Duke

Anche il Duque de Gandia in questi giorni si sta occupando del nostro amato Newman. Un motivo in piu' per frequentare quest'ottimo blog tardo-barocco.

Solemn return of Cardinal Newman's remains to the Birmingham Oratory

(The brass Cardinal’s insignia from the coffin of John Henry Newman recovered from his grave at Rednal on 2 October 2008. Picture by Peter Jennings. This picture is the copyright of the Fathers if the Birmingham Oratory)

Statement by Peter Jennings, Press Secretary to the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and for the Cause of the Beatification and Canonisation of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Friday 10 October 2008:

ARRANGEMENTS FOR A VIGIL OF RECEPTION
“I am able to announce that the remains of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) will be placed in a glass-sided casket in the Upper Cloister Hall at the Birmingham Oratory, on Friday 31 and Saturday 1 November 2008.
“The remains will include locks of Cardinal Newman's hair, already in the possession of the Fathers of the Oratory, a small cross and clothing found in the grave, and some wood from the Cardinal’s original oak coffin.
“Everything recovered from Cardinal Newman’s grave is presently in the care of one of the country’s leading specialists in conservation, the York Archaeological Trust, including the brass Cardinal’s insignia that decorated the top of the coffin.
“The times during which visitors will have an opportunity to pray in the presence of the remains are 9.00 am to 8.00 pm.
“Over these two days the following special Masses will be celebrated in the Oratory Church:
“Friday 31 October at 8pm - Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament, celebrated by Bishop William Kenney, CP, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham.
“Saturday 1 November at 8 am - Votive Mass of Our Lady, celebrated by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster.
“Saturday 1 November at 11 am - Votive Mass of St Philip Neri, celebrated by Bishop Philip Pargeter, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham.



ARRANGEMENTS FOR MASS ON SUNDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2008, FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
“High Mass will be celebrated at the Birmingham Oratory at 11am on Sunday, November 2, the transferred Feast of All Saints. The celebrant will be the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham. The Very Reverend Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Postulator of the Newman Cause, will preach.
“During this Mass the remains of John Henry Cardinal Newman will be solemnly placed in the Chapel of St Charles Borromeo, a friend of St Philip Neri, situated to the right of the Sanctuary. They will rest in the Chapel while the step by step process of Cardinal Newman's Beatification continues in Rome.
“The meticulous exhumation of Cardinal Newman's grave at Rednal on Thursday 2 October 2008 did not recover any human remains. The Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory have decided that the specially made marble sarcophagus intended to receive Cardinal Newman's body will not now be placed in the church as originally planned.”

Newman's funeral

Peter Jennings, nell'articolo che riporto qui sotto, fa riferimento alla cronaca del funerale di Newman apparsa su un giornale locale del tempo. Andrebbe letta anche la cronaca apparsa sul Times, che potete trovare qui.
Tra i tanti dettagli, va notato che la cassa era di legno di quercia e questo spiega perché con il tempo si è disintegrata. L'articolo menziona anche il fatto che Newman avesse chiesto di essere sepolto insieme a Ambrose St. John e naturalmente nessuno ebbe da ridire nè sospettarono relazioni 'illecite'.
Le polemiche di questi giorni mostrano solo la pochezza di certi personaggi che, distorcendo la storia a proprio piacimento, gettano fango su questo santo uomo.

Report of Cardinal Newman's interment in August 1890 sheds light on empty grave in 2008

A vivid first hand description of the Funeral of Cardinal Newman published in a Birmingham newspaper the day afterwards may help to explain why no bones where found when his grave was excavated with the utmost care on Thursday October 2 2008, Feast of the Guardian Angels.
A long report in the 'Birmingham Daily Post' on Wednesday August 20 1890, ended: "When the rites had been achieved, the crowd without the gates was suffered to enter by batches and see the grave; and then the coffin was covered with mould of a softer texture than the marly stratum in which the grave is cut.
"This was done in studious and affectionate fulfilment of a desire of Dr Newman's which some may deem fanciful, but which sprang from his reverence for the letter of the Divine Word; which, as he conceived, enjoins us to facilitate rather than impede the operation of the law 'Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return'."
The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman died on Monday August 11 1890 and was buried in the small secluded cemetery at the Oratory House, Rednal, near Birmingham on Tuesday August 19 1890. He was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II on January 22 1991.
A statement released on behalf of the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory on Saturday, October 4 2008 stated: "During the excavation the brass inscription plate which had been on the wooden coffin in which Cardinal Newman had rested was recovered from his grave.
"Brass, wooden and cloth artefacts were found. However there were no remains of the body of John Henry Newman. An expectation that Cardinal Newman had been buried in a lead lined coffin proved to be unfounded.
"In the view of the medical and health professionals in attendance, burial in a wooden coffin in a very damp site makes this kind of total decomposition of the body unsurprising."
The report in the 'Birmingham Daily Post' of August 20 1890 has been included in Volume XXXII of the 'Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman', as an appendix. The volume, masterfully edited by Dr Frank McGrath, an Australian Marist Brother, is due to be published by Oxford University Press shortly.
Volume XXXII is the last in the series, probably the greatest collection of letters in the English language, begun by Fr Stephen Dessain, the great Newman scholar, and member of Cardinal Newman's Birmingham Oratory, during the late 1950s. Volume XI, the first in the series, the start of Newman's Catholic years, was published during 1961.
The long report in the 'Birmingham Daily Post' began with a vivid description of the scene in the Oratory Church, Edgbaston: "With a pomp which personally he would have eschewed, but which, as a faithful son of the Church of his adoption, he would cheerfully have acceded to as due to her dignity, and position, the obsequies of Cardinal Newman were brought to a close yesterday (Tuesday August 19 1890).
"In the morning, at the Oratory Church, the Requiem Mass was sung in full state, no fewer than seventeen bishops being present in full pontificals, while the chancel and tribune were filled with clergy and Roman Catholic dignitaries, who, to the number of three or four hundred, had come, from all parts of the diocese to join in the Solemn Mass for the repose of the soul of this distinguished ecclesiastic and much loved man.
"In the nave was a scarcely less distinguished assembly of laymen. The premier Duke of England, and many dignified pupils of the famous Oratory School, with the Lord Chief Justice, Anglican canons and clergy and Oxford dons - representing the friends and associations of Newman's youth - made up a congregation such as is seldom gathered in an English place of worship."

Peter Jennings

John Henry Newman's body missing

Nothing was found of John Henry Newman's body when his grave was opened last Thursday.
"Brass, wooden and cloth artefacts from Cardinal Newman's coffin were found," said a spokesman for the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory. "However there were no remains of the body of John Henry Newman."
This is not a case of body-snatching but of natural decomposition. "Burial in a wooden coffin in a very damp site makes this kind of total decomposition of the body unsurprising," said the experts at the site.
But it had been planned to rebury the saintly Cardinal's remains in the Birmingham Oratory church. He is to be declared "Blessed" soon as a step to canonisation as a saint.
Now a separate relic of a lock of hair, and the secondary relics of remains of clothing will be interred there. Since Newman was buried in the same grave as Ambrose St John, no doubt remains of Fr St John's bodily remains will have the honour of beings transferred to Neman's sarcophagus too.
I can't help thinking this is of a piece with Newman's attitude to miraculous relics. "Though one relic be sometimes mistaken for another, and St Theodore stands for St Eugenius or St Agathocles, still, once take into account our First Principle, that God is likely to continue miracles among us," Newman wrote, "I do not see why He should feel much displeasure with us on account of this, or should cease to work wonders in our behalf."
Newman chose to have on his tomb the motto: "Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem" - from shadows and appearances into the truth.
He quite rightly related all honouring of relics to the supreme mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Only because Christ rose again do Christians place hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead. Just as the early Christians did not suppose that, though the bodies of martyrs be burned to ashes or lost in the sea, they would not share in Christ's resurrection, so Newman's disappearance into the shadows of earth will not dampen the confidence of those who seek his intercession in heaven.

The tomb was empty!

On Thursday, having won the battle to exhume Cardinal John Henry Newman's body for its transfer to the Oratory in Birmingham, those paying their respects at the graveside had a bit of a shock. There was no body to exhume, nothing at all. Not a trace of bone, hair, human remains or anything except this plate. It means that he was not buried in the lead coffin that many supposed he had been but a simple wooden affair. It is not apparently unusual for remains to disintegrate totally in this fashion. A few fragments of hair preserved elsewhere will now be placed in a casket for veneration in the Birmingham Oratory, but of course there can be no 'lying in state' for a real body. At least it solves the Peter Tatchell problem. A non-existent body cannot be exhumed. As the spokesman for the Cause, Peter Jennings , has just told me, rarely can there have been a more vivid reminder of the truth of what the priest says at the Ash Wednesday Mass: 'Remember Man, thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.' As our capitalist world crumbles about us, it seems that Newman is a saint for our times in more ways than we could previously have imagined.

No physical remains of Cardinal Newman found on his grave at Rednal

4.10.08 NO PHYSICAL REMAINS OF CARDINAL NEWMAN FOUND IN HIS GRAVE AT REDNAL


Statement by Peter Jennings, Press Secretary to the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and for the Cause of the Beatification and Canonisation of Cardinal Newman, Saturday 4 October 2008:
"The grave of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890) was excavated with the utmost care on Thursday 2 October 2008, Feast of the Guardian Angels.
"Cardinal Newman died on Monday 11 August 1890 and was buried in the small secluded cemetery at the Oratory House, Rednal, near Birmingham on Tuesday 19 August 1890. He was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II on 22 January 1991.
"During the excavation the brass inscription plate which had been on the wooden coffin in which Cardinal Newman had rested was recovered from his grave. It reads:
'Eminent [issimus] et Reverend [issimus] Joannes Henricus Newman Cardinalis Diaconus S Georgii in Velabro Obiit Die XI August. MDCCCXC RIP'
English Translation: 'The Most Eminent and Most Reverend John Henry Newman Cardinal Deacon of St George in Velabro Died 11 August 1890 RIP'
"Brass, wooden and cloth artefacts from Cardinal Newman's coffin were found. However there were no remains of the body of John Henry Newman. An expectation that Cardinal Newman had been buried in a lead lined coffin proved to be unfounded.
"In the view of the medical and health professionals in attendance, burial in a wooden coffin in a very damp site makes this kind of total decomposition of the body unsurprising.
"The absence of physical remains in the grave does not affect the progress of Cardinal Newman's Cause in Rome.
"The Birmingham Oratory has always been in possession of some actual physical remains of Cardinal Newman.
"These consist of some locks of hair, some of which were sent to Deacon Jack Sullivan prior to his inexplicable cure. These, together with items found in his grave, will be housed in a casket for a Vigil of Reception on Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November, to be followed by the High Mass of All Saints on Sunday 2 November at 11.00 am, when the casket will be placed in the Oratory Church, Edgbaston."
The Very Reverend Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Postulator of the Newman Cause said: "The lack of substantial physical remains does nothing to diminish our deep reverence for Cardinal Newman. Yesterday's outcome seems to have a Providential significance."
Father Chavasse added: "In the 'Dream of Gerontius', Cardinal Newman reflected on the experience of death. He wrote:
'I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed. A strange refreshment: for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne'er had been before'."
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham said: "The establishment of this new location in the Oratory Church, Edgbaston, for our last bodily contacts with Cardinal Newman is an important moment and one that many people will want to mark with prayerful thanksgiving."

Insieme per sempre

L'annosa questione del corpo del cardinale Newman si e' risolta nel migliore dei modi possibili.
Giovedi' scorso la tomba e' stata riaperta per procedere alla riesumazione e alla ricognizione canonica. Con sorpresa di molti, il corpo non e' stato trovato, in quanto si e' completamente decomposto.
E' stata rinvenuta una targa con un'iscrizione in latino: 'Eminent [issimus] et Reverend [issimus] Joannes Henricus Newman Cardinalis Diaconus S Georgii in Velabro Obiit Die XI August. MDCCCXC RIP. Insieme alla targa sono stati trovati alcuni pezzi della bara.
Il postulatore della causa ha dichiarato che la scoperta ha un significato provvidenziale. Concordo. La Provvidenza ha concesso a Newman di riposare per sempre, come sua volonta', insieme al caro Ambrose St. John.

Adulto (Dizionario dell'Omo Salvatico)

Adulto

Quando si vede scritto è sottinteso che si tratta di oscenità – e adulto viene così ad essere sinonimo di porco.
Tutti i cittadini diventano legalmente adulti alla fine del ventunesimo anno – tutti eccetto due: il Poeta e il Santo, che rimangono tutta la vita simili a quei fanciulli che Gesù cercava e per i quali è fatto il Regno dei Cieli. Ma da quando i Poeti hanno dato il posto ai verseggiatori e i Santi ai bigotti, l’intera umanità è irremissibilmente adulta – e si vede!

Decision delayed in cause of Cardinal Newman

PEMBROKE -- The panel of theologians at the Rome’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, expected to vote Sept. 30 whether to recommend the congregation’s affirmation of the miraculous nature of a Pembroke deacon’s cure, have extended their proceedings.

The panel is considering the circumstances of Deacon John A. “Jack” Sullivan, assigned to St. Thecla Parish in Pembroke, whose debilitating back condition was healed after he prayed for the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman, said Peter Jennings, press secretary for the cause of the beatification and canonization of Cardinal Newman.

“The theologians, who received the relevant documentation eight weeks ago, have asked for more time to study the high profile cause for the beatification of Cardinal Newman,” Jennings said. A miracle must be confirmed for beatification. A second miracle is required for sainthood.

It is unusual for the theologians to comment on their proceedings, let alone their recommendations to the bishops of the congregation, Jennings said.

His release to the media of this information was with the permission of Andrea Ambrosi, the Roman Postulator of the Newman Cause. “Allowing this release is a recognition of the worldwide attention and interest in the cause for Cardinal Newman.”

Cardinal Newman’s remains will lie in state Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 at Edgbaston’s Upper Cloister Hall at the Birmingham Oratory in England, he said. There will be a Nov. 2 special re-internment high Mass celebrated by Bishop Vincent Nichols, the bishop of Birmingham at which Father Paul Chavasse, the Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Postulator of the Newman Cause will preach. “At the beginning of Mass the coffin containing the remains of Cardinal Newman will be placed on a catafalque outside the sanctuary.”

Jennings said, “At the end of Mass the coffin containing the remains of Cardinal Newman will be taken in procession and placed in a sarcophagus, made of green Italian marble, situated between the columns opposite the Holy Souls Altar in the Oratory Church.”

Deacon Sullivan is not attending the viewing of the remains and Mass, however he is expecting to visit the oratory in 2009, he said.
Details about his condition and its healing are tightly guarded, Deacon Sullivan said. Although he looks forward to a time when he can tell his story, for now he is obeying guidance from the postulators of Cardinal Newman’s cause to be silent. “It really is a beautiful story.”

Father Mark O’Connell, the judicial vicar of the Archdiocese of Boston, said he could confirm that testimony regarding the circumstances of Deacon Sullivan’s case was collected inside the archdiocese and transferred to the proper Church authorities.

The judicial vicar said he could not discuss the matter any further. “I consider the matter a pontifical secret and I will not discuss it.”

Kevin Donovan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Manchester, N.H. told The Pilot there have been no official proceedings or investigations into New Hampshire teenager Andrew Monroe’s unexplained recovery from severe head injuries some have attributed to the intercession of Cardinal Newman through the ministry of Deacon Sullivan.

Monroe suffered his injuries in a car accident.