In spite of the difficulties of traveling in the nineteenth century, Newman traveled frequently—usually in order to fulfill pastoral duties or family responsibilities. The one occasion when he took an extended vacation was a voyage to the Mediterranean in 1832–1833. Part of this trip included a five-week stay in Rome, which provided material not only for letters home, but also for a series of theological reflections that were published in The British Magazine in 1834 and 1836.

What is the significance of Newman’s Mediterranean Journey of 1832–1833? This essay provides a triple-framed response: historically, Newman’s journey was a postlude to his removal as a tutor of Oriel College and a prelude to the Oxford Movement; existentially, his journey was a “realization” of geographical learnings and philosophical ideas that had previously been “notional”; analogically, his journey hadfascinating parallels with the Oxonian classical “types” of Homer’s Odysseus and Virgil’s Aeneas.

Although many scholars base their reflections about Newman’s theology of the laity on his Roman Catholic writings, his thoughts on this topic during his Anglican years seem equally important for the development of his views on the role of the laity in the Church. This article, which is an exploratory essay written as a prelude to a more extensive study, examines four principles of Newman’s Anglican thought on the laity: Taxonomy of the Laity [1801–1824],“Guardians of Tradition” [1822–1833], the “Law of the Mind”[1828–1833], and the Principle of Development [1843–1845].

After examining Newman’s youthful ideas about poetry, this article shows how some of the poems Newman wrote during his Mediterranean voyage (1832–1833) provide an interesting window into his feelings and beliefs at the beginning of the Oxford Movement. In so doing, the article attempts to kindle interest in Newman’s largely undervalued talent as a poet

This reflection on two chapters of Xavier Tilliette’s La Mémoire et l’Invisible points out that Newman’s Sicilian sojourn was not only an historical turning point in his life, but the memory of his “illness in Sicily” had a life–long influence.

The liturgy is the unique intersection of the worshipping community’s spiritual and theological life. John Henry Newman’s 1830 series of liturgy sermons—most of which were not published until 1991—not only supports this description but is also particularly relevant to the Church of the twenty-first century, which struggles with the issue of the community’s liturgical participation as part of its spiritual and theological life.

This essay, which was originally the opening presentation for the 2005 conference of the Venerable John Henry Newman Association on “Newman and the Laity” at Villanova University, discusses four areas where Newman’s ideas about the voice of the laity have lessons for American Catholic life today: his non-clericalized view of the Church, the lack of appreciation for the laity, his vision of an educated laity, and the need for consulting the laity about doctrinal matters.

This article, which was originally presented at the annual conference of the Venerable John Henry Newman Association at Villanova University in July 2005, examines the “religious formation” of students at the Catholic University of Ireland as presented by Newman in his university sermons and discourses. Newman wanted the students to develop not only intellectually, but also religiously and morally. He saw tutors as critical to this process of formation.