 2025 and displays as deep an affinity for Elgar’s masterpiece as ever, especially with a conductor of Martyn Brabbins’s Elgarian credentials.

The Huddersfield Choral Society were featured on two mid-20th century recordings by Sir Malcolm Sargent, in 1945 and 1955, according to this comparative review.

The movie--which I hope will come to Wichita, Kansas--is scheduled to be released in the USA on Christmas Day this year! 

That is a picture of me giving my presentation at the first First Friday Tea at the top of the post. The second in November featured the story of Whittaker Chambers, given by the headmaster, Dr. Susan Orr Traffas, and the third in December will feature a lecture by John Traffas (her husband) on "Pope Benedict XVI and his teaching on political life": 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. with tea, coffee, treats, and other libations! It's my new First Friday tradition!

Preview: The 420th Anniversary of The Gunpowder Plot

Why do people in England still "Remember, remember, the fifth of November?" Why do they still shoot off fireworks and light up bonfires? This year is the 420th anniversary of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot--that's almost 14 generations ago! We'll discuss these issues in our 2025 Anniversary Series on the Son Rise Morning Show on Monday, November 17. 

I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

Of course, it was a fiendish, horrible, and murderous plot! Blow up Parliament with King James VI and his family and the members of Parliament, kidnap the Princess Elizabeth to make her a figurehead monarch, orchestrate a violent uprising to overthrow the government! Who knows how horrible it could have been? Well, we do know as the French Revolution offers us an example. So yes, in some way there is "no reason/Why the Gunpowder treason/Should ever be forgot!"

One of the lessons, however, of the context of the Gunpowder Plot was highlighted by Father Paolo Molinari, S.J., postulator of the cause of 40 Martyrs of England and Wales 55 years ago: the government of England was forcing religious compliance and church attendance: it was violating its subjects' freedom of conscience. How many bonfire night celebrators in England on November Fifth today accept that? Even in Lewes and other parts of Sussex, where there are still wild celebrations of Bonfire Night?

Until 1859 the Church of England remembered the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer, expressed as God's protection of the Church of England against the "Church of Rome"! The Act establishing the commemoration required attendance:

II. Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most excellent majesty, the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That all and singular ministers in every cathedral and parish church, or other usual place for common prayer, within this realm of England and the dominions of the same, shall always upon the fifth day of November say morning prayer, and give unto Almighty God thanks for this most happy deliverance: (2) and that all and every person and persons inhabiting within this realm of England and the dominions of the same, shall always upon that day diligently and faithfully resort to the parish church or chapel accustomed, or to some usual church or chapel where the said morning prayer, preaching, or other service of God shall be used, and then and there to abide orderly and soberly during the time of the said prayers, preaching, or other service of God there to be used and ministred.

III. And because all and every person may be put in mind of this duty, and be then better prepared to the said holy service, be it enacted by authority aforesaid, That every minister shall give warning to his parishioners publickly in the church at morning prayer, the Sunday before every such fifth day of November, for the due observation of the said day; and that after morning prayer or preaching upon the said fifth day of November, they read publickly, distinctly and plainly this present act.

There were no penalties, however, for not attending, because the remembrance did not replace the regularly scheduled Sunday liturgy, when there were penalties.

Since like some other holidays, officially recognized or not, some of the cultural, historical, and religious significance of the Fifth of November/Bonfire Night has deteriorated and in most parts of the country it's just a party with fireworks--with concerns every year about dogs being scared or humans with PTSD being affected--what about the tradition of burning the Pope (Saint Paul V) in effigy--or any living or dead figure? 

The BBC reported some of the trouble at this year's Bonfire Night in Lewes (Loo-is) with the comment: "Sussex Police said the Lewes Bonfire event was "both unique and challenging"." With 40,000 people in the streets, bonfires and torches being lit, etc., only seven going to hospital and a few arrests isn't that bad. 

But there's a spirit of disorder and anarchy in the celebration even in Lewes which not only recalls the discovery of Guy Fawkes checking on the explosives under Parliament and the Protestant martyrs executed there during the reign of Mary I, as this commentary notes: "Elsewhere, people might say it’s a tricky occasion to parse from the outside: full of fire and hollering, vaguely Pagan, expansively anti-establishment, sometimes intimidating in press photos — more so than it is in real life" and still very anti-Catholic, because "(Pope Paul V, the leader of the Catholic church during the Gunpowder Plot, remains a popular effigy today, and gets blown up in Lewes most years; some bonfire societies still march beneath signs reading ‘No Popery’)"! At least the Lewes Bonfire nights remain a localized celebration: "trains from London won’t stop at the stations nearest to Lewes, and roads in the vicinity will close" every year.

Can you imagine Catholics marching on May 4 near the site of Tyburn Tree burning Henry VIII, the head and governor of the Church of England at the time, in effigy while remembering the protomartyrs of 1535? Or, even more congruently, of James VI while remembering Saint Nicholas Owen, tortured to death, Saint Thomas Garnet, and Blesseds Edward Oldcorne and Ralph Ashley, martyred in 1606 and 1607? Of course you can't. Catholics in England wouldn't do it and shouldn't do it. As Father Paolo Molinari, S.J also emphasized in his article about the Canonization of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales: "Right from the first announcement of the Re-opening of the Cause of the 40 Martyrs, decreed by Pope John XXIII on 24 May 1961, the Hierarchy of England and Wales let it be clearly understood that nothing was further from the intentions of the Bishops than to stir up bad feelings and quarrels of the past."

I wonder what it's like to be a Catholic in Lewes on Bonfire Night. Here's a story about how the consecration of Saint Pancras Catholic Church was greeted in the 19th century (not well!):

When the Church was opened, there was a crowd estimated at between 2000 and 3000, reaching some distance above Ireland’s Lane and down below The Pelham Arms, the pavements and road being completely lined with people who were singing bonfire songs, howling and jeering. Then some of the bonfire boys were let out of a window of The Pelham Arms into the passage between the latter and the Church, and made such a disturbance that scarcely anything could be heard, and the service was brought to a rather abrupt conclusion. . . .

As a result of the disturbance in the passage, eight persons were arrested and sentenced to six weeks imprisonment each, the Magistrates threatening to take away the licence of The Pelham Arms, which used to be the meeting place of the Borough Bonfire Society, which is now the Brewers’ Arms. After this came a comparative calm, only the door now and then being sharply rapped and the windows in the front of the Church broken by stones until they were covered by wire . . .

These are just some reflections on how we remember history and how we commemorate or celebrate certain events. I look forward to discussing them with Matt or Anna on Monday and of learning what you think about them!

Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us!

Holy Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales, pray for us!

Preview: 55th Anniversary of the English and Welsh Martyrs' Canonization

As we wind down these 2025 Anniversaries before we start an Advent series on the Son Rise Morning Show, we can't skip the 55th anniversary of the canonization of the Forty (40) Martyrs of England and Wales on October 25, 1970. So on Monday, November 10 I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

The Catholic Answers on-line Magazine updated a previous article of mine about this event:

[October 25] was the fifty-fifth anniversary of the canonization of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope St. Paul VI, more than 435 years after the first martyrs suffered on May 4, 1535.

Why such a delay? And what do the martyrs teach us today about the Reformation era and the modern ecumenical era? Looking back at the history of their martyrdoms and the progress of their cause for canonization provides some answers.

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, canonized on October 25, 1970, are a group of men and women, priests and laity, who suffered and died for the Catholic faith in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (1535-1679). . . .

As you, dear readers of this blog surely know, Anna and/or Matt (and Brian Patrick, years ago) and I have discussed so many of these martyrs' stories in the past 15 years on the Son Rise Morning Show! Continuing to quote myself:

None of the martyrs of the English Reformation era—not even Thomas More and John Fisher—was even beatified until late in the nineteenth century. The first cause did not begin until 1874, almost a quarter-century after the hierarchy was re-established in England by Pope Pius IX. His successor Pope Leo XIII beatified fifty-four in 1886 and nine more in 1895. Pope Pius XI beatified 136 more in 1929 and canonized Fisher and More on May 19, 1935.

The selection of the Forty Martyrs was presented in 1960 and approved in 1961: they were chosen on the basis of their popularity and the devotion shown to them in England and Wales. Miracles attributed to their intercession were investigated and documented (Pius XI had canonized More and Fisher equipollently without verification of medical miracles); their canonization was announced by Pope Paul VI and approved by the hierarchy present at the consistory of May 18, 1970. . . .

This EWTN story by the postulator for the cause, Paolo Molinari, S.J., quotes Pope Saint Paul VI's words on May 18:

We greatly rejoice that unanimously you have asked that these blessed Martyrs of England and Wales be canonized; this is also our desire. It is our intention to enroll them among the saints and to declare them worthy of the honours that the Church attributes to those holy persons who have obtained their heavenly reward. With God's help, we will do this on the twenty-fifth day of October of this year in the Vatican Basilica.

That story also provides details about the miracles attributed to the intercession of these martyrs, and brief sketches of their efforts, sufferings, and deaths. The martyrs (13 priests of the secular clergy, 3 Benedictines, 3 Carthusians, 1 Brigittine, 2 Franciscans, 1 Augustinian, 10 Jesuits and 7 members of the laity, including 3 mothers) canonized on October 25, 1970 are:

Saint John Almond
Saint Edmund Arrowsmith, S.J.
Saint Ambrose Barlow, O.S.B.
Saint John Boste
Saint Alexander Briant, S.J.
Saint Edmund Campion, S.J.
Saint Margaret Clitherow
Saint Philip Evans, S.J.
Saint Thomas Garnet, S.J.
Saint Edmund Gennings
Saint Richard Gwyn
Saint John Houghton, O.Cart.
Saint Philip Howard
Saint John Jones, O.F.M.
Saint John Kemble
Saint Luke Kirby
Saint Robert Lawrence, O.Cart.
Saint David Lewis, S.J.
Saint Anne Line
Saint John Lloyd
Saint Cuthbert Mayne
Saint Henry Morse, S.J.
Saint Nicholas Owen, S.J.
Saint John Payne
Saint Polydore Plasden
Saint John Plessington
Saint Richard Reynolds, O.Ss.S.
Saint John Rigby
Saint John Roberts, O.S.B.
Saint Alban Roe, O.S.B.
Saint Ralph Sherwin
Saint Robert Southwell, S.J.
Saint John Southworth
Saint John Stone, O.E.S.A.
Saint John Wall, O.F.M.
Saint Henry Walpole, S.J.
Saint Margaret Ward
Saint Augustine Webster, O.Cart.
Saint Swithun Wells
Saint Eustace White

The three Carthusians and one Brigittine are the protomartyrs and the date of their executions in 1535 is the now the Feast of the Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales (May 4) in England. In Wales, October 25 is the Feast of the Welsh Martyrs [St Richard Gwyn (1537–1584), St John Jones (1530–1598), St John Roberts (1577–1610), St Philip Evans (1645–1679), St John Lloyd (1645–1679) and St David Lewis (1616–1679)] and their English companions.

On October 25, 1970, Paul VI summarized the sacrifice and greatness of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales:

To all those who are filled with admiration in reading the records of these martyrs, it is perfectly clear that they are worthy to stand alongside the greatest martyrs of the past; and this is not merely because of their fearless faith and marvellous constancy, but by reason of their humility, simplicity and serenity, and above all the spiritual joy and that wonderously radiant love with which they accepted their condemnation and death.

The high tragedy in the lives of these martyrs was that their honest and genuine loyalty came into conflict with their fidelity to God and the dictates of their conscience illumined by the Catholic faith.

Faced with the choice of remaining steadfast in their faith and of dying for it, or of saving their lives by denying that faith, without a moment’s hesitation and with a truly supernatural strength they stood for God and joyfully confronted martyrdom.

At the same time such was the greatness of their spirit that many of them died with prayers on their lips for the country they loved so much, for the King or Queen, and not least for those directly responsible for their capture, their sufferings, and the degradation and ignominy of their cruel deaths.

May our thanksgiving go up to God who, in his providential goodness, saw fit to raise up these martyrs.

Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, pray for us!

Preview: 75th Anniversary of "Munificentissimus Deus"

Pope Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950, defining the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, making it one of the four essential doctrines of the Catholic Church regarding Mary as 1) Immaculately conceived; 2) the Mother of God; 3) perpetually a Virgin; and 4) Assumed into Heaven body and soul. 

Therefore, we'll reflect on this 75th anniversary on the Son Rise Morning Show in our 2025 Anniversary series on Monday, November 3--I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

As Pope Pius IX had done before he infallibly defined the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, Pope Pius XII had requested input from the bishops throughout the world. He wrote an encyclical in 1946, Deiparae Virginis Mariae (ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XIION THE POSSIBILITY OF DEFINING THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AS A DOGMA OF FAITH TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,  ARCHBISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES AT PEACE AND IN COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE)!

When he had received their affirmative response to his request to let him know " . . . if you, Venerable Brethren, with your learning and prudence consider that the bodily Assumption of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin can be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith, and whether in addition to your own wishes this is desired by your clergy and people," he proceeded with the proclamation of the dogma in the Apostolic Constitution defining the Dogma of the Assumption.

Also like his predecessor in 1854, Pius XII offered examples of the Fathers of the Church to support this definition, especially Saint John Damascene,

an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, [who] spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges. "It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God." (Encomium in Dormitionem Dei Genetricis Semperque Virginis Mariae, Hom. II, n. 14)

And he also surveyed the "scholastic" theologians and Doctors of the Church, including Saints Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Bernardine of Siena, and others, before concluding:

For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith.

There's a film available from 1950 of the proclamation, with the procession of the Salus Populi Romani from Ara Coeli Church to St. Peters on the evening of October 31, and Pope Pius XII's Latin definition of the dogma the next day via British Pathé! The proclamation was the highlight of the Holy Year of 1950, according to narrator.

An excellent book on this dogma, in my opinion, is Matthew Levering's Mary's Bodily Assumption, which I purchased, read, and reviewed in 2019. One of reasons I appreciated the book was Levering's citation of Saint John Henry Newman's explanation of this teaching (101 years before it was infallibly defined!), when he referred to Newman's "The Glories of Mary for the Sake of Her Son" and "The Fitness of the Glories of Mary" from the Discourses to Mixed Congregations published in 1849. 

In that second discourse, Doctor Newman (by the time Anna or Matt and I talk Monday morning) states:

It was surely fitting then, it was becoming, that she {371} should be taken up into heaven and not lie in the grave till Christ's second coming, who had passed a life of sanctity and of miracle such as hers. All the works of God are in a beautiful harmony; they are carried on to the end as they begin. This is the difficulty which men of the world find in believing miracles at all; they think these break the order and consistency of God's visible word, not knowing that they do but subserve a higher order of things, and introduce a supernatural perfection. But at least, my brethren, when one miracle is wrought, it may be expected to draw others after it for the completion of what is begun. Miracles must be wrought for some great end; and if the course of things fell back again into a natural order before its termination, how could we but feel a disappointment? and if we were told that this certainly was to be, how could we but judge the information improbable and difficult to believe? Now this applies to the history of our Lady. I say, it would be a greater miracle if, her life being what it was, her death was like that of other men, than if it were such as to correspond to her life. Who can conceive, my brethren, that God should so repay the debt, which He condescended to owe to His Mother, for the elements of His human body, as to allow the flesh and blood from which it was taken to moulder in the grave? Do the sons of men thus deal with their mothers? do they not nourish and sustain them in their feebleness, and keep them in life while they are able? Or who can conceive that that virginal frame, which never sinned, was to undergo the death of a sinner? Why should {372} she share the curse of Adam, who had no share in his fall? "Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return," was the sentence upon sin; she then, who was not a sinner, fitly never saw corruption.

As I concluded my 2019 book review:

The late, great Monsignor William Carr always told us at the Newman Center that Mary's Assumption was the great sign for us of the victory over Death that Jesus Christ has won for us. As she represents the Church in Heaven, she represents our hope for eternal life with the Holy Trinity. Levering echoes this: "Each August 15, then, the Church liturgically celebrates the wondrous truth that, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Mary has become the first to receive the promise that we are to be "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . . (Romans 8:17)"

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Image Credit (Public Domain) The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Titian (1515–1518), the main altarpiece of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice.

Preview: 25th Anniversary of St. Thomas More as Patron Saint of Politicians

Twenty-five years ago, Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed Saint Thomas More the Patron Saint of Politicians and Statesmen, so we will remember this 2025 anniversary on the Son Rise Morning Show on Monday, October 27. I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

Pope John Paul II acted quickly after he received the petition for this action, "begun by former President of Italy Francesco Cossiga and signed by leaders from around the world" according to The Center for Thomas More Studies. The “Petition for Sir Thomas More as Patron of Statesmen,” is dated September 25, 2000, and by the end of October that year, the Pope issued his Motu Proprio Apostolic Letter "Proclaiming Saint Thomas More Patron of Statesmen and Politicians".

The petition highlighted and connected several attributes of More's life: "as [a] humanist, apologist, judge, legislator, diplomat and statesman" because he personified "the idea that holiness is the fulness of humanity". It also emphasized the connections between More and the laity and between More's lay holiness and the Pope's own ideas about holiness among the laity:

Precisely among the laity, the growing appeal of this extraordinary man speaks to us of one whose presence becomes, with the passing of time, ever more vivid, more striking, and more permanently timely.

He shines forth as an example of that unity of life which Your Holiness has called a characteristic of lay holiness: "The laity's unity of life is enormously important: for, indeed, they must sanctify themselves in their ordinary professional and social life. In order to be able to respond to their calling, then, the laity should look upon the activity of daily life as an opportunity for union with God and the fulfillment of His will and for service of their fellow man." (Christifideles laici, n. 17). In Saint Thomas More, there was no sign of that split between faith and culture, between timeless principles and daily life, which the Second Vatican Council laments as "among of the gravest errors of our time" (Gaudium et spes, n. 43)

The petition also emphasized More's service to his country as judge and statesmen for higher purposes:

Politics was not, for him, a matter of personal advantage, but rather an often difficult form of service, for which he had prepared himself not only through the study of the history, laws and culture of his own country, but also and especially through the examination of human nature, its grandeur and weaknesses, and of the ever-imperfect conditions of social life. For him, politics was the overflow of a tremendous effort of comprehension. As a consequence, he was able to show the proper hierarchy of ends to be pursued by government, in the light of the primacy of Truth over power and Goodness over utility. He always acted from the perspective of final ends, those which the shifting sands of historical circumstance can never nullify. Hence the strength which sustained him in the face of martyrdom.

In the conclusion the petitioners presented More's life and death as a model for service and integrity:

the lesson of flight from success and easy compromises in the name of fidelity to irrevocable principles, upon which depend the dignity of man and the justice of civil society — a lesson truly inspiring for all who, on the threshold of the new Millennium, feel themselves called to expose and eradicate the snares laid by new and hidden tyrannies. 

Therefore, certain that we act for the good of future society and trusting that our petition will find a benevolent welcome with Your Holiness, we ask that Sir Thomas More, Saint and Martyr, faithful servant of the King, but God's first, be proclaimed "Patron of Statesmen."

In response, Pope Saint John Paul II issued his proclamation, recounting aspects of More's life and concurring throughout with much that the petitioners had argued--even echoing their citation of his Christifideles laici!

He concurred with the petitioners and even found more pertinent contemporary reasons for granting their request:

There are many reasons for proclaiming Thomas More Patron of statesmen and people in public life. Among these is the need felt by the world of politics and public administration for credible role models able to indicate the path of truth at a time in history when difficult challenges and crucial responsibilities are increasing. Today in fact strongly innovative economic forces are reshaping social structures; on the other hand, scientific achievements in the area of biotechnology underline the need to defend human life at all its different stages, while the promises of a new society — successfully presented to a bewildered public opinion — urgently demand clear political decisions in favour of the family, young people, the elderly and the marginalized.

In this context, it is helpful to turn to the example of Saint Thomas More, who distinguished himself by his constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions precisely in his intention to serve not power but the supreme ideal of justice. His life teaches us that government is above all an exercise of virtue. Unwavering in this rigorous moral stance, this English statesman placed his own public activity at the service of the person, especially if that person was weak or poor; he dealt with social controversies with a superb sense of fairness; he was vigorously committed to favouring and defending the family; he supported the all-round education of the young. His profound detachment from honours and wealth, his serene and joyful humility, his balanced knowledge of human nature and of the vanity of success, his certainty of judgement rooted in faith: these all gave him that confident inner strength that sustained him in adversity and in the face of death. His sanctity shone forth in his martyrdom, but it had been prepared by an entire life of work devoted to God and neighbour.

We're not the only ones remembering this anniversary: the Center for Thomas More Studies will launch an online video course on Friday ,October 31, “Thomas More: Leading Citizen,” for the 25th Anniversary of Thomas More as “Patron of Statesmen”. So check it out.

A question for us today might be: have many Catholic politicians and statesmen and -women responded to this patronage and conformed to St. Thomas More's model in the last 25 years?

Saint Thomas More, pray for us!

Saint John Paul II, pray for us!

The picture at the top and this picture are of the bas-relief of Saint Thomas More in the Basilica of Saint Clothilde in the Seventh Arrondisement of Paris, taken in 2012.

Preview: 100th Anniversary of "Quas Primas" and the Feast of Christ the King

On the 11th of December in 1925 Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical Quas Primas explaining the reasons for establishing the Feast of Christ the King. Since some liturgical calendars still mark the feast on the last Sunday of October, before the feasts of All Saint and All Souls--and Advent isn't as far off as we might think, as parishes and publishers are planning for meditations for that season (since the feast is celebrated on the Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent)--we'll look at the 100th anniversary of Quas Primas on Monday, October 20. I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show at my usual time, about  7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

The first words of this encyclical refer to the first encyclical Pope Pius XI issued, Ubi arcano Dei consilio ("When in the inscrutable designs of God" he was elected the Vicar of Christ!) at the end of December in 1923. The theme of Ubi arcano was "On the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ". Although the First World War had ended, he noted that "the nations of the earth have not as yet found true peace" (paragraph 7) and there was a "dense fog of mutual hatreds and grievances" (11) separating people and nations" influencing the spiritual lives of Christians negatively and preventing them from knowing "the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding" (Philippians iv, 7) fully (38). In paragraph 48, Pope Pius XI highlights "the Kingdom of Christ." 

In Quas Primas he expands upon that theme:

Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. We were led in the meantime to indulge the hope of a brighter future at the sight of a more widespread and keener interest evinced in Christ and his Church, the one Source of Salvation, a sign that men who had formerly spurned the rule of our Redeemer and had exiled themselves from his kingdom were preparing, and even hastening, to return to the duty of obedience.

Since the Church had been celebrating a Jubilee Year for the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea Pope Pius XI wanted to "enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ" further by establishing a new liturgical feast. And on that new liturgical feast Pope Pius wanted Catholics to renew their dedication "of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus".

When I read this encyclical--remember that Pope Pius XI would also reflect on Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum during his pontificate with Quadragesimo anno--I noticed how carefully Pius aligned the spiritual kingdom of Christ with the Church's practical concerns with worldly affairs regarding moral and spiritual matters (marriage and family for example and religious freedom for another) for "the reconstruction of the social order." One practical result of this effort are the various Concordats negotiated between the Holy See and different countries to assure the Church could celebrate the Sacraments freely, etc.

He referenced Leo's Annum Sacrum for this connection between the acknowledgement of Christ as King and devotion to His merciful Sacred Heart--and I presume we could now see the further connection to the devotion to His Divine Mercy.

So as we prepare for the celebration of this feast, either in October or November, and as we celebrate the centenary of its introduction to the liturgical calendar, it's timely and fitting to read it!

Viva Cristo Rey!

Book Review: Blessed Germain Gardiner on John Frith

The editor of this book, Boone W. Larson, contacted me and offered to send me a copy to read and review, because I have posted in the past about the author of the letter, Blessed Germain Gardiner.

Book description:

The Folly of Heresy was first published in 1534. It was written in response to the trial and supposed martyrdom of John Frith, who famously denied the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The author, Blessed Germain Gardiner—himself martyred in 1544 for denying King Henry's religious supremacy—saw in Frith's case a dangerous occasion for confusion and scandal among England's Catholics. How could they, he asked, honor a man who denied so important a doctrine of the faith? The work (which first bore a verbose title beginning with A letter of a yonge gentylman...) is not only a Scriptural-Patristic defense of the Real Presence but also a brief chronicle of Blessed Germain's personal interviews of Frith before the latter's sentencing. His account, beyond being valuable to Christians interested in Sacramental and Eucharistic theology, is in fact of extraordinary value to scholars of Henrician religious history. Despite its value, it has remained out of print since it was first issued almost five hundred years ago.

The present edition has been thoroughly revised: archaic and unintelligible spellings and grammar have been adjusted, many explanatory notes have been added, and the originally very lengthy paragraphs have been divided up for easier digestion. An introduction, textual-critical endnotes, an appendix, and indices have also been created for this edition by the editor. These editorial supplements will serve to make an otherwise inaccessible piece of English history not only approchable [sic] but enjoyable for the modern reader, whether his interest be casual or scholarly.

(No artificial intelligence was used in the creation or editing of any part of this book.)

I can also assure you that no artificial intelligence was used in this review, either!

It's great to see an independent scholar like Mr. Larson pursuing his enthusiasm in English recusant history and literature. He has already edited the Rev. Paul M. Kimball's translation of On the Just Punishment of Heretics by Alfonso de Castro, O.F.M. published by Dolorosa Press, 2024. He is preparing another important book by the Catholic exile and controversialist Thomas Stapleton, S.T.D., A Fortress of the Faith and other Works of English Recusant Theology. That will be a very important publication.

In this letter Blessed Germain Gardiner describes his attempts to reason with John Frith who would not be persuaded to renounce his heretical stance against the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This indeed was a doctrine that Henry VIII insisted upon as Supreme Head and Governor of the Church of England, that Jesus is really present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in Holy Communion; in agreement with his master at the time, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury did too, although he would later change his mind.

Gardiner brings evidence and texts of the interpretation of Scripture and Church doctrine from the Fathers of the Church to reason with Frith, but finds him not just obstinate but changeable. He requires one standard of proof but once it's been given, changes the requirement. Gardiner notes that William Tyndale had written from the Continent advising Frith not to proceed with this line of argument--he wasn't ready for it himself.

I have to admit that--and this was true even when I read some of Saint Thomas More's apologetic/argumentative works--this kind of back-and-forth narrative of the conversations between Gardiner and Frith is not as "enjoyable" for me as promised in the book description above (from Amazon.com). Note More had exchanged arguments with John Frith too (in 1532) on the doctrine of the Real Presence. Gardiner's letter is dated August 1, 1534; More had been imprisoned in the Tower of London since April 17 of that year.

But the introduction and footnotes (often providing extended quotations from the Fathers, etc.) certainly make the work accessible. Blessed Germain Gardiner's concern for John Frith and his great efforts to reconcile him with the Eucharistic teaching of the Catholic Church certainly shine through. It's an important document and the editor is to be commended for his diligence and excellent work.

Preview: 120th Anniversary of R.H. Benson's "The King's Achievement"

The King's Achievement, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson's historical novel about the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was published in 1905, 120 years ago. It was one of those books I read years before I started studying the English Reformation in depth before writing my book, so I've selected it for our next Son Rise Morning Show 2025 anniversary on Monday, October 13, Columbus Day! I'll be on the air at my usual time, 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

Like its sequel, By What Authority?, which was published in 1904, The King's Achievement is a family drama, as Benson shows the divisions caused in two families by the English Reformation during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. One link between the two novels, for example, is the former nun, Margaret Torridon, taken from her convent by her own brother in The King's Achievement, living years later in the Catholic household of her brother-in-law and sister Mary in By What Authority?

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson was a convert to Catholicism, the youngest son of Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 to 1896, and his wife, Mary. Robert's older brothers, E.F. (Edward Frederick) and A.C. (Arthur Christopher) were also authors: E.F. wrote the "Mapp and Lucia" novels and A.C. contributed to Elgar's Coronation Ode written for Edward VII in 1902 and "Land of Hope and Glory"; he was also Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Their sister Margaret was an Egyptologist.

After his conversion to Catholicism in 1903, Robert Hugh Benson was ordained a priest the next year. 

He wrote several novels, historical and contemporary, and consulted with Don Bede Camm, another Catholic convert, who studied the English Reformation martyrs, on his historical novels. He acknowledges Dom Bede Camm's assistance in both By What Authority? and The King's Achievement. 

Dom Bede Camm was inspired by the stories of the English Catholic martyrs beatified by Pope Leo XIII and published a two-volume book about them in 1904, Lives of the English Martyrs. He also helped the Benedictine Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre who had established a convent near the former site of Tyburn Tree, where many martyrs suffered.

So Camm was a good resource for Benson, but the characters and the dramas Benson created are fictional--although Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and other historical people appear in The King's Achievement. 

Ralph, the elder son of the Torridon family, works for Thomas Cromwell and he goes to visit More at his Chelsea home in Chapter V, "Master More":

It was a wonderfully pleasant house, Ralph thought, as his wherry came up to the foot of the garden stairs that led down from the lawn to the river. It stood well back in its own grounds, divided from the river by a wall with a wicket gate in it. There was a little grove of trees on either side of it ; a flock of pigeons were wheeling about the bell-turret 'that rose into the clear blue sky, and from which came a stroke or two, announcing the approach of dinner-time as he went up the steps.

There was a figure lying on its face in the shadow by the house, as Ralph came up the path, and a small dog, that seemed to be trying to dig the head out from the hands in which it was buried, ceased his excavations and set up a shrill barking. The figure rolled over, and sat up ; the pleasant brown face was all creased with laughter ; small pieces of grass were clinging to the long hair, and Ralph, to his amazement, recognised the ex- Lord Chancellor of England.

In the plot of The King's Achievement, the crucial issue is Ralph's corruption and cruelty as he does Cromwell's will, closing the monasteries and nunneries, leaving the practice of his family's Catholic faith, and even preparing to betray even his master Cromwell when his fall comes, after having betrayed Thomas More by pretending to help him. Beatrice, a young lady from More's household, loves Ralph and trusts him until he demonstrates his cruelty to More and his own family. 

It's an old fashioned novel, but Benson demonstrates great insight into Ralph's character, as he continues to serve Cromwell as he believes he is serving Henry VIII, betraying his own father, his brother Chris a monk at Lewes, and his sisters. There are some dramatic scenes of family conflict and estrangement, especially in the chapters "Father and Son" and "A Nun's Defiance", when Ralph "visits" his sister Margaret's convent to cast her out because she is underage. Benson depicts the corruption of Cromwell's visitors of the monasteries and the convents, and even as Ralph sees it himself, he accepts it as part of his duty to his master and his king. 

The twist of the novel is that the great concern of Beatrice and Chris is the redemption of the souls of Ralph and his mother, who also become cold and skeptical toward both family and Church. Beatrice and Chris work together to reconcile both of them in spite of all the suffering they've endured.

The significance of this book is that, while Dom Bede Camm was studying the English martyrs and writing individual stories about their sufferings, and at the same time helping the Benedictine Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre establish their monastery shrine near Tyburn, Monsignor Benson was offering this historical novel. 

Thus he could show what these divisions, disruptions, and sufferings meant to families, to the relationships between husband and wife, father and son, sister and brother, brother and brother, and even a man and a woman who were beginning to love each other perhaps toward being married. As dramatic as the martyrdoms of Thomas More, the three Carthusians, and Bishop John Fisher were--and Benson does not neglect them--readers can sympathize and even empathize with what the families suffered.

That's what fiction or drama can do. And Benson does it very well.