Ignatius Spencer
Born | George Spencer 21 December 1799 London, England |
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Died | 1 October 1864 Carstairs, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | (aged 64)
Ignatius of St Paul (21 December 1799 – 1 October 1864), born as George Spencer, was a son of the
Birth and education
George Spencer was born in
Anglican priest
Returning from Europe, Spencer undertook studies to prepare for ordination in the
Conversion to Catholicism
During his time at Brington, Spencer began to ask questions about his Anglican faith and doubts troubled his mind. He explored each and every tradition, from
From 1827, Spencer began to make the acquaintance of several Catholic priests who encouraged Spencer to continue with his reading. Soon afterward Spencer received the first of three anonymous letters from a correspondent in
To remove himself from the public eye and to lessen the blow to his parents, Spencer went to Rome to study at the
Crusade of prayer for England
In August 1832 Spencer returned to England to act as a
"This feeling led me into the excess of being very rude to that zealous and most charitable man, Mr. Spencer, when he came to Oxford in January, 1840, to get Anglicans to set about praying for Unity. I myself then, or soon after, drew up such prayers; it was one of the first thoughts which came upon me after my shock, but I was too much annoyed with the political action of the members of the Roman Church in England to wish to have anything to do with them personally. So glad in my heart was I to see him when he came to my rooms, whither Mr. Palmer of Magdalen brought him, that I could have laughed for joy; I think I did; but I was very rude to him, I would not meet him at dinner, and that, (though I did not say so,) because I considered him " in loco apostatx " from the Anglican Church, and I hereby beg his pardon for it."[12]
Spencer's 'Crusade' did not only meet with Newman's opposition, but within the Catholic Church in England, where Dr Baines used a pastoral letter to reprimand the activities of 'certain converts'.
Entrance to the Passionists
Spencer had often considered the possibility that he might have a vocation to enter the religious life and in 1846 he made a long retreat, finally deciding that it was God's will that he should enter the
Death
Spencer's health had always been precarious at best, and, worn out with continual work, preaching and begging, he suffered a heart attack and died alone in a ditch (the death he had often described as ideal for himself) on 1 October 1864.[17] Spencer was returning from giving a mission in Scotland at the end of September 1864. He stopped at Carstairs to visit an old friend. Leaving his luggage at the station, he walked down the road through the countryside towards the house, and collapsed and died.[18]
He was buried alongside Dominic Barberi and Elizabeth Prout in St. Anne's, Sutton, St. Helens on 4 October and now rests in the shrine church there.[19] When his body was exhumed in 1973 it was noted that Spencer suffered from horrific arthritis, but that his tongue had not suffered any decay since the day of his death.[20]
Beatification process
In March 2007, the Catholic Church announced that the first stage of Spencer's cause for beatification had been completed and that all the necessary documents had been forwarded to Rome. The next step in this process would be a declaration from the Holy See that Spencer could be styled 'Venerable'; on 6 December 2010, the BBC reported that the Vatican had concluded that he had lived a life of "heroic virtue", opening the way to such a declaration.[21]
Spencer was formally declared venerable by Pope Francis on 20 February 2021.[22]
Writings
- Short Account of the Conversion of the Hon. And Rev. G. Spencer to the Catholic Faith, written by himself, in the English College, at Rome, in the year 1831
- Letters in Defence of Various Points of the Catholic Faith, 1836
- A Return to the Primitive Order of the Church, 1839
- An Account of the Life of C. R. Pakenham, 1857
- Life of Blessed Paul of the Cross, trans., 1860
- The Christian Armed, 1865
References
- ^ Lodge, B. (2005), CTS Saints of the Isles: Ignatius Spencer, Catholic Truth Society, p. 3
- ^ "Spencer, the Hon. George (SPNR816G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Rev. Father Pius a Spiritu Sancto, The life of Father Ignatius of St. Paul, Passionist (The Hon. & Rev. George Spencer) (London 1866), pp. 45–7.
- ^ Vereb, J. (1992), Ignatius Spencer: Apostle of Christian Unity, London: Catholic Truth Society, p. 4
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 18.
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 22.
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 26.
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 29.
- ^ A Short Account of the Conversion of the Hon. and Rev. George Spencer to the Catholic Faith
- ^ Vereb 1992, p. 7.
- ^ Vereb 1992, p. 11.
- ^ Newman, J. H. (1913), Apologia pro Vita Sua, Oxford University Press, p. 124
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 40.
- Burns and Oates, p. 260
- ^ Vereb 1992, p. 14.
- ^ Young 1933, p. 192.
- ^ Young 1933, p. 277.
- ^ Condon CP, Hubert. "Inspirational People", Teachers Enterprise in Religious Education
- ^ Lodge 2005, p. 60.
- ^ Vereb 1992, p. 16.
- ^ "Royal relation Father Ignatius Spencer could become a saint". BBC News. 6 December 2010.
- ^ "English convert priest and royal relative step closer to sainthood", Catholic Herald, 20 February 2021
Further reading
- Bussche, Jozef Vanden (1991). Ignatius (George) Spencer Passionist. Crusader of Prayer for England and Pioneer of ecumenical Prayer. Leuven, University Press.
- Lodge, Ben (2005). CTS Saints of the Isles: Ignatius Spencer. London: Catholic Truth Society.
- Vereb, Jerome (1992). Ignatius Spencer Apostle of Christian Unity. London: Incorporated Catholic Truth Society.
- Young, Urban (1933). Life of Father Ignatius Spencer CP. Burns and Oates.
External links
- Writings of Dominic Barberi and Ignatius Spencer
- Catholic Encyclopedia Article on The Hon. George Spencer
- A Letter to the Hon. and Rev. George Spencer on the Oxford Movement in the United States by Americo-Catholicus, Formerly a Member of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1842)
- Description of Portrait of Fr. Ignatius in St. Joseph's Church, Highgate, London Archived 29 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Shrine Church of St. Anne and Blessed Dominic where Fr. Ignatius lies buried
- Photograph of Ignatius Spencer age 61