Another Optional Memorial for October 9: Saint John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church

I really couldn't wait to express my delight at this news from the Vatican's Liturgical Office that Saint John Henry Newman's feast day on October 9 is to be added to the General Roman Calendar. It has been on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church in England with these texts under the Commons of Pastors: Pastors in the Liturgy of the Hours Office of Readings. But now, since he's been named a Doctor of the Church, that will change according to this Vatican document, and there's a different second reading from the current English liturgical prayers.

The English are currently reading a selection from Sermon 15. "Sins of Infirmity" from Volume 5 of the Parochial and Plain Sermons. The decree from the Vatican has a selection from Chapter Five "Position of My Mind Since 1845", pp. 238-239 and 250-251 of the Apologia pro Vita Sua (1865).

Here is the English translation of the decree:

The kindly light of God’s grace, which came into this world to enlighten the gentiles (cf. Lk 2: 32), led John Henry Newman to find peace in the Catholic Church and gave him such strength that he was able to say “God has created me to do Him some definite service … I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught”. Throughout his long life Cardinal Newman was unstinting in this service to which he had been called. The service of intellectual enquiry; the service of preaching and teaching; as well as service to the poor and the least.

His lively mind has left us enduring monuments of great importance in the fields of theology and ecclesiology, as well as poetic and devotional compositions. His constant search to be led out of shadows and images into the fullness of the truth has become an example for every disciple of the Risen One. Thus, in a special way, Saint John Henry, having been recognized as a radiant light for the Church on pilgrimage through history, may rightly be numbered among the other saintly Doctors inscribed in the General Roman Calendar.

For this reason, considering the recent declaration of the title of Doctor of the Church which has been conferred upon a saintly pastor of such outstanding significance for the entire community of the faithful, the Supreme Pontiff Pope LEO XIV has decreed that Saint John Henry Newman, Priest and Doctor of the Church, be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar, and that his Optional Memorial be celebrated by all on 9 October.

There is a comment: "Anything to the contrary notwithstanding." What does that contract clause mean for the Dioceses of England and Wales which currently celebrate his feast as a Feast? I don't see any update on their liturgical website, but they are in the transition between Archbishops of Westminster. Note that Pope Leo XIV made this decision in November last year. 

Note also that Saint John Leonardi and Saint Denis of Paris and Companions also have Optional Memorials on October 9.

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Preview: The 180th Anniversary of Newman's Conversion

Next Thursday, October 9, is Saint John Henry Newman's Feast Day, celebrated as a Feast at Masses in England and as an Obligatory Memorial here in the USA in the Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, so naturally the anniversary of his conversion to Catholicism is the next 2025 Anniversary to celebrate on the Son Rise Morning Show! 

I'll be on the air Monday, October 6 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.

Newman had been living in Littlemore outside of Oxford with several followers since April 19, 1842. He had preached his last sermon as an Anglican minister, "The Parting of Friends" on September 25, 1843, and had gradually been cutting his ties to Oxford--especially since he'd moved all his books to Littlemore! The impetus for his final decision to become a Roman Catholic was the coming of the Passionist priest (now Blessed) Dominic Barberi to Littlemore. One of his biographers, William Ward, demonstrates how Newman proceeded once he knew of the opportunity:

On October 3 he addressed a letter to the Provost of Oriel resigning his Fellowship. On the same day he wrote to Pusey informing him of this act, and adding, 'anything may happen to me now any day.'

On October 5 he notes in his diary, 'I kept indoors all day preparing for general confession.' [Edward] Oakeley was with W. G. Ward at Rose Hill, and dined with Newman that evening. On October 7 [Ambrose] St. John returned to Littlemore, and Newman had with him when he took the great and solemn step the one disciple to whom he habitually opened his whole mind. On this day he wrote thus to Henry Wilberforce [who hoped that Newman would delay any final action until Advent or Christmas]:

Littlemore: October 7, 1845.
'My dearest H. W.,—Father Dominic the Passionist is passing this way, on his way from Aston in Staffordshire to Belgium, where a chapter of his Order is to be held at this time. He is to come to Littlemore for the night as a guest of one of us [William Dalgairns] whom he has admitted at Aston. He does not know of my intentions, but I shall ask of him admission into the One true Fold of the Redeemer. I shall keep this back till after it is all over. . . .

'Father Dominic has had his thoughts turned to England from a youth, in a distinct and remarkable way. For thirty years he has expected to be sent to England, and about three years since was sent without any act of his own by his superior. . . . It is an accident his coming here, and I had no thoughts of applying to him till quite lately, nor should, I suppose, but for this accident.
'With all affectionate thoughts to your wife and children and to yourself,
I am, my dear H. W.,
Tuus usque ad cineres,
J. H. N.'

Newman refers to Father Barberi's visit to Littlemore as "an accident"; we might associate the word "accident" with a catastrophic event, like a car wreck or a fall, and the most common synonyms for accident reflect that (disaster, mishap, catastrophe, etc.), even though that is its secondary meaning.

Newman means "accident" as the word derives from Latin: "accident-, accidens "chance event, contingent attribute", according to Merriam-Webster. He had wanted to make his final decision after his study of Church History in the Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine was published, so that his actions would have some explanation. But since Father Barberi was coming to Littlemore, Newman prepared to be received into the Catholic Church.

As Ward explains:

On the evening of October 8 Father Dominic was expected, and almost at the same time [Richard] Stanton, who had been absent for a few weeks, returned. Father Dominic was to arrive at Oxford by the coach in the afternoon. Up to the very day itself Newman did not speak to the community at Littlemore of his intention. Dalgairns and St. John were to meet the Passionist Father in Oxford. The former has left the following account of what passed:

'At that time all of us except St. John, though we did not doubt Newman would become a Catholic, were anxious and ignorant of his intentions in detail. About 3 o'clock I went to take my hat and stick and walk across the fields to the Oxford "Angel" where the coach stopped. As I was taking my stick Newman said to me in a very low and quiet {94} tone: "When you see your friend, will you tell him that I wish him to receive me into the Church of Christ?" I said: "Yes" and no more. I told Fr. Dominic as he was dismounting from the top of the coach. He said: "God be praised," and neither of us spoke again till we reached Littlemore.'

And note that others took advantage of this happy accident of Father Barberi stopping in Littlemore on his way to Belgium:

It was then pouring with rain. Newman made his general confession that night, and was afterwards quite prostrate. Ambrose St. John and Stanton helped him out of the little Oratory. On the morrow his diary has this record: 'admitted into the Catholic Church with [Frederick] Bowles and Stanton.' Next day Newman made his first communion in the Oratory at Littlemore, in which Mass was said for the first time, and Father Dominic received Mr. and Mrs. Woodmason and their two daughters. Newman walked into Oxford in the afternoon with St. John to see Mr. Newsham, the Catholic priest. On the eleventh Father Dominic left. On the same day Newman paid a visit to W. G. Ward at Rose Hill, and Charles Marriott came to see him at Littlemore [Note 9].

Thus very quietly and without parade took place the great event dreamt of for so many years—with dread at first, in hope at last.

When I visited the Newman Centre at Littlemore in 2010, our guide, one of the Sisters of the Spiritual Family the Work, showed us the letters Newman wrote to his sisters and others on October 9, 1845 telling them of this "great event" and also a stole of Blessed Dominic Barberi's in a glass case. The Littlemore Newman Centre and the Birmingham Oratory are the major shrines to Newman in England, and I'm glad I went to at least one of them, perhaps the most important because of the date of his conversion, his feast day. He died in Birmingham on April 11, 1890, Saint Clare of Assisi's feast day.

Blessed Dominic Barberi, pray for us!

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Preview: Why St. John Henry Newman Should be on the USA's Liturgical Calendar

We're going to interrupt our series on the Mementoes of the English Martyrs and Confessors on the Son Rise Morning Show on Monday, October 9 to discuss the feast of Saint John Henry Newman. I'll be on the show at my usual time, around 6:50 a.m. Central/7:50 a.m. Eastern, to talk with Anna Mitchell or Matt Swaim.

Please listen live here or listen to the podcast at your convenience here.

Saint John Henry Newman died on August 11, 1890 and usually his feast would be celebrated on the date of his death, but it was already the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi. So the anniversary of his joining the Catholic Church on October 9 in 1845 was chosen instead when his beatification was announced.

In England and Wales October 9 is celebrated as a Feast now (with the Gloria recited or sung at Mass). There were already three optional memorials on October 9 (St. Denis and Companions, St. John Leonardi, and St. Paulinus of York, an English saint) before his canonization in 2019, meaning that either the Weekday or Ordinary Time, or the memorial of one of those three saints, could be celebrated. The English Bishops moved those three optional memorials to October 10 to make room for Newman's Feast on October 9. (The Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United States also celebrates this Feast day.)

I propose that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops do something similar to make room for Newman on our Liturgical Calendar and offer three reasons, in ascending order of importance. 

At this time, his feast is not on the Liturgical Calendar at all, not even as an optional memorial.

I'm not going to be greedy enough to propose his feast as a Feast in the USA, but as the Memorial, thus the only feast to be celebrated on October 9--and that St. Denis and St. John Leonardi be moved as optional memorials on October 10.

My three reasons: First:

Newman and the New Evangelization: After teaching a graduate class on Newman and the New Evangelization for our local Newman University the past two summers, I'm convinced that he is an excellent patron saint for this project, which includes the Eucharistic Revival, to renew the faith of Catholics, particularly the laity. 

Newman offers many insights into how to revive and re-enforce Catholics' belief in what they believe and what the Church teaches, and to integrate it more firmly in their lives. He encouraged both growth of knowledge of the truths of the Catholic Faith and the actions that demonstrated that knowledge and belief. As he told the Little Brothers of the Oratory in Birmingham:

I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent, well-instructed laity. I wish you to enlarge your knowledge, to cultivate your reason, to get an insight into the relation of truth to truth, to learn to view things as they are, to understand how faith and reason stand to each other, what are the bases and principles of Catholicism and where lies the main inconsistencies and absurdities of the Protestant theory. I have no apprehension you will be the worse Catholics for familiarity with these subjects, provided you cherish a vivid sense of God above and keep in mind that you have souls to be judged and saved. In all times the laity have been the measure of the Catholic spirit; they saved the Irish Church three centuries ago and they betrayed the Church in England. You ought to be able to bring out what you feel and what you mean, as well as to feel and mean it; to expose to the comprehension of others the fictions and fallacies of your opponents; to explain the charges brought against the Church, to the satisfaction, not, indeed, of bigots, but of men of sense, of whatever cast of opinion.

By preparing those Little Brothers of the Oratory with vibrant knowledge and conviction of the Faith, Newman wanted them to use their personal influence to help others gain that assurance. Quoting an earlier work from his Anglican days (The Tamworth Reading Room letters of 1841) in the Grammar of Assent (1870), he proposed:

The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us. Many a man will live and die upon a dogma: no man will be a martyr for a conclusion.

He dedicated an entire sermon to this theme, "Personal Influence, the Means of Propagating the Truth" as an Anglican, so it was a constant in his life that he wanted to prepare Christians to share their Faith effectively through formal education, sermons, literature, friendships, and arguments and apologetics--in that order. Thus they would be able to move others to embrace the Truth.

I'm not alone in this belief about Newman and the New Evangelization: Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop James Conley, the late Father Ian Ker, and many others have observed this.

My Second Reason: 

The Newman Centers at secular universities in the USA: Since the first Newman Club was founded at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893--just three years after his death!--Newman Centers at secular universities have provided students with Holy Mass and the other Sacraments, continuing religious education, social activities, a place a study, etc. The National Catholic Register just published an article about them last month.

As the Newman Ministry website notes:

Over 80% of students stop practicing the faith in college—that’s most of the campus! The problem is, many students struggle to find great friends that share their faith.

It can be overwhelming to walk onto a new campus with no friends. There’s so many opportunities and decisions to make. Faith usually isn’t at the top of the list.

That’s where we come in. Newman Ministry connects students with a Catholic community on campus, so their faith thrives in college and beyond.

So Saint John Henry Newman has had an influence in the USA since the late 19th century through these campus centers for Catholics, even though not all of them still use his name. I attended the Newman Center at Wichita State University and learned about Saint John Henry Newman there (it now does not use his name, but that's still the way I think of it!).

My Third Reason: 

Newman's Miracles

Both the miracle accepted for his Beatification in 2010, and the miracle accepted for his Canonization in 2019 occurred in the United States of America, and both of them through the influence of EWTN!

Deacon Jack Sullivan had watched a program on then-Venerable John Henry Newman on EWTN and decided to ask Newman's intercession for his back problems:

“They were discussing not only Newman’s teachings, but the process of beatification,” Sullivan explained to EWTN. “At the end of the program, they had on screen an address of the Oratory in Birmingham [England] and they said, ‘if you receive any Divine favors, please contact that Oratory.’

“I happened to have a piece of paper and a pen on the table in front of me and I wrote it down. Then, I thought, ‘If I wrote it down, I might as well pray to Newman.”

“I prayed, ‘Please Cardinal Newman, help me with God so that I might walk and go back to classes and be ordained.’”

After a later surgery that found greater damage to his spine than thought:

On August 15, 2001, four days after his surgery, Sullivan again prayed to Cardinal Newman.

“I felt tremendous heat and a tingling feeling all over that lasted for five or 10 minutes,” Sullivan said. “After I experienced this, I immediately stood up straight. I was able to walk, not with a walker or cane, but on my own, without any difficulty or pain. I walked all over the hospital, just joyful. I never needed any pain medication after that.”

Melissa Villalobos was inspired by the same program to ask Newman's intercession in the second miracle:

Melissa Villalobos lives near Chicago. As a college student at Washington University in St Louis she met her husband-to-be David Villalobos, and it was there that she also first came across the Newman Center, which she had assumed was named after a rich benefactor.

Soon after graduating in 2000, she watched a TV show on EWTN called ‘Newman At 2000’. In 2010 she watched the Beatification of Cardinal Newman on EWTN, and remembers being very moved. She was given a prayer card with the face of Newman, and she began to read his works on the Internet and her devotion to him grew, so that she would turn in prayer often to ask him for favours and inspiration. . . 

When she was pregnant with her fifth child, Gemma, Villalobos began to experience bleeding from uterus. During a particularly dangerous hemorrhage, she prayed:

"Please Cardinal Newman make the bleeding stop!” As soon as she had finished her sentence the bleeding stopped. She immediately thanked Cardinal Newman, convinced that she had been healed by his intercession. She was then able to hurry downstairs and check on her children with no further bleeding.

On a visit to the doctor later that very same day, 15 May, he confirmed with an ultrasound that Melissa had been cured of her condition, and her placenta was no longer torn. The bleeding never returned. . . .

These two miracles are further evidence of devotion to Newman in the United States.

There's at least one more reason I've thought of: the many American converts, especially from the Episcopalian church, who have been influenced by Saint John Henry Newman. Like the late Thomas Howard, Holly Ordway, Father Dwight Longenecker, Deacon Scott Carson, Monsignor Jeffrey Stinson, etc., etc., many have attested to Newman's influence on them. Just peruse the stories collected on the Coming Home Network website and you'll see what he has meant to converts in the 20th and 21st centuries in the United States.

Finally, I do have a very personal reason for this proposal: after studying the works of Saint John Henry Newman since I first learned about him as a college sophomore, writing about him, teaching about him, and praying for his intercession, I'd like to attend a daily Mass on his feast day on October 9 in the next year or so.

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

The Third Anniversary of Newman's Canonization

Father Juan Velez, author of several books--and one to be published soon by Catholic University of America Press--on Saint John Henry Newman, posts this reminder on his Newman website:

October 13, 2022, will mark three years since John Henry Newman’s canonization in 2019. We recall the wonderful Mass of canonization at St. Peter’s Square and the joy of the faithful during the celebration as well as the days before and after. The official recognition of Newman’s holiness has helped many people to become acquainted with this wise and holy priest and thinker.

Since the canonization, various groups and Oratories have promoted devotion to St. John Henry Newman. For instance, the St. Paul Catholic Newman Center in Fresno, California, has had a novena to Newman preceding October 9 which would normally be St. John Henry Newman’s liturgical memorial but this year falls on a Sunday.

People who have been introduced to Newman now pray to him for his intercession and ask others to pray to him for their needs, and God grants favors in response to their prayers.

The canonization has likely been the inspiration for conferences and events, and has encouraged authors to continue writing both popular and academic works on Newman and his vast literary output. . . .

Please read the rest there.

Father Velez suggests three ways of developing greater devotion to St. John Henry Newman:

1. Working more to spread the study and devotion of Newman at University Newman Centers.
2. Fostering devotion to Newman through Newman prayer groups and discussion groups, and
3. Praying that Newman’s feast day be made a memorial in the general liturgical calendar of the Church.

I would add one more:

4. Praying that Newman be named a Doctor of the Church!

On Sunday, October 16, I'll be participating in a Newman discussion group as I do every month, our local "Lovers of Newman" group, meeting at the IHM Convent in Colwich, Kansas. We will read aloud and discuss this Parochial and Plain sermon, "The Use of Saints' Days"!

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Saint John Henry Newman: August 11, 1890

O God, who bestowed on the Priest Saint John Henry Newman the grace to follow your kindly light and find peace in your Church; graciously grant that, through his intercession and example, we may be led out of shadows and images into the fulness of your truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

His feast is not celebrated today, but this is the anniversary of his death. Since today was already the feast of St. Clare of Assisi on the current Roman Calendar (for the Roman Missal of 1962, her feast is on August 12), the date of October 9--when he became a Catholic--was chosen instead for his feast day. 

Nevertheless, we can certainly remember him today in private devotions, using the prayers and readings assigned for his October 9 Feast in the Catholic dioceses of England and Wales.

I do hope the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will add his feast to our national calendar on October 9, although Saint Denis and Saint John Leonardi already have optional memorials scheduled! I wonder if his feast could be an obligatory Memorial? 

BTW: the Bishops of England and Wales took care of the issue of the memorials of Saint Denis and Saint John Leonardi thusly in May 2019:

The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales agrees to the raising of Bl. John Henry Newman to the rank of Feast on 9 October, subsequent to his canonisation, in the National Calendar for England and the National Calendar for Wales.

It requests the optional memorials of St Denis and Companions and St John Leonardi be transferred to 10 October.

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Newman's Feast and Canonization, 2019

I was very happy to see all the events the Chaplain at Newman University here in Wichita is planning for this week leading up to Newman's canonization--I plan to attend the Mass on Sunday evening, October 13.

Our Diocesan Spiritual Life Center is hosting two events after the canonization to help Catholics understand the significance of Newman's life and works. There's a series starting on October 21 and a retreat in November. The series is taught by one of the IHM sisters who has been studying Newman for years:

Join Sr. Mary Catherine Blanding, IHM for a series on the life and teachings of soon-to-be Saint John Henry Newman. Sister will present on four (4) Mondays, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4 and Nov. 11. The following topics will be her focus:

"John Henry Newman: Unifier among the Polarized"
"Newman: The Master of Friendship in an age of Loneliness and Isolation"
"Education par Excellance: Newman and the Idea of a University"
"Newman and the Priesthood"

I'll be making a couple of presentations at the retreat on November 15 and 16:

Under the direction of Stephanie Mann and Fr. Tom Hoisington, this retreat will feature presentations, immersive Catholic Culture, and discussion of Newman's Kansas connection.

The retreat will include a Friday evening social including entertainment by local musician Jack Korbel, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, daily Mass, and opportunity for confession.

“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.” ~ Saint John Henry Newman  

Please join us for an overnight retreat exploring the life and teachings of the soon to be canonized Blessed John Henry Newman.

Newman’s writings have long been esteemed by scholars. Now, with his canonization, his influence is being lifted up for all to see; not just for theologians, but for the whole Church. Among many other things, Newman is famous for his explanations of the way doctrine develops, the way God saves us through his Church, and the way people come to know and accept truth.

Retreatants will walk through his teachings under the direction of Stephanie Mann and Fr. Tom Hoisington, both of the Wichita Diocese. Stephanie Mann will give two presentations: one focusing on the impact Newman has had in our diocese, and the other on the importance of Newman for the laity in light of his being raised to the altars. Fr. Hoisington will present on Newman’s personalism- his explanation of how an individual subject makes response to objective truth in a way that is both personal and universal- an essential area of Newman’s thought that is often misunderstood and underappreciated.

New this retreat, participants will enjoy a Friday evening social time with music, appetizers and drinks as they enjoy eachother’s company and build a Catholic Culture. Musician Jack Korbel will provide entertainment.

The retreat includes all presentations, a Friday evening social, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, daily Mass, opportunity for confession, and overnight lodging for those who wish to stay.

This event starts on Friday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, November 16 with Morning Prayer at 9:00 a.m., with presentations, Mass, and lunch following. We might work in a brief panel discussion before the end at 3:30 p.m.

O God, who bestowed on the Priest John Henry Newman
the grace to follow your kindly light
and find peace in your Church;
graciously grant that,
through his intercession and example,
we may be led out of shadows and images
into the fulness of your truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

I don't know if there will be any update to the Office of Readings for Newman's feast, which is now a memorial in the Dioceses in England and Wales; if his feast will raised to the level of a Feast for the Oratories or the Personal Ordinariates or those dioceses--but I hope his feast will be a memorial on the calendar here in the USA next October 9. Then he has to compete with St. John Leonardi and St. Denis the martyr!

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!

The Last English Confessor Saint

Most commentators are mentioning that Saint John Henry Newman will be the first saint from the British isles canonized since St. John Ogilvie (1976). Ogilvie was canonized as a martyr from Scotland. Newman will also be the first Confessor saint--one who did not suffer as a martyr--from England for hundreds of years. For 618 years, in fact.

In 1401 Pope Boniface IX, in the midst of the Western Schism, canonized St. John Twenge or Thwing of Bridlington. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia he is (was) the:

Last English saint canonized, canon regular, Prior of St. Mary's, Bridlington, b. near the town, 1319; d. at Bridlington, 1379. He was of the Yorkshire family Twenge, which family in Reformation days supplied two priest-martyrs and was also instrumental in establishing the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Bar Convent, York. John completed his studies at Oxford and then entered the Priory of Bridlington. Charged successively with various offices in the community, he was finally despite his reluctance elected prior, which office he held until his death. Even in his lifetime he enjoyed a reputation for great holiness and for miraculous powers. On one occasion he changed water into wine. On another, five seamen from Hartlepool in danger of shipwreck called upon God in the name of His servant, John of Bridlington, whereupon the prior himself appeared to them in his canonical habit and brought them safely to shore. After his death the fame of the miracles wrought by his intercession spread rapidly through the land. Archbishop Neville charged his suffragans and others to take evidence with a view to his canonization, 26 July, 1386; and the same prelate assisted by the Bishops of Durham and Carlisle officiated at a solemn translation of his body, 11 March, 1404 (sic), de mandato Domini Papae. This pope, Boniface IX, shortly afterwards canonized him. The fact has been doubted and disputed; but the original Bull was recently unearthed in the Vatican archives by Mr. T.A. Twemlow, who was engaged in research work there for the British Government. St. John was especially invoked by women in cases of difficult confinement. At the Reformation the people besought the royal plunderer to spare the magnificent shrine of the saint, but in vain; it was destroyed in 1537. The splendid nave of the church, restored in 1857, is all that now remains of Bridlington Priory. The saint's feast is observed by the canons regular on 9 October.

So, note the date of St. John of Bridlington's feast day: the 9th of October. St. John Henry Newman's feast day--as established at his beatification--is the 9th of October.

Bridlington Priory is of course a Church of England church. The priory's website posts this information about the Catholic saint. More information about the saint from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, provided for free! including these details about the progress of his cause, which took much less time than Newman's:

A canon named Hugh, who may himself have been a member of the Bridlington community, wrote the first biography of John between 1379 and 1401. A Middle English verse life in the northern dialect by one who claimed to have witnessed Thwing's deeds appeared about the same time. Reports of miracles occurring at his tomb prompted Alexander Neville, archbishop of York, to delegate Robert Dalton, his vicar-general, to interview witnesses to these miracles in 1386. In 1388, 'out of regard for John de Thweng, late Prior', Richard II gave permission to the Bridlington Priory to crenellate its buildings. According to Walsingham, reports of miracles at Thwing's tomb had spread all over England by 1389. Henry Bolingbroke made an offering at Bridlington in 1391 upon returning from a campaign in Prussia and, as King Henry IV, he sent John Guisburn, a canon of Bridlington, to Rome in 1400 to secure Thwing's canonization. In a bull of Boniface IX, dated 24 September 1401, John Thwing was officially canonized. With the aid of a grant from Henry IV, a shrine for his remains was constructed adjacent to the Bridlington Priory. In 1404 Archbishop Scrope and the bishops of Lincoln and Carlisle officiated at the translation of Thwing's body. Henry IV placed his son Prince Henry under the patronage of St John of Bridlington, and the prince made an offering of 5 marks at the shrine in 1407 in fulfilment of a previous vow. The hagiographer John Capgrave's edition of the life of St John of Bridlington added new accounts of miracles to those mentioned in the first biography by Hugh.

The two martyrs mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia notice are Blesseds Edward and Thomas Thwing. More about them here.

Blessed Dominic Barberi, Passionist

Blessed Dominic Barberi is honored on August 26 and featured on the National Calendar in England--although this year his optional memorial yields to the 23rd Sunday of the Year. He is probably best known for having received John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845 but there are other aspects to his life that should be recalled.

The first is that he was born in Italy during Napoleonic rule, meaning that he grew up in milieu of anti-clericalism and irreligion. His large peasant family placed him with an uncle and he was a shepherd. Young Dominic became attracted to the Passionist Order and joined them as a novice in 1814, after restrictions against religious orders were removed.

Secondly, although in England his English language skills were never that strong (which probably gave some the impression he was not that bright), he was a tremendous theologian and scholar for the Passionist order. He was entrusted with greater and greater responsibility.

Thirdly, he received this special call to serve the people of England and received converts. I believe he heard that call because John Henry Newman needed him. As Newman was living in Littlemore after the suppression of the Oxford Movement he was as he said on his deathbed as an Anglican--but he was not yet ready to recover and become a Catholic. The example of Father Barbari, enduring ridicule for his poor English, being stoned in the streets and yet persevering to bring Christ to the people--even leading the first Corpus Christi procession in England since the Reformation--impressed Newman. As he had written, "If they [Catholic religious] want to convert England let them go barefooted into our manufacturing towns-let them preach to the people like St. Francis Xavier-let them be pelted and trampled on-and I will admit that they can do what we cannot…What a day it will be when God will make arise among their Communion saintly men such as Bernard and the Borromeo’s…The English will never be favorably inclined to a party of conspirators and instigators; only faith and sanctity are irresistible.”

Father Barberi said,  "What a spectacle it was for me to see Newman at my feet! All that I have suffered since I left Italy has been well compensated by this event. I hope the effects of such a conversion may be great."

The International Centre of Newman Friends offers this detail of that momentous event on October 8 and 9, 1845:

"The original historians, who were also closer to the facts, delighted in presenting the events of that night in a dramatic fashion, something which Dominic never would have done, being always very simple and loath to talk about himself. Alfonso Capecelatro, for example, who was an Oratorian and a future Cardinal, wrote about the event ten years after the death of Dominic: “Dalgarins invited a certain Fr. Dominic of the Mother of God, a Provincial of the Passionists, to go to Aston Hall in Littlemore, telling him that he was being called to a work in the service of God: and unwittingly, he agreed. He was always conscious that every delay could possibly result in some great harm to the office to which he called. However because of a terrible storm he set out in a covered coach. He endured five hours of driving rain and, as it so pleased God, completely exhausted he arrived at Littlemore at night. Without delay he entered in the solitary dwelling of those fervent men who were famous throughout England, and with great humility Newman fell at his feet, telling him that he would not move from there until he was blessed and received into the Church of Jesus Christ.”

Beyond this great event, Father Dominic worked very hard while in England, establishing churches, preaching and teaching. He suffered a heart attack and died in Reading on August 27, 1849. He is buried in St. Anne's church, St. Helens, Merseyside, alongside Father Ignatius Spencer, an Anglican convert and Passionist, and Elizabeth Prout, another Anglican convert and the foundress of the Institute of the Holy Family. You can watch this interesting interview of Blessed Dominic, portrayed by Kevin O'Brien on EWTN's The Journey Home.