St John Henry Newman

Cardinal Newman towards the end of his life.

St John Henry Newman was born on February 21, 1801, in London. He was baptized as an Episcopalian and became a priest of the Church of England on May 29, 1825. He was a well-known academic both of Oxford University and Birmingham Oratory. He converted to the Catholic church and became a Catholic priest on May 30, 1847. The personal consequences for Newman of his conversion were great: he suffered broken relationships with family and friends. Besides, many of his Oxford friends deserted him. He was elevated to a Cardinal on May 12, 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. He wrote his religious autobiography in ‘Apologia pro vita sua.’ From the latter half of 1886, Newman's health began to fail, and he celebrated Mass for the last time on Christmas Day in 1889. On August 11, 1890, he died of pneumonia at the Birmingham Oratory. He will be canonized on October 13, 2019 by Pope Francis at the Vatican. This is a well-known prayer written by St. John Newman:

God has created me to do Him some definite service.

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good; I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace,

A preacher of truth in my own place.

Therefore I will trust Him.

Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him.

In perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.

If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends.

He may throw me among strangers.

He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink,

Hide my future from me.

Still.....He knows what He is about.