i The Eucharistic Sermons Of Ronald Knox By Shane Patrick Hoctor, B. Theol. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Theology Melbourne College of Divinity 9 October, 2011. ii Table of Contents Table of Contents ii Acknowledgments iv Introduction v Part 1 1. A Brief Biography 1 His Early Days And Education 2 Formal Education And A Developing Spirituality 8 Knox And Friends 12 Knox The Undergraduate At Balliol College, Oxford 18 Knox The Chaplain At Trinity College, Oxford 20 A Religious Position Shaken 25 Knox In Catholic Holy Orders 34 The Influence Of Knox On The Catholic Church Of His Time 38 2. Knox – His Preaching Style 52 Politics And Social Conscience 53 Conversion And Always On-going 59 The Anglo-Catholic Preacher 61 Familiarity Breeds Understanding 65 But The Familiar Is Itself Only An Imitation 66 Scripture, Allegory And Metaphor 69 Doctrine 73 The Virgin Mary 76 Humour, Care And Preparation 79 The Parallel 87 The Length Of A Sermon 89 In Summary 91 Part 2 1. The Eucharistic Sermons - An Introduction 93 2. The Sources For The Eucharistic Sermons 95 The Liturgical Movement 102 The Feast of Corpus Christi 105 The Forty Hours Adoration 112 Popular Eucharistic Devotions 115 The Re-editing Of The Maiden Lane Sermons by Philip Caraman SJ 121 Two Recent Papal Documents 122 3. Heaven And Charing Cross Collection 123 iii One Body 123 Real Bread 125 Cana And Genesareth (*Bread And Wine) 128 Behind The Wall (The Window In The Wall) 133 Ubi Collegisti Hodie? (The Gleaner) 134 Prope Est Verbum 137 Novum Pascha Novae Legis 140 The Great Supper 143 A Priest For Ever 147 4. The Window In The Wall Collection 152 The City Of Peace 152 Hired Servants 155 Where God Lives? 156 Giving Of Thanks 162 As Your Servant 166 Peace In Ourselves 170 The Mass And The Ritual 173 The Best Man 177 Self-Examination 180 The Thing That Matters 184 This Mass And The Mass 188 The Pattern Of His Death 192 The Challenge 196 A Better Country 199 Jesus My Friend 202 First And Last Communions 206 Pity For The Multitude 209 5. Postscript On The Sermons 212 6. Knox And The Three Themes In Eucharistic Theology 213 Bibliography 219 iv Acknowledgments In the preparation of this paper I am most grateful to Rev. Dr. Austin Cooper OMI, who supervised the writing and gave wise, patient guidance and advice; to Catholic Theological College, East Melbourne, and the Melbourne College of Divinity; the Parishioners of St Gabriel’s Parish, Reservoir, for their support and understanding of the delicate balance between pastoral duties and private pursuits; to the late 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, to the 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith for their hospitality and welcome during my visit to Mells; to the Late Fr Philip Caraman SJ; to Rev. Dr Milton Walsh; to the Staff of the Lancashire Records Office; the Staff of the 20th Century Archives Rooms at the British Library; likewise Mr Michael Meredith, Curator of Archives at Eton College; the staff of the 20th Century Archives Room at the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the late Mr and Mrs Valentine Birnie; Dom Alban Nunn OSB of Ealing Abbey; the Rector and Staff of Allen Hall, Chelsea, (the seminary of the Westminster Diocese) for access to the seminary library; Mr and Mrs Stuart Ameron for their support and assistance in London; the Staff of Baldovino, Thornbury, who provided a quite space to read; Mrs Jacinta Clohesy, formerly of the St Patrick’s Campus of the ACU, East Melbourne, for sage advice on the acquisition of out of print texts. v Introduction The genesis of this paper began with a letter (15 October 1994) from the late Fr Philip Caraman, (1911-1998) an English member of the Society of Jesus, who was the editor of the three volume collection of the sermons of Ronald Arbuthnott Knox. In response to my request for guidance in approaching the writings of Knox, Fr Caraman suggested looking to the sermons preached on the Feast of Corpus Christi at the church of the same name in Maiden Lane, London: "It could be something very pertinent today." Subsequent pastoral appointments and placements meant that the project was delayed until 2007 when I was able to undertake research in England. In the meantime I had been in contact with Rev. Dr. Milton Walsh, then stationed at the Cathedral in San Francisco, who had completed his Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, on the apologetical writings of Knox. He provided contact details for the Earl of Oxford and Asquith, at whose Manor House in Mells, Somerset, the majority of the Knox papers are kept. A visit to Mells followed, and then to the other major repositories of Knox archives in England. It was a disappointment that no records of the sermons seem to have been kept at Corpus Christ! Church, Maiden Lane, and various approaches for contact with any surviving parishioners who were present at the time of Knox's preaching, proved futile. vi Almost all of Knox's sermons, conferences and writings have been published. But in both the handwritten and type-script papers at Mells, there is ample evidence of the careful reworking and editing that Knox brought to bear on all he wrote and preached, and this offered an insight into the author, his literary technique, his thoroughness in research and in composition, and his dedication. The visit to Mells, was more than research. In a real sense, it was a pilgrimage. Knox spent the last ten years of his life in the Manor House, which has been in the ownership of the Horner Family since gifted to it by Henry VIII, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries which began from 1536. Edward Horner, was an early friend of Ronald Knox, and Edward's sister, Katherine, had married into the Asquith Family. At the time of my visit, her son, Julian, was the Earl of Oxford and Asquith. Julian was a grandson of Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928), a former British Prime Minister (from 1908 to 1916). H. H. Asquith was the first Earl of Oxford and Asquith, and was succeeded by his grandson. I was saddened to read of the death of Julian Asquith in January of 2011. His son, Raymond, who graciously arranged the details of my visit, has succeeded his father. Julian's mother, Katherine, had converted to Catholicism in 1916, following the death, in battle, of her husband Raymond Asquith, and Julian was raised as a Catholic. Katherine inherited the Manor House when her brother, Edward, a friend of Ronald Knox, was killed in the First World War. Katherine had three vii children, two girls and a boy. The older of Julian's two sisters, Lady Helen, was the first convert to be received into the Catholic Church by Knox. Knox was buried alongside the members of the Asquith and Horner Families in the small graveyard in front of the tower of the late fifteenth century Anglican Church of St Andrew, which is next to the Manor House. One of Knox’s last public appearances, before his death, was at a parish fete to raise money for the restoration of the bells of the church on 22 June 1957. After her reception into the Catholic Church, Katherine Asquith reordered an out- building in the grounds of the manor to serve as an oratory. Here Knox celebrated Mass daily. During my visit I too had the opportunity to celebrate Mass, daily, in this chapel. To know that I was using the same sacred vessels, wearing the same vestments that Knox wore, and that the Earl was serving the Mass, as he did for Knox, was a highlight. Above the altar is a small oil painting of The Crucifixion by Matteo di Giovanni (after 1430 - 1495) of the Siennese school. (Matteo di Giovanni is well represented among the collection in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.) This pictorial representation of the mystery being celebrated and renewed at the altar, surely inspired Knox, as it did me in that brief stay at Mells. Part One of this paper consists of a brief biography of Knox and his spiritual development, particularly his emerging Eucharistic devotion, and his manifest viii religious influence on young intellectual men. The paper will note his fervour as an Anglo-Catholic priest, and later his doubts about this religious position. After recording his conversion to the Catholic Church, some comment on his influence on the Catholic Church of his time will be made. Chapter Two will offer an overview of his preaching technique and style. Part Two, which will treat of the Eucharistic Sermons, begins with an analysis of the certain, and the possible, sources for these sermons: Scripture and doctrine, Knox's prayer and reflection, the burgeoning Liturgical Movement, the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi, The Forty Hours Adoration, which always coincided at Maiden Lane with the patronal feast, and other popular Eucharistic piety, which did not always reinforce the Liturgy. This section will make mention of two recent papal documents, which while they clearly cannot be sources for Knox, and these documents, themselves, do not draw on Knox's sermons, nonetheless demonstrate that his teaching is centred within the Church's teaching and tradition. Reference will be made in the footnotes to correspondence between these magisterial documents and the content of the sermons. The third and fourth chapters, of this second part, will analyse, in detail, each of the sermons, and this because each was preached as a separate entity.