50/50

It's hard to believe that today marks the half-way point in Fr. Smith Fellowship.  I've been in Oxford for three weeks now, and I've got three weeks left to explore and study!

This weekend afforded several opportunities to travel around the area near Oxford but outside the city proper and to get a glimpse of the surrounding environs.  On Saturday, Nathan and I traveled to Littlemore, which is about four miles outside Oxford for a garden party hosted by the College there.  John Henry Newman lived in Littlemore for about five years during the end of his tenure at Oxford, and it was at Littlemore that he underwent his conversion from Anglicanism and was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

Bust of Bl. John Henry Newman at Littlemore

Littlemore is currently cared for by the Spiritual Family the Work, which is a sort of religious order based in Rome consisting of priests and lay brothers and sisters who have various apostolates.  In Littlemore, they care for Newman's rooms, host retreatants and minister to converts from the Church of England to Catholicism.  During the Garden Party, which was hosted by the Work, I got to talk a bit with Br. Sean, whom I had met earlier and who is currently working on a doctorate about Newman's eschatology at St. Benet's Hall.  They party featured a string quartet providing lovely music, and there were plenty of delicious homemade baked goods and lots of books for sale.  It was a beautiful and enjoyable afternoon!

Littlemore Garden Party

While I was at Littlemore, I also got to meet Sr. Katie, who is an American and just recently arrived in Littlemore; she gave me a wonderful tour of the compound at Littlemore including Newman's bedroom, his library, and his private chapel in which he made his first confession and was received into the Church.



Newman's Private Chapel



Newman's Cottage at Littlemore



On Sunday, I joined a number of other Blackfriars students for a trip out to Cirencester, a small village in the Cotswalds, a rural area outside Oxford, for a barbeque hosted by Katie Richardson and her family.  Katie is an alumna of Blackfriars Hall and often invites the Blackfriars students to her home for meals during the term.  On our way from Oxford to Cirencester, we took advantage of some opportunities to stop and admire the beautiful countryside and the small villages we passed.

A scenic shot from the Cotswalds

It was a beautiful day for a barbeque - that is, until we sat down outside to eat and it began to rain.  So, we moved inside and enjoyed a delicious meal as we watched the rain pour down - Katie said that we were fortunate to experience "a proper English cookout."  She really outdid herself with our meal - hamburgers, chicken kabobs, rice, salad, and a slew of desserts including meringue cookies, fruit jellies, pound cake, and homemade ice cream cake!  After dinner, we took a much needed walk through Cirencester, seeing some of the historical sites in the town.  It was a gorgeous town lined with medieval-looking stone buildings, some of which date back to the thirteenth century!

On Monday, Nathan departed for a week of gallavanting in France and Belgium, butt I carried on in Oxford, going to my usual Monday morning Mariology lecture and spending some quality time in the Blackfriars library.  In the evening, I was fortunate to attend a lecture by Fr. Vivian Boland, O.P., a tutor at Blackfriars, on the educational thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, a topic which is quite pertinent to my own research as I look into the intersection of the thought of Newman and Aquinas on education.  Later that night, I headed back out to Littlemore for a meeting of the Cor ad Cor group, which meets once a month to discuss some of Newman's writings.  This time, they were reading some of his poetry, which was wonderful.  We had some great conversation about the poetry and other aspects of Newman's life and thought, and I got to meet some of the local Newman fans in Littlemore.

Cor ad Cor Group Meeting in Newman's Library at Littlemore


Today, I attended the termly Mass and dinner for the Newman Society, which is part of the Catholic Chaplaincy at Oxford and often sponsors lectures for students.  The Mass was celebrated in the extraordinary form (the old Latin Mass) at the Oxford Oratory, with members of the society providing beautiful polyphonic music for the liturgy.  The homily was preached by Msgr. Andrew Burnham, who is a former Anglican bishop who recently converted to Catholicism and was ordained a priest.  Msgr. Burnham is one of the leaders of the Anglican Ordinariate, which is a special structure that Pope Benedict XVI has established in England to ease the transition for Anglicans who wish to convert to Catholicism; it was interesting to talk to him after Mass to hear his thoughts on the Ordinariate and the struggles he faced in his conversion and finding his place in the Catholic Church.

Solemn High Mass at the Oxford Oratory
for the Newman Society

After Mass, we went to the Eagle & Child for drinks and then headed to Quod, a restaurant in the center of Oxford for their end of the year banquet, which was quite nice.  I sat with Br. Sean and some other Oxford students, and we had some very interesting conversations about theology, politics, education, and Oxford live in general.  Our meal was delicious; I had been craving a good steak since I arrived in England, and I was able to satisfy that desire tonight (although I'm still looking forward to a hearty, thick, juicy, medium-rare American steak when I get home!).



My table at the Newman Society Banquet

For those of you keeping track of things culinary (you know who you are), Saturday night provided me with the opportunity to experiment a little as I hadn't bought groceries for that night, and was able to just make a quick run to Tesco and see what struck my fancy.  The result was pasta with shrimp in a garlic and olive oil sauce with steamed vegetables and garlic bread!  Who knows what delicacies I'll be confecting by the end of my fellowship!

Saturday night dinner

The rest of this week looks to be pretty uneventful - probably featuring some more exploring and a bit time in the library trying to finish my reading and start getting some solid outlines for my papers so that I can begin writing in earnest next week.

This weekend, I am heading off to Fribourg, Switzerland from Friday until Monday to visit the Dominican friars there including my former professor Fr. Dominic Legge, as well as Fr. Paul-Bernard Hodel, a professor at the University of Fribourg with whom I almost spent my summer doing research (and who, incidentally, is the academic mentor of Emile, one of my Blackfriars friends who hails from Switzerland!).  So, be sure to look forward to an update soon with pictures from the continent - there's no slowing down for the second half of this fellowship!