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Saint John Henry Newman

Saint John Henry Newman’s Poetry in Liturgical Song

Paper for SJHN Association 2020 Conference
Mary Oberle Hubley
Nicholas-Maria Publishers
Huntington, Indiana

Saint John Henry Newman’s Poetry in Liturgical Song

The canonization of John Henry Newman (1801-1890) in October of 2019 inspires interest in this literary Englishman’s lifelong practice of composing poetry. When he was 35, for example, Newman and several gifted poetry-minded friends joined in compiling their verses into a small printed volume:

In Lyra Apostolica, a collection of short poems by J. H. Newman and his friends in the British Magazine, “where they had the advantage of originally appearing, in the humble hope that they may be instrumental in recalling or recommending to the reader important Christian truths which are to this day in a way to be forgotten. . .”
J.H.N. Oxford
The Feast of All Saints, 1836

Read More

38. Lead, Kindly Light (Ven. John Cardinal Newman)
49. Christmas Without Christ
50. Candlemas
51. Remorse
52. O God from Gods
53. The Sacred Fight
54. Death (Hora Novissima)
55. The Two Worlds
56. For the Dead
57. The Scars of Sin

449346 High Resnicholas Maria Mary

The composer while giving the above paper to the St. John Henry Newman Association online conference, July 31-August 30, 2020. (www.newmanassociation.com)

Hymn Texts Written by Father Faber*

*Although a hymn is commonly understood as text joined to melody, its most common reference through the centuries has been as text alone. Father Faber's hymns were poetic utterances and reflections on theological doctrines and the spiritual life. It is of Father Faber's 16-versed Of Eternal Years that St. John Henry Newman was so fond, to the extent of requesting its frequent repetition during the final days leading to his death.