New Doctor of the Church Sought 'Kindly Light'

October 9th [was] the Feast Day of Saint John Henry Newman, who will soon be formally declared by Pope Leo XIV as a Doctor of the Church. Newman will be the 38th Doctor of the Church and is only the second English saint honored with the distinction, joining Saint Bede, who lived during the late 7th and early 8th centuries.

A Vatican News write-up about the announcement included Newman's prayer "From Shadows and Images into the Truth, which opens with the famous words: "Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home."

The deep longing for clarity expressed in these words reflects the seed of conversion planted in Newman's heart during a trip to Italy. He was 32 years old at the time but was already a highly regarded and influential Anglican priest.

In his Vatican News story, Alessandro De Carolis writes, "The 1832 trip to Italy deepened his inner search. Newman carried within him a thirst to know the depths of God, His 'kindly Light,' which for him was also the light of Truth - truth about Christ, the true nature of the Church, and the tradition of the early centuries, when the Church Fathers spoke to a still undivided Church."

It was more than a decade later that Newman converted to Catholicism. Returning to Italy in 1846 to spend time as a humble seminarian, Newman wrote, "It is like a dream, and yet so calm, so happy, as if it were the fulfillment of a long hope, and the beginning of a new life."

After his time studying in Rome, Newman went back to England and spent the rest of his life sharing the joy of his conversion in lectures, writings, and the homilies he gave to those he served in parish life. It is said that he wept in 1879 upon learning that Pope Leo XIII had decided to make him a cardinal. "The cloud is lifted forever," Newman declared. Eleven years later, he passed away at the age of 89. His tomb reads, "Ex umbris et imaginibus in Veritatem," which means, "From shadows and images into the Truth."

In his prayer, "The Mission of My Life," Newman wrote, "I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. 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."

This prayer inspired The Christophers' 1957 half hour film A Link in the Chain, which starred James Cagney as an aging college philosophy professor looking back on his life and wondering if his efforts to impart wisdom to young people made a difference. Toward the film's end, Cagney's character declares, "I, too, was but a link in the chain, a chain that was first forged with a word, the Word of God."

Cagney's character shows that he finally sees his efforts in the positive light of God's will. We do not always fully understand why we are thrown into certain situations, whether those situations produce joy or pain, but we can resolve, like Saint John Henry Newman, to do good, to be angels of peace and to speak the truth. When we do that, we're following in the footsteps of our newest Doctor of the Church. May his words guide us, and may he intercede for us in our efforts to serve Christ and His Church.

This essay is a recent "Light One Candle" column, written by Fr. Ed Dougherty, M.M, of The Christophers' Board of Directors; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)

Background information:

The Christophers