FEATURE
John Henry Newman Appeal Help save the Cardinal Saint’s unique collection of some thirteen thousand books as well as the room where he worked, studied, and latterly said Mass
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ver since its foundation by St Philip Neri in sixteenth century Rome, the Congregation of the Oratory has paid particular attention to celebrating the sacred liturgy with dignity and devotion. Established during the CounterReformation, the Oratory has always stood for what is Roman and unashamedly Catholic. This romanità was expressed from the outset by Italianate Baroque architecture and decorative arts, with liturgical ceremonies accompanied by music of the late Renaissance, by composers such as Palestrina and Victoria, both disciples of St Philip. The saint required that High Mass and Vespers were celebrated on all Sundays and festivals in his lovely church, the Chiesa Nuova, with many Low Masses offered on its side altars. Thus, inspired by uplifting worship and hushed prayer, the awe-struck faithful would be drawn heavenwards. The sacred liturgy and the frequent reception of the sacraments were the chief means St Philip employed for sanctifying daily life and winning souls for Christ. He impressed this on his sons, and the Fathers of the Oratory try to continue this particular apostolate. One of St Philip’s most illustrious sons is John Henry Newman, the Victorian cardinal-saint. When Newman founded his Oratory in Birmingham in the nineteenth century, a reticent mood left over from the penal days still enshrouded English Catholicism. High Mass, processions, and solemn functions were still a rare sight, but the efforts of Newman and his Oratorians helped to breathe new life into the faith in these Isles, bringing about ‘the second spring.’ In the Birmingham Oratory’s first church and the succeeding one built in
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the Edwardian Baroque style, Holy Mass has been consistently celebrated with splendour and devotion. The Oratory’s worship and music continued faithful to the Roman tradition up until the liturgical pluralism ushered in by the Second Vatican Council. Perhaps it was the musical repertoire and the style of the building, as well as the prayers of Saints Philip and John Henry, that prevented the worst excesses of the so-called ‘liturgical renewal’ from taking hold. The old form of Vespers continued on Sundays, while a new and adapted form of High Mass was offered for some four decades. The impulse to begin re-introducing the Traditional Mass emerged here some fifteen years ago. At first this was on a very modest scale, but over the years our commitment to it has grown gradually and without polemic, in a manner which we believe is proper to St Philip’s Oratory. As things have developed, every solemn celebration is now in the Extraordinary Form: High Mass every Sunday and major feast day, and Low Mass every evening. If you come into our church on weekday mornings, you will also see individual Low Masses in the usus antiquior being offered on the side altars. Since the partial easing of the current lockdown, the attendance on Sundays at the Extraordinary Form High Mass has increased to the point that we have been obliged to provide an additional Sunday Low Mass in this Form, so as to accommodate the increasing demand from young people and families. St John Henry Newman loved the Tridentine Mass more than anything else in the world. He celebrated it every day of his priestly life, until the last time on Christmas Day 1889, when his health began to fail him. In addition to our other pastoral responsibilities, the Fathers are
more than content to make available that form of the Mass which our English founder loved so dearly. Oratory House contains a further precious Newman patrimony: his own unique collection of some thirteen thousand books in a splendid library which he himself had a part in designing, as well as his own room, where he worked, studied, and latterly said Mass. Recently, these precious relics have been put under threat. The ingenious lantern roof on the library began to lean and collapse, due to rotting structural beams. In 2020 the threat of the roof falling into the library, and in turn, into the Newman shrine below, plus aggressive water damage from leaks and damp seeping into Newman’s personal room, demanded that work begin urgently. The lantern roof is now being rebuilt and the surrounding roof area reconstructed, to improve drainage. Newman’s collection of books has been professionally cleaned, listed, and put into safe storage for the duration of the
SUMMER 2021
