Saturday 23 October 2010

Anglicanorum Coetibus - with resonance from the writings of Blessed John Henry Newman

'Arise, Mary, and go forth in thy strength into that north country, which once was thine own, and take possession of a land which knows thee not! Arise, Mother of God, and with thy thrilling voice speak to those who labour with child, and are in pain, till the babe of grace leaps within them! Shine on us, dear Lady, with thy bright countenance, like the sun in his strength, O stella matutina, O harbinger of peace, till our year is one perpetual May! From thy sweet eyes, from thy pure smile, from thy majestic brow, let ten thousand influences rain down, not to confound or overwhelm, but to persuade, to win over thine enemies. O Mary, my hope, O Mother undefiled, fulfil to us the promise of this spring! A second temple rises on the ruins of the old. Canterbury has gone its way, and York is gone, and Durham is gone and Winchester is gone. It was sore to part with them. We clung to the vision of past greatness, and would not believe it could come to nought; but the Church in England has died, and the Church lives again.
Westminster and Nottingham, Beverley and Hexham, Northampton and Shrewsbury, if the world lasts, shall be names as musical to the ear, as stirring to the heart, as the glories we have lost; and saints shall rise out of them, if God so will, and doctors once again shall give the law to Israel, and preachers call to penance and to justice, as at the beginning.'

From the sermon 'The Second Spring'


                            Blessed John Henry Newman - Ora pro nobis

1 comment:

  1. Wow! Having grown up in the north of England with stories of the Reformation and martyrs, this stirs my soul. I plan to read more of Blessed John Henry Newman

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