St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
Patron of Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish

Feast Day is October 9

October 9th, is the feast day of our patron, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman. St John Newman is an English 19th century saint. He was canonized in 2019 and the date of his conversion to Catholicism and not his death date was chosen as his feast day. It is also the date near the beginning of the start of a new academic year.

He is popular with campus ministry in part because his rich academic life at universities in England and because he was a true searcher. Originally evangelical, he later became Anglican. As an Anglican, he was founder of the Oxford Movement, that wanted to restore to the Church of England, many of the Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals. That naturally led to his joining the Catholic Church in 1845, which you can imagine was quite controversial for such an esteemed Anglican scholar at a time of anti-Catholicism. He lost many friends and family in his seeking and following the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII later declared him a cardinal for his exemplary service to the Catholic Church in England.

St. John Newman embodied many of the ideas that would later be adopted with Vatican II. He recognized the importance of the historical roots of Christianity which led to the Oxford Movement and his attraction with the Catholic Church. He recognized the importance of docility before and being guided by the Holy Spirit. His motto as cardinal was ‘cor ad cor loquitur’ (heart speaks to heart). We are to listen to God speaking to our hearts, the core of our being. In so listening, we discover our mission from God, our truest aspirations and inspirations.

He saw learning in the university not as a means to an end, not as the way to get a good job, but as an end in itself. The university is to be a time of soul formation that allows one to draw closer to God. Through learning, one is to better understand one’s place in the world as created by God and have a keener sense of one’s God given mission in life. In the end, we are to improve our knowledge of the Faith and to do our part in building up God’s Kingdom here on earth.

As a Catholic, he focused on truth and the development of doctrine. He agreed that doctrine does not change, but that how it is expressed and understood does indeed change with time. We see this with the Incarnation of Christ, the Real Presence of the Eucharist, and the role of Mary.

St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, patron of seekers, pray for us.