Behold, I make all things Newman!

Cardinal Newman has been raised to the altars! He was a brilliant patrologist. He served the Fathers as translator, historian, compiler, controversialist, poet, and even journalist. Reading in the Fathers of the Church, he came to desire the Church of the Fathers. May we all follow him in that, and more.

Certain of his books are indispensable, among them:

The Church of the Fathers

An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

The Arians of the Fourth Century

Callista: A Sketch of The Third Century

My friend Father Juan Velez and I have compiled a handy, popular devotional way to get to know the new Beatus, our pocket-sized book Take Five: Meditations With John Henry Newman.

Here’s his lovely translation of a few lines by St. Gregory Nazianzen (from The Church of the Fathers):

In service o’er the Mystic Feast I stand;
I cleanse Thy victim-flock, and bring them near
In holiest wise, and by a bloodless rite.
O fire of Love! O gushing Fount of Light!
(As best I know, who need Thy pitying Hand)
Dread office this, bemired souls to clear
Of their defilement, and again made bright.