The Catholic Church in England is remembering the beatification of John Henry Newman last year by Pope Benedict XVI with a Mass of Thanksgiving at Westminster Cathedral today. In Christ Church Cathedral at Christ Church in Oxford, a new setting of Blessed John Henry Newman's The Dream of Gerontius was presented yesterday (H/T to Once I Was a Clever Boy). Robert Hardy, who is a great actor and student of medieval warfare (English use of longbow his speciality) portrayed Gerontius (a speaking part). Neil Nisbet played the Guardian Angel and the chorus Vox Humana sang the parts of the angels, demons, and the solos (the Priest and the Angel of the Agony, etc). More description here. This is the second performance of the work.
The composer is Julien Chilcott-Monk, author of John Henry Newman: The Path to Sainthood, which is:
". . . based on Newman's great poem, The Dream of Gerontius. Through its seven movements, it traces Newman's path through life-his lasting influence in the Church of England, his building of the church at Littlemore, his conversion, his vision and his founding of an English Oratory, the writing of the Dream, and the course of his beatification. Throughout, Newman's own words and advice on sanctity will be featured offering a timeless guide to holy living today."
On the Oriel College website, there is an instruction to pilgrims to contact the chaplain if they want to visit Newman sites. I wonder if the college has seen an increase in visitors? And Christ Church, with its Oxford Movement connections, including a memorial to E.B. Pusey, one of Newman's colleagues, would certainly be part of a Newmanian Oxford pilgrimage.
