Siyan's Newman Canonization Pilgrimage

Last week I had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to England and Rome. The theme was the life of John Henry Newman. He was canonized last Sunday as a Catholic saint along with four other saints. We were a group of five men, Catholics as well as Lutherans interested in Catholicism.

The journey was important to me and my traveling companions in many ways, as Saint John Henry Newman was perhaps the first Protestant convert  to Catholicism to be made a saint. St John Henry Newman was originally an Anglican priest who later converted to Catholicism, and was then ordained a Catholic priest. Later still he was created a cardinal. He strongly influenced the return of Catholic faith to Anglican England.

At St Peter's Square for the Canonisation Mass.

Oxford and Birgminham, London and Rome

​We first traveled to London, where we stayed in an Opus Dei center. We spent a day in Oxford, a day in Birmingham and a day in London. All the destinations we visited were related to Newman in one way or another. In Oxford we saw St Mary's Church, where he used to preach as an Anglican priest and filled the church hall, and Littlemore, where he was received into the Catholic Church.

A portrait of a young Newman at Littlemore.

In Birmingham and London, we visited the Oratories that Newman had established following the example of the Roman Oratory founded by Saint Filippo Neri.

On Saturday evening we flew to Rome and on Sunday we attended the solemn Canonization Mass at St. Peter's Square. St. Peter's Square is full of people. The choir is singing Gregorian chant. Five large images of the new saints are hanging on the facade of St. Peter's Church. Newman is in the middle. His gaze is deep and clear.

Venerating Saints

I do not know how this canonization will affect Newman who was already in heaven, except that he will certainly be more often asked for intercession here on earth. I guess there is no time in heaven, so the plentiful of prayer requets should not bother Newman too much. How else could Virgin Mary deal with so many Hail Marys…

Sometimes Protestants feel perplexed when Catholics venerate saints, relics and make pilgrimages. I myself have once had such attitudes. During this trip, I gained a new understanding of the subject. I prayed a lot during the trip, especially in the churches. I looked at a statue of a saint and I was reminded of a friend: “Here is St Veronica, I can pray for my acquaintances who are named after her, for whatever they might need from God,” or “Here is St. Mary Magdalene, I can ask her to pray for a sinner, that God will grant the grace of their conversion,” or "Here is the dead body of Christ in the arms of His mother Virgin Mary, I pray for all who are suffering, especially mothers."

Next to our hotel in Rome, there was a church that kept the pillar at which Jesus was scourged. Standing in front of this relic, the words "Lord, have mercy" echoed in my mind more deeply than usually.
 
We humans need role models. We need to see what holiness means in practice, what it does to people, and how it changes people. We need examples so that we can become better versions of ourselves. For this purpose, there are different saints, each who can set an example for a particular person according to his or her life situation and personnal preferences.

Relics and holy places, on the other hand, help us remember the reality of holiness that Christians have lived in time and place. The same principle applies to everyday and worldly matters as well. We experience human goodness through other people, especially our neighbors and friends. Grandpa’s pipe and grandfather's shirt remind me of them and thus of their virtues, which are truly worth pursuing. Maybe this is the impulse that makes us build museums and visit them.
 
St John Henry Newman, thank you for your example. Pray for all who seek God, truth, and meaning for their lives!

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Siyan was born in Chongqing, China, but grew up in Espoo, Finland. He was first baptised into the Finnish Lutheran Church in 2013 and became Catholic in 2018.