One Wednesday 9th October 2024, Ordinariate Missions, Groups and Parishes celebrated the feast day of our Patron, St John Henry Newman. The Portal was invited by the Friends of the Ordinariate to their celebration of mass for this occasion at the church of Our Lady ad St Gregory, Warwick Street, London, and the following reception. The Principal Celebrant and Homilist was to be His Excellency Vincent, Cardinal Nichols. We were, of course, delighted to accept.

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The church was packed, stalls, aisles, and gallery. It was also beautifully decorated with flowers for the occasion. The entrance procession made its way to the sanctuary, as the choir, under the direction of Keith Brown, sang the entrance antiphon, followed by the hymn ‘Firmly I believe and truly’. The rite for mass was ‘Novus Ordo’. The setting was Herbert Howells’ magnificent Collegium Regale. The music was, as is to be expected, splendid and included a brass section as well as the organ.

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In the congregation were many old friends of ours, supporters of the Friends, and Ordinariate members, as well as many more, including an impressive number of the Knights of Malta and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. The Cardinal was joined by our Bishop David, the Vicar General of the Ordinariate, the Parish Priest of the Warwick Street Church and many other clergy, Ordinariate and Diocesan. It was an impressive turnout, and fitting for such a celebration.

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In his Homily, the Cardinal chose four dates of note for St John Henry Newman. The first was when then young Newman was brought to the Warwick Street Church. Newman was, it seems unimpressed by the incense!

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The second is the date of Newman’s burial: 19th August 1890, the Cardinal mused upon the thousands of folk who lined the road from the Birmingham Oratory to the Burial ground at Rednal. How many of those folk had read anything written by St John Henry? Using some enlightening examples, the Cardinal showed that St John Henry was if anything, a man of the people, a pastor. He stressed the importance of St John Henry’s example for the priests of today.

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The 2nd October 2008 was the Cardinal’s third date. It was the day when he stood by the grave of St John Henry Newman as it was opened. The grave opened, there was very little to recover. 

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No matter, Cardinal Nichols said, “The presence of Cardinal St John Henry Newman continues among us as strongly as ever. His miracles of healing, the magnitude of his intellect and his command of language, his deep and at times fragile humanity, his courage in the search for truth still shine forth as brightly as ever.”

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The final date is 13th October 2019, the day of his canonisation in Rome, and the words spoken that day by the Prince of Wales as he then was, now our gracious King. Referring to St John Henry, he said, “He was able to advocate without accusation, disagree without disrespect and, perhaps most of all, to see difference as a place of encounter rather than exclusion.”

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The Offertory hymn was ‘Thy hand, O God, has guided” and at Communion we all joined in with ‘Lead, kindly light’. The final hymn was, of course, ‘Praise to the holiest in the height’ sung as only Ordinariate members, Friends, and supporters can. The organ was played for this hymn and the final voluntary by Fr Mark Elliott Smith.

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After mass, a large number repaired to the Challoner Hall for the reception. It was a memorable occasion, and a fitting celebration for our Patron.

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