The Beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman

by Makayla Heisler and Hannah Reeves

Newman Catholic High School is named after Blessed John Henry Newman. Today his prayer can be seen throughout our school building and our website. We follow Blessed John Henry Newman’s vision of following God and trusting him to help us through our struggles. We also take on his mission to help others to the best of our abilities, and we follow his passion in learning and education at a deeper level.

John Henry was born in London in 1801. Born into an Anglican family; he converted to Christianity when he was 15. He then went on to gain a higher education at Trinity College, beginning an association with Oxford University that lasted for about thirty years.

Newman was officially received into the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845 and was ordained to the priesthood the next year. His work with the Church included establishing the Oratory of St. Philip Neri near Birmingham in 1848 and helping to create the Catholic University of Ireland, which he served as rector from 1854 to 1858. He also continued his writings that include several documents and texts that are still being read today.

In order to be canonized one must go through the first and second steps of the canonization process. Blessed John Henry Newman has already gone through Positio and he has recently gone through Beatification. To go through Positio, one must have been dead for five years and have their life evaluated very carefully; they must decide if he lived a holy, Catholic life. Blessed John Henry Newman just needed one miracle attributed to him for beatification in order to receive the term “Blessed.”

The Catholic Church has accepted the cure of an American deacon’s spinal disorder as Blessed John Henry Newman’s miracle.  Jack Sullivan, a 69-year old Permanent Deacon from Marshfield near Boston, Massachusetts, was suffering from an extremely serious spinal disorder when he prayed to Blessed John Henry Newman, and was healed of his spinal disorder on August 15, 2001. This miracle was studied by many experts, including priests and doctors, and was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on July 3, 2009.

The ceremony for the Beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman took place on September 19, 2010 in Birmingham, England.

God has created me to do him some definite service
He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another
I have my mission
I may never know it in this life But I shall be told it in the next
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

Prayer excerpt by Blessed John Henry Newman