Book Reviews and More: Cardinal Newman: The Story of a Miracle

Cardinal Newman The Story of a Miracle

Peter Jennings

ISBN 9781860825200

ISBN 1860825206

CTS Booklet B707

Cardinal Newman: The Story of a Miracle - Peter Jennings

With the announcement of Saint John Henry Newman becoming the newest Doctor of the Church that has been a fresh revival in interest in the man, his life and his works. The CTS released three new volumes after the announcement. They are

The Second Spring

Two Discourses on Our Lady The Present and Future of British Catholicism

St John Henry Newman: A New Doctor of the Church

And there has been renewed interest in the volume:

Saint John Henry Newman: His Life and Works

This is an older volume about the miracle that lead to Newman’s Beatification. It is a fascinating read.

The description of this volume is:

“The story of the miracle opening the way for Cardinal Newman’s beatification.

This booklet contains the story of Jack Sullivan, a Boston lawyer and magistrate, who, on turning sixty, developed a serious debilitating illness, from which, after praying to John Henry Newman he was miraculously cured. This extraordinary story, much of it in Jack’s own words, is detailed and illuminating. It introduces the reader to Newman, probably the best known churchman in Victorian England, and to the lengthy process of intense scrutiny which the Catholic Church applies to such claims. The approval of this miracle by the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of Saints, on 2nd June 2009, has cleared the way for the beatification of John Henry Newman.”

About the author of the forward we are informed:

“Peter Jennings is a Catholic journalist, writer and broadcaster who has worked on the Newman Cause since 1975. His book Benedict XVI and Cardinal Newman was published in 2005.”

The chapters and sections in the book are:

Foreword

Introduction

Miracle Healing

An Ordinary Life

Jack's Illness and Healing

Proclamation of the Decree

Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Newman

A Meditation by Cardinal Newman

I have felt drawn to Newman as a friend in heaven since I first encountered him. One of the Stations of the Cross I pray most often is one from his reflections. I also have a great fascinating for the works of Pope Benedict XVI. Newman was one of the first friends in heaven who I recall praying for his canonization. And this excellent little volume is a unique piece on that history. For as the description indicates this volume chronicles the miracle the life and miracle received by Jack Sullivan.

Yes I am aware that Newman is now Canonized, October 13th 2019, and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on November 1st 2025. But this volume is more than just the story of a miracle. It is Jack’s life story. It is part history of the process and how in played out in this case and it is park a look at how great Saints and Popes have had a devotion to Newman even before this miracle. And it concludes with a wonderful little reflection from Newman himself. I highlighted a number of passages while reading this volume, some of them are.

“This booklet is a story of the glory of God. In the life of Jack Sullivan, about which we read here, there is remarkable testimony to the power of God, to God's glory This testimony is found, as we should expect, in the life of one man who was walking the pathway of intense suffering.”

“In telling the story of Jack Sullivan, this booklet also introduces us to John Henry Newman. It was in response to the invocation of Jack Sullivan to Cardinal Newman for help, for his prayers alongside those of the sick man, that this glorious miracle took place. Jack had already opened his heart to Cardinal Newman, finding in him a spiritual friend and protector. Now, in the hour of his greatest need, his friend did not let him down!”

“Not many people today are aware of the many years Father John Henry Newman spent as a parish priest in Birmingham. These years and this ministry are an eloquent testimony to his holiness. Indeed the declaration of this holiness is a great encouragement to all parish priests, especially in this Year For Priests, called for by Pope Benedict XVI.”

“So many people, therefore, can identity with these different aspects of the rich life of John Henry Newman. The forthcoming declaration of his sanctity encourages us all, in our prayer, in our study, in our quest for unity among Christians, in our efforts to proclaim our faith to our contemporaries. He is indeed a holy man for our age.”

“In this booklet we find recorded in ordinary words a most extraordinary event. We find we are witnesses to a miracle.”

“People will ask: does God still work miracles in the age of computers, the internet, space travel and all the other wonders we accept so easily? The answer would seem to be "Yes". Such an answer challenges our ideas of how the world goes, and perhaps that is no bad thing.”

“Indeed, the miracles of modern saints have only been declared after the most painstaking medical and scientific investigations, which earlier centuries could not have imagined being possible.”

“The Tribunal to investigate Jack Sullivan's case met in his home diocese of Boston, Massachusetts, under the auspices of Cardinal Sean O'Malley. The length of time required to hold the various sessions, to interview the witnesses and collate their evidence and to gather the medical documents, was rather longer than had been originally anticipated, but by November 2006 all the necessary work had been done and copies of the hundreds of pages that had been assembled were finally forwarded to Rome.”

“Very early on in his Pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI reverted to earlier custom and announced that in future while Canonisations would normally be done in Rome, as acts of the Universal Church, it was better to do Beatifications locally, in the Diocese where the candidate lived. This change is designed to involve the local church more and to encourage the faithful in devotion to the particular saints of their area.”

“The Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, as a result of the miracle described in these pages, is an event which many in the Church have longed for and worked towards for a considerable period of time. The great Popes of the twentieth century praised his life and writings. Pius XII, Paul VJ and John Paul II all wrote and spoke about their hopes that one day Cardinal Newman would be raised to the honours of the altar and be a light and a guide for the whole church in difficult times. It is under Pope Benedict XVI, who has also studied and admired the "great English Cardinal", that the event is finally taking place.”

“What is described in this fascinating pamphlet, much of it in Jack Sullivan’s own words, is not the end of the story as far as the Cause of John Henry Newman is concerned. It is marvellous to have reached the moment of the Beatification, but those who love the Cardinal will not rest until he is a canonised saint of the Church.”

“I will never forget the simple words that I said that morning: 'Please Cardinal Newman, help me to walk so I can return to my Diaconate classes and be ordained.'”

“Jack has one sister, Beverly, and two brothers, Bill and Dick. All of the Sullivan children suffered from the learning disability dyslexia, and this caused difficulties in their schooling.”

“At his Confirmation Jack took the name Michael, after St Michael the Archangel. He also began to read the lives of the great saints, in particular St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.”

“As a result of these learning difficulties, Jack found it hard to relate to other people, especially at High School: "Suffering from low self-esteem, shy and a loner, I would often go fishing by myself at a nearby lake and stay and fish all day. I learned to love and appreciate nature and how all of God's creatures were so interdependent.”

“The miracle necessary for the beatification of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman (180 1-1890), probably the best-known English churchman in Victorian England, had been approved by the Cardinals and prelates of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Tuesday 2nd June 2009.”

“"I have developed a very real relationship with Cardinal Newman in frequent prayer and I try to pass on what marvellous gifts I have received to those I meet. Secondly, when receiving the news, I felt a very deep sense of the reality of God's love for each one of us, especially during times of immense difficulties and suffering.”

“"The writings of Cardinal Newman arc so relevant today in view of our tendencies towards intellectualism and lack of doctrine, in this secular age in which we live during the early part of the 21st century."”

“In April 1990 Cardinal Ratzinger had described Newman as "the great English Cardinal", at a special Audience with Pope John Paul II for delegates attending a Newman Symposium, organised by the international Centre of Newman Friends, in Rome.”

“Except for the martyrs, Newman would be the first English saint to be canonised since well before the Reformation. (Benedict XVI and Cardinal Newman).”

“Jack Sullivan, as he had first done nine years before, contacted Father Paul Chavasse at the Birmingham Oratory. This time it was a simple message: "I volunteer to serve as a deacon during Mass at the beatification ceremony of Cardinal Newman."”

“Therefore I will trust him. Whatever, wherever 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. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; he may prolong my life, he may shorten it; 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.”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for the volume. This volume is easy to engage with, anyone with a secondary education could easily work through it. I have a small collections of volumes about Newman from the CTS I still wish to read, and several by or about him that I have. I celebrate that he is a Doctor of the church and can easily recommend this or any of the other CTS volumes about or by him.

This book is a good read. I loved the history and story we are given of Jack’s life and how he discovered Newman and how Newman interceded in his life. I am thankful for the work that the CTS does, and for their effort to stay up to date on eBook editions. With my dual form of dyslexia and my son having eye tracking issues I consider them essential, especially with adaptive technology. I picked this up and did not start it as I was awaiting an eBook of one of the other new volumes. I finally caved and gave it a read I am so thankful I did. This one is out of print but well worth tracking down.

Over the last several years, I have read many books from the Catholic Truth Society, in fact over 460 of them as of the reading of this volume; many read more than once; this all since the spring of 2018. Most were good reads; some were great reads; and a few are exceptional. Including this title. There are just do many out of print or not available digitally that I want to read. A great read I can easily recommend if you can lay your hands on a copy.