Cause of Canonisation of the Servant of God John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890); Positio Super Virtutibus
Birmingham: Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, 1989. Two volumes. Quarto (11 5/8 inches tall), original textured red paper wrappers, gilt titles to spine and front wrappers. Volume I has slight blemishes, notably a slightly faded spine. A near-fine set. Item #1698
"I HAVE NOTHING OF A SAINT ABOUT ME AS EVERYONE KNOWS. IT IS ENOUGH FOR ME TO BLACK THE SAINTS' SHOES—IF ST. PHILIP USES BLACKING IN HEAVEN"
Rare two-volume "Positio" opening the Cause of Canonization of John Henry Newman—a massive collection of documents advancing Cardinal Newman's "highly improbable" path to Sainthood. Printed in anticipation of the Centenary of Newman's death, the Positio Super Virtutibus was edited by the Jesuits, Vincent F. Blehl (Postulator) and P. Peter Gumpel (Relator), and published in two thick quarto volumes. Volume I is illustrated with a color frontispiece of the Cardinal's portrait as painted by Sir John Everett Millais in 1881.
Elevated to the cardinalate by the newly elected Pope Leo XIII in 1879, Cardinal Newman had "been the moving spirit in a great revolution of thought. He was a prolific writer, and editor of journals, the founder of both a school and a university, and the first Superior of the Oratory in England. His work had an inestimable influence on the religious life not only of England, but of every country associated with the Roman communion, and that influence still lives on" (Brian Martin). The momentum for Newman's Cause came primarily from American Jesuits. Father Blehl was released by his Jesuit superiors at Fordham University to dedicate himself full-time to the Historical Commission. Later he was Newman's bibliographer (John Henry Newman: A Bibliographical Catalogue of His Writings). Positios can run to over 1000 pages in length and this positio was characteristically large. Volume I. Anglican Period (Chapters 1-6) and the Catholic Period (Chapters 7-24). In addition to the color frontispiece, volume I is illustrated with nine additional black-and-white plates (Total 493 pages). Volume II. Largely in type-script with photocopies of relevant letters, includes Gumpel's prefatory Report by the Relator of the Cause (Total 451 pages).
Newman did not think of himself as a Saint: "I have nothing of a saint about me as everyone knows. I have no tendency to be a saint—it is a sad thing to say so. Saints are not literary men, they do not love the classics, they do not write Tales. It is enough for me to black the saints' shoes—if St. Philip uses blacking in heaven" (Brian Martin). "While Newman himself admired many saints, he was not impressed by the church’s saint-making process. He was particularly critical of the way the positio (the final text on which the candidate’s virtues are judged) dismembers a saint’s life into discrete proof-texts. 'They do not manifest a Saint,' he wrote, 'they mince him into spiritual lessons.' It was Newman’s profound humility—manifest especially in his patient endurance of the lack of appreciation for, and underuse of, his talents by the bishops of his adopted church—that counted most when Vatican officials judged his cause" (Kenneth Woodward).
The time between the preparation of a positio and a recommendation by the committee of historians and theologians can often be measured in decades. "Pope Paul VI, a highly cultured Italian, was a huge fan of Newman’s work and had hoped he could beatify the Englishman (the penultimate step before canonization) in 1975. But by the time the commission in charge of Newman’s cause delivered up its staggering 6,483 pages of documentation, Pope Paul had been dead sixteen years" (Kenneth Woodward). Finished in 1989, "the position completed the rounds of the Sacred Congregation's committees of consultors with record speed. In January 1991, Pope John Paul II issued the decree of heroicity of virtue and declared that John Henry Newman was forthwith to be called "Venerable." (Stephanie A. Mann). Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2019, Saint John Henry Newman was named a Doctor of the Church by the newly elected Pope Leo XIV in July 2025. Brian Martin. John Henry Newman: His Life and Work; Kenneth L. Woodward. An Improbable Saint: Why It Took 125 Years to Canonize Newman (October 17, 2019); Stephanie A. Mann. Father Vincent Blehl, SJ RIP. Supremacy and Survival (November 14, 2019).
Price: $500.00