Ronald Knox and the Eucharist

Ronald Knox and the Eucharist | The Foreword to A Month of Sundays with Monsignor Knox: Thirty-one Sermons on the Holy Eucharist (Downloadable Audio Book) | Rev. Milton Walsh | Ignatius Insight

Many years ago, in connection with research on the writings of Ronald Knox, I had occasion to visit the home at Mells, Somerset, where he spent the last ten years of his life. The Manor House, as it is called, dates back to the fifteenth century, and was originally the summer residence of the Abbot of Glastonbury. The house itself is rather grand, and is full of artistic and historical treasures. Across the lawn from its entrance stands a modest building, originally some kind of shed, which had been converted into a chapel. The rather rustic feeling of this room held a certain charm for me, and I remember that as I knelt in prayer the thought occurred to me, "That altar was Ronald Knox's work-bench." I thought of him standing there every morning to offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and of the hours he spent in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. As he grappled with the challenge of completing his translation of the Bible, preparing conferences for retreats, and composing sermons for occasions great and small, he must have found in this plain wooden chapel an oasis where he could be refreshed by communing with his Eucharistic Lord.
 
Father Philip Caraman, who edited three large volumes of Knox's sermons, wrote that "the Eucharist was the central, inexhaustible and unifying mystery of his life". I suspect that Msgr. Knox would readily agree, and say, "Of course. It is for every Catholic." If the Eucharist is not, it should be, and the sermons in this collection will do much to enrich our appreciation for the great gifts of the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament. While the theme of the Eucharist occurs often in his writings, we are privileged to have thirty-one sermons explicitly devoted to this topic. In part this is because, from 1926 onward, Knox delivered a sermon annually at Corpus Christi church, Maiden Lane on its patronal feast. One has to be a priest to appreciate how daunting such a task is: every year, the same readings and prayers; every year, many in the congregation who had been there the year before. And every year, Ronald Knox was able to speak on a different facet of the great mystery of the Eucharist. As we listen to his sermons, or read them in reflective mood, we will discover that they share certain characteristics.
 
First, they are profoundly biblical. From his evangelical upbringing Knox inherited a deep love for the word of God, and one of his greatest accomplishments as a Catholic was to produce, single-handed, a translation of the entire Bible. Some of his sermons draw on the texts used for the feast of Corpus Christi, which is only to be expected. But in others he brings before the congregation various parables and miracles of Jesus, and shows how these shed new light on our understanding of the Eucharist. Knox also mines the texts of the Old Testament, imaginatively linking the personalities and events recorded there with the sacrifice of the Mass and Holy Communion. The manna in the wilderness suggests itself to any preacher; but few would think to write a sermon on the Eucharist inspired by the Song of Songs, or the figure of Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz. Such associations are original, but they are not contrived; rather, they reflect a mind able to see the Bible as a whole. Christ is the key to interpreting Scripture, and it is Christ himself who is present in the Blessed Sacrament. These scriptural explanations are complemented by Knox's liturgical catechesis, as he draws on the texts found in the Missal and explains the meaning of the ceremonies of the Church.

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