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John Henry Newman

A Life Sacrificed

$19.95

Paperback

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Product Details

Product Code:
JHNP
Format:
Paperback
ISBN/UPC:
9781621646983
Length:
0.75 (in)
Size (HxW):
9 x 6 (in)
Pages:
296
Publication date:
October 21, 2024
Weight:
14 oz
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Product Overview

This unparalleled introduction to St. John Henry Newman—mind, heart, soul, and personality—brings the great cardinal to life before our eyes, and with him the charged air of nineteenth-century England. Drawing from his letters, writings, and journal entries with precision and poetic flair, the book is one of Ida Friederike Görres’ masterworks. 

While famous for his brilliance, Cardinal Newman did not hide in an ivory tower. His life was one of risk, sacrifice, and immense charity. His sharp turn to Catholicism rocked the University of Oxford, costing him his friendships, his livelihood, and his identity. Through failures and disappointments, over and over again, Newman let himself be recreated by God. 

This work, in Görres’ words, is a portrait of “the boy, puzzled, who was startled and overwhelmed by God; the active, creative young prophet of his church in crisis; the hermit, who he was and wanted to be all his life; and the fighter, who he was with and against his will: the saint of the Church and the saint of humility, the one perfected in sacrifice”. 

With an in-depth introduction by Ratzinger Prize winner Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, an extensive commentary by translator Jennifer S. Bryson, and a detailed index, the book introduces readers not only to St. John Henry Newman, but to Görres, one of the greatest hagiographers of the twentieth century, whose spiritual writings have only recently been discovered by the English-speaking world.

Click here for a free downloadable Discussion Guide for this title.

Editorial Reviews

“St. John Henry Newman stands on the shoulders of the English martyrs. Yet, as this excellent biography shows, Newman was also a martyr, albeit a ‘white martyr’ who died of old age. Ostracized by the British establishment for his ‘defection’ to Rome, he was also poorly treated by English Catholics, particularly by his fellow converts. Newman suffered greatly for the following of his reason and conscience. This excellent book goes deeper than other biographies of Newman, enabling us to see the man and his life and work with a fresh and penetrative perspective.”
Joseph Pearce, Author, Faith of Our Fathers: A History of True England

“The publication of this long-forgotten work by Ida Friederike Görres marks an exciting development in Newman scholarship. Görres’ study of Newman’s life and conversion, and the hostile society in which he lived, is a must-read for both Newman devotees and readers keen to learn more about this brilliant, enigmatic, troubled English saint. As Görres reveals with effortless eloquence and insight, Newman stands as a spiritual and intellectual giant of the Victorian era, and a beacon of hope in our own troubled times.”
Fiorella de Maria, Author, Father Gabriel Mysteries series

“Ida Görres...spoke with an insightful certainty and a fearlessness about the pressing questions and tasks of the Church today…We thank God that this insightful, brave, and faithful woman was given to the Church in this century. We give thanks for her writing, for the way she was and will continue to be present to many people through her writing.”
Fr. Joseph Ratzinger (in his 1971 eulogy)

Reviews

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  • 4
    Newman the Saint and Man

    Posted by Stephanie A. Mann on Dec 31st 2024

    This book takes me back, takes me way back to the January of 1979 when I attended the Newman School of Catholic Thought at (then named) St. Paul's Parish-Newman Center. From Ida Friederike Gorres I hear, among other things, what many of the college students, including me, there and then cried out: "Why didn't the Catholic Church in England listen to Newman? Why didn't they support his goals to revive Catholicism in Victorian England and beyond by engaging the laity, especially young men and women? Why did the leaders of Church relegate him to the Oratory in Birmingham? Why did they waste his talents?" As Gorres examines the sacrifice(s) of Newman's life, she notes not only his loss of friends, family and influence because of his conversion to Catholicism, but how he sacrificed his intellect to the Truth, by not discovering it through his efforts but to finding what was objectively true and outside himself, such that he had to decrease so that He could increase. In the chapter on Rome (6.), I was impressed by Gorres' explanation of how the Vatican's over site of justice and order in Rome (and in the Papal States) caused Newman great difficulty: he saw "Roman corruptions" and "priestly rule" creating "physical and moral distress" (pp. 142-145), and that influenced his distaste for the Papacy. (But was England that much better at that time: debtors prisons, poor houses, and slums?, she notes.) In the chapter "Newman Brought Low", Gorres contrasts how the hierarchy wasted his talents with how the laity wrote to him for advise and counsel, as he answered thousands of letter from potential converts to Catholicism, Catholics asking for spiritual direction, etc. So while he sacrificed the larger influence he could have had, he was sought out nonetheless. As does Father William R. Lamm in "The Spiritual Legacy of Newman" (1934), Gorres offers excellent insights into Newman's Parochial and Plain Sermons at Oxford and his wonderful efforts to lead his congregation, especially the students, to take "Christianity Seriously", to make it real for them and to impact their lives. In that context, and with the success of his efforts, Gorres frames the famous Tract 90, as Newman sought a firmer foundation for the doctrinal and liturgical reform of the Church of England. (Chapter 5) Overall, however, I wanted more context for why, in 1940s Germany, Gorres was so attracted to Newman. She travelled to the Oratory in Birmingham in 1949, as the Introduction notes, and much of her research and reading into Newman took place between 1944 and 1949. I was surprised to read that there was a conference coinciding with the one hundred anniversary of Newman's conversion in Cologne, Germany when a similar celebratory conference couldn't be held in England during World War II, according to the Catholic University of America's "American Essays for the Newman Centennial"! (In the Introduction to that book, Father John K. Ryan is as certain that Newman would never be seriously considered a canonized saint as Gorres (in Chapter I of this book) is that Newman would be canonized and should be considered a Doctor of the Church! She's correct on one point so far, and both the UK and US bishops have presented arguments for the second point to the Vatican.) Highly recommended: excellent supporting materials, including the bibliography.