Ambrose St. John

Ambrose St. John

Ambrose St. John (1815 – 24 May1875 Edgbaston, Birmingham, 24 May1875) was an English Oratorian. He is now best known as a close friend of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Life

He was the son of Henry St. John, descended from the Barons St. John of Bletsoe. He was educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M. A. and where he formed his lifelong friendship with Newman.

In 1841 he became curate to Henry Wilberforce, first at Walmer, subsequently at East Farleigh. He then joined Newman at Littlemore which he left, on his conversion to the Catholic Church, about a month before Newman's conversion in October, 1845. After a short time spent with Newman at Maryvale he accompanied him to Rome where they were ordained priests.

Having become Oratorians, they began mission work in Birmingham (1847), removing to the suburb of Edgbaston in 1852. There he devoted himself entirely to missionary work, taking a leading part in the work of the Birmingham Oratory and its school.

He was a classical scholar and a linguist both in Oriental and European tongues. His death was caused by overwork in translating Josef Fessler's book on papal infallibility, when Newman's discussion with William Gladstone was pending.

He was a man of marked individuality and Newman paid tribute to him in his "Apologia". In "The Dream of Gerontius", Edward Elgar's piece based on Newman's poem, the character of the Guardian Angel is considered to be based on St. John [Byron Adams, in "The Cambridge Companion to Elgar" (2005), p. 90.] .

Newman wrote after the death of Ambrose St John in 1875: "I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband's or a wife's, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or any one's sorrow greater, than mine."

In accordance with his expressed wishes, in 1890 Newman was buried in the grave of his lifelong companion, Ambrose St. John [Alan Bray, "The Friend" (2003), pp. 303-4.] . Previously, they had shared a house. The pall over the coffin bore his cardinal's motto Cor ad cor loquitur ("Heart speaks to heart"). Inseparable in death as in life, the two men have a joint memorial stone that is inscribed with the words he had chosen: Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem ("Out of shadows and phantasms into the truth"). In 2008, Newman's remains in the shared grave were planned to be exhumed and moved to the Oratory in Birmingham city centre in preparation for Newman's canonization.

References

*Gasquet, "Lord Acton and his Circle" (London, 1906)
*Gorman, "Converts to Rome" (London, 1910)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13354a.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia" article]
* [http://www.theoratory.org.uk/TheOratory/Community/FAmbroseMariaStJohn/tabid/99/Default.aspx Page at The Oratory, Birmingham]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ambrose Saint-John —     Ambrose Saint John     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Ambrose Saint John     Oratorian; b. 1815; d. at Edgbaston, Birmingham, 24 May, 1875; son of Henry St. John, descended from the Barons St. John of Bletsoe. He was educated at Westminster School …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • John Henry Newman — John Henry Cardinal Newman, CO (February 21, 1801 ndash; August 11, 1890) was an Anglican who was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845. He was later made a cardinal and, in 1991, was proclaimed Venerable . In early life he was a major… …   Wikipedia

  • Ambrose Godfrey — Hanckwitz (1660 ndash; 15 January 1741), or Ambrose Godfrey as he preferred to be known, was a German born British phosphorus manufacturer and apothecary. He was one of the first phosphorus manufacturers and was one of the best and most… …   Wikipedia

  • John Curtin — John Joseph Ambrose Curtin John Joseph Curtin (* 8. Januar 1885 in Creswick, Victoria; † 5. Juli 1945 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory) war der 14. Premierminister Australiens. Seine Amtszeit dauerte vom 7. Oktober 1941 bi …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Henry Cardinal Newman — John Henry Newman John Henry Newman Le cardinal John Henry Newman, né à Londres le 21 février 1801, et décédé le 11 août 1890, était un ecclésiastique …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Newman — John Henry Newman John Henry Newman Le cardinal John Henry Newman, né à Londres le 21 février 1801, et décédé le 11 août 1890, était un ecclésiastique …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Crowley (disambiguation) — John Crowley may refer to: *John Crowley, American author and fantasist *John Crowley (baseball) (1862 1896), American Major League catcher *John Crowley (biotech executive), American biotechnology executive and Republican Party politician *John… …   Wikipedia

  • John Henry Newman —     John Henry Newman     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► John Henry Newman     (1801 1890)     Cardinal Deacon of St. George in Velabro, divine, philosopher, man of letters, leader of the Tractarian Movement, and the most illustrious of English… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • John Turturro — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Turturro. John Turturro …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Henry Newman — Beato John Henry Newman, C.O. Cardenal diácono de San Jorge en Velabro Dibujo predicando su primer sermón en la Iglesia de Over Worton el 23 de junio de 1824. Ordenac …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”