John Henry Cardinal Newman: The man who would be saint.

Cardinal Newman Photo: Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory

On July 3, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree allowing for the beatification of Cardinal Newman later this year. The healing miracle of Deacon John Sullivan of Massachusetts has been recognized as the result of praying for intercession of the beloved Cardinal. (Sullivan was cured of a debilitating back injury.) There is one more miracle yet to be approved in order to pave the way for the canonization of Cardinal Newman.

John Henry Newman was born in London, England in 1801. At the age of 23, he became an Anglican priest and went on to found the Oxford Movement.  Newman attempted to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots.  His studies of the history of the Catholic Church resulted in his choosing, at the age of 44, to convert. In 1846, he was formally received into the Catholic Church.

In 1854, at the request of the Irish Bishops, he went to Ireland to become the rector of the Catholic University of Ireland (now University College Dublin).

He is known for his religious autobiography, “Apologia Pro Vita Sua“, but his seminal work is the “An Essay In Aid of A Grammar Of Assent“. He wrote many influential works over the 40 year period of his Catholic faith.

Cardinal Newman celebrated his last mass on Christmas Day in 1889. He died on August 11, 1890 at the Birmingham Oratory and was buried at the related cemetery in Rednal Hill.

In 1991, after the move to beatify him was made public, an attempt to exhume his body was made. No remains were discovered and this was attributed to the damp conditions and the wood of the casket in which he was originally buried.

Below, are a few of his famous quotations:

Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but ratherfear that it shall never have a beginning.

Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not. We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.

If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.

Learn to do thy part and leave the rest to Heaven.

We should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.

You must make up your mind to the prospect of sustaining a certain measure of pain and trouble in your passage through life.

Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.

Time to Pray

My Prayer

Lord,
Only you know
what runs through
the muddle
of my head.
Only you, know
where I’m really
at
Only you, can undo
the thoughts
that sway me
from your path
only you
can keep me walking
on the straight
and narrow road
to your heart,
but I know
despite my needing
You
I need, also
to find myself
on this ill-lit street
and open up
to the lamp in the
distance.
Or maybe
the lamp
is inside me
all the time.
I just need
to switch it
ON.

Beatasum

Catholic Guilt: I keep missing Mass.

Church where my father's funeral was held.

Since the death of my father, last November, I have been struggling with my faith. No, let me rephrase that: my faith is intact–I still pray, I still believe and I still feel close to God, but I am having real difficulty with getting to church.

This issue seems to have started when my father was ill.

We moved my parents from their house of 39 years to our town and into an apartment back in 2006. That’s when everything changed.

I left my job working for a small distributor because I was not happy there, but also so I would be available to help out my parents and to give my mom some much needed time out and away from caregiving.

I am one who definitely believes the commandment, “Honour your Father and Mother”, but I have really found it difficult to see my life change so much.

My husband and I have no children and our life was pretty well-ordered until it became necessary to move my parents. Now that my father is gone, my mom is our total responsibility. Although she isn’t ill or frail, she does demand our attention in various ways and for various needs. She is also a person who is not the easiest to get on with. Some days I just can’t face dealing with her, if I’m honest.

Through all of this, sleep has become a huge issue for both my husband and for me. I can’t remember the last time either of us had a truly deep and long, refreshing sleep. My husband is on medication and I often have to resort to an over-the-counter tablet to get to sleep.

This means, by the time we get to Sunday morning, often we are just beat and getting up the energy to go to mass is next to impossible.

We say our prayers every night before we go to sleep and our faith is what rules our lives, but sadly, the act of going to mass to give thanks in person to our God, is falling by the wayside.

A few weeks ago, the priest spoke about not attending mass and I almost felt as if he was looking directly at me. I had every intention of making good the following week, but it was Father’s Day and I just couldn’t face it at church since it was the first Father’s Day without my own father. I know my dad is probably disappointed at the way I’m handling things. I wish I could do something about it, but it feels almost insurmountable.

Is there anyone out there who feels the same way? Or perhaps, someone is out there who has overcome these feelings and returned to regular church-attendance?

I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts.

Peace,

Beatasum

Morning Prayer – A Real Wake-up Call!

Lord, awaken my soul (Photo courtesy of Flickr)

O Lord, when I awake and day begins
waken me to thy presence,
waken me to they indwelling,
waken me to inward sight of thee,
and speech with thee
and strength from thee;
that all my earthly walk may waken into song
and my spirit leap up to thee all day,
all ways.

Eric Milner-White (taken from Morning & Night Prayers edited by Michael Hollings & Etta Gullick 1976)

My Father’s Prayer

My father was a very devout Catholic. He prayed, on his knees by his bedside every morning and every night. He encouraged me to do the same.
Growing up in the Sixties and Seventies, I was not as prayerful as he would have liked. I had other things on my mind: school, boys, dances, music and other non-religious activities. My father prayed everyday for me, in the hopes that I would one day recognize the need for prayer in my life. It took some time for his prayers to come to fruition, but as an adult I now realize how important prayer is. I still feel that I can improve upon my prayer-life and I am grateful, today, to have come across a card that my dad possessed, upon the back of which he had he typed out his petition.

The prayer itself, is an appeal to God to grant a favour through the intercession of the priest, and founder of the organization Opus Dei.

Spanish priest, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer died on June 26, 1975, at age 73 and was beatified by Pope John Paull II, in 1992. On October 6, 2002, the Pope canonized him fully as a saint. His Feast Day is June 26 (two days after my birthday).

From an early age, Josemaría Escrivá began carrying a rosary in his pocket and he developed a lifelong love and adoration of the blessed Virgin Mary. He had a special connection to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe; while alive he remarked about a painting of this Virgin giving a rose to Juan Diego. “I would like to die that way” he said. In fact, his natural death did occur in a room under the painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

I don’t know enough about Opus Dei to argue whether or not accusations about political statements by Josemaría Escrivá are true or not. I do know that Dan Brown uses Opus Dei to great negative effect in his books, so I am inclined to disregard the rumours against it, since Dan Brown is at the top of my list of “useless articles”, as my mother would say.

I know also, that for some reason my dad had a very strong attachment to this particular priest/saint. The card on which the prayer is printed is well-worn by his hands–it is torn and stained and a corner is missing, but the words are still clear and the sentiment rings out.

My father mysteriously crossed out eleven lines at the top of the reverse side of the card. I wish I knew what they had read, but he used a black marker, so he must have been determined that nobody read it. He also crossed out his brother’s name since he had died. The remaining intercession touched me deeply this morning and I am determined to fulfill his intention:

“My deepest wish now as always Lord, is
that Josemaria Escriva in his constant
advocacy before Your Throne, might
deign to include my daughters,
my brother Mick and my
sisters; to plead that they would
retain or redevelop the fullest real-
ization and appreciation of the great
benificence bestowed on them by being
born into the True Faith; to the point
where each of them would resolve again
to nurture, treasure and safeguard it
for the remainder of their earthly
sojourn.”

With all my heart, I thank you Daddy for all your prayers for me.

Beatasum

The Season of Lent (a poem)

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

40 Days

Forty days, only
We offer up
In smallest token
Of what was done for us.

Forty days, lonely
He walked the desert
Of that land
To save us
From ourselves and
What the earth
Holds out
To tempt and offer–
Empty promises
It cannot keep.

Forty days, merely
We give it back
In miserly ways–
A piece of chocolate
Or a dollar coin
A thoughtless prayer
Most likely drifting
Up in space
Or somewhere
For ourselves
And our own needs.

Did he ever once
Think of himself
When Satan said
He’d show him
What it meant
To be the King?

What then, is it
For us
To give Him
Some small gift
Of Forty Days
In recompense?

Kathleen Mortensen©2009

Another Favourite Night-time Prayer

Even in our tiredest moments, we end our day, huddled together, under the duvet and we say a prayer to thank our Lord for the day and His blessings. One of our favourites is a version of this prayer/hymn from the 1800s. (Scroll down to see our version taken from a small paper prayer book I purchased while on a trip to Scotland.) Beatasum

God, that madest earth and heaven,
darkness and light;
who the day for toil hast given,
for rest the night;
may thine angel guards defend us,
slumber sweet thy mercy send us;
holy dreams and hopes attend us,
all through the night.

Guard us waking, guard us sleeping,
and when we die,
may we in thy mighty keeping
all peaceful lie;
when the last dread call shall wake us,
do not thou, our God, forsake us,
but to reign in glory take us
with Thee on high.

Verse 1: Reginald Heber, 1827;
Verse 2: Richard Whately, 1838

God who madest Earth and Heaven
darkness and light,
Who the day for toil has given,
for rest, the night,
Guard us waking, guard us sleeping
And when we die,
May we in they mighty keeping,
All peaceful lie.

Amen.

Goodnight. Sleep well. See you in the morning.

Here are some links to other posts I’ve done on prayer:

My Daily Prayer

My Favourite Prayer (St. Francis of Assissi)

Prayer for Intercession by The Little Flower

Personal night-time prayer

Time to Pray

Sleep, baby sleep.