TO BE THE SUCCESSOR OF SO MANY MEN RENOWNED FOR THEIR WISDOM AND HOLINESS IS NO SMALL THING

Posted on November 15, 2024 by franksantucci

In 1846 John Henry Newman and his community who had recently been received into the Church were granted the site as a house of retreat and study. It was Newman and his followers who gave it the name “Maryvale”, which it still retains, and it is specified in the Papal Brief as the location of the first English Oratory of St. Philip in 1848.
In the light of this it is easy to understand the enthusiasm with which the Founder greeted the acquisition of Maryvale by the Oblates.

So now you are installed in your holy house which, I am sure, shall not fall away from its deserved repute, while in your hands. It is a delicate trust. To be the successor of so many men renowned for their wisdom and holiness is no small thing. It would seem to me that all eyes in England are fixed upon you and that great examples of virtues will be expected from a place sanctified by Milner, Newman, etc. I cannot recover from my astonishment at seeing you established in this place and I do not cease to thank God from the bottom of my heart.

Letter to Fr. Arnoux in Maryvale, England, 20 July 1849, EO III n 29.

It was offered to them by Bishop Ullathorne as a novitiate and house of studies when it was vacated by Newman in 1848.The terms were that they were to serve the local mission and keep the property ‘in tenantable repair’. On 8 July 1849 the General Council approved its acceptance by Fr. Aubert, the superior of the Oblate mission in Britain. (https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/maryvale-old-oscott-england-1849-1852/)

The house was intended to be more than a novitiate. A decision was made that all Oblates assigned to the foreign missions should spend at least a year in England to learn English and become inculturated.

REFLECTION

“If we look to the saints, this great luminous wake with which God has passed through history, we truly see that here is a force for good that survives through millennia; here is truly light from light.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

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One Response to TO BE THE SUCCESSOR OF SO MANY MEN RENOWNED FOR THEIR WISDOM AND HOLINESS IS NO SMALL THING

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate says:
    November 15, 2024 at 13:32

    There seems to be a tendency in our present times to think that we alone are great, that our religion and places of worship are the only true and rightful ways that matter in this world. The ideal of life seems to be recognized in how we want everything to revolve around us, rather than being a part of something greater than ourselves.

    The early sons of Eugene de Mazenod were invited to take charge of the place that John Henry Newman called home and was named by him; all with the aim of continuing in the same journey to an end with God.
    I find myself thinking of St. Paul who was bothered by Satan not giving up on him and how in speaking to God about this shared how God responded with the words: ““My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Cor 12.9)

    This is a reminder not just for the religious members of the Oblate Family, but also to all of us lay members as we each bring and share gifts of God; our goal is not to change the other but rather to walk together in the shared light of our Saviour. We ask to walk with you in the Light so as to allow inculturation to become enculturation.

    It is in this Light that we will all walk together on our respective journeys home to God.

    Reply

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