Parochial and Plain Sermons

by John Henry Newman

All eight volumes of Newman's famous sermons are brought together in this edition that is beautifully printed and bound on Bible paper with a hardcover and red ribbon. Newman's sermons are as powerful, fresh and challenging today as when he first gave them. The topics that Newman covers are ones central to Christianity and salvation. Newman once again demonstrates his profound understanding of human psychology, and the temptations and trials we encounter as Christians in the world. This deluxe edition is a magnificent work of timeless inspiration and illumination for every generation of Christian readers. 191 sermons in total. "These sermons are given here, for the first time in a single volume, as the most lasting expression of Newman's own gradual discovery of all the fullness of the appeal and the challenge addressed to all men by Catholic truth and Catholic life, inseparable as they are within genuine Christianity. There, above all, he himself will be found, with his intellectual power, his poetical vision, as well as his moral and spiritual integrity. Nothing can constitute for us, still today, and maybe today more than ever, such a powerful introduction to what Christianity may give to and expect from our surrender to its call in the midst of a world no longer pretending to be Christian."
- Fr. Louis Bouyer, C.O.

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian, Spirituality

1781 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s.
Originally an evangelical Oxford University academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman then became drawn to the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. He became known as a leader of, and an able polemicist for, the Oxford Movement, an influential and controversial grouping of Anglicans who wished to return to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this the movement had some success. However, in 1845 Newman, joined by some but not all of his followers, left the Church of England and his teaching post at Oxford University and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland.

Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. He was then canonised by Pope Francis on 13 October 2019.

Newman was also a literary figure of note: his major writings including the Tracts for the Times (1833–1841), his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66), the Grammar of Assent (1870), and the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865),[6] which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar. He wrote the popular hymns "Lead, Kindly Light" and "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (taken from Gerontius).

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me several years to gradually read through this huge collection of sermons - originally published in eight separate volumes - but it was well worth it, and I just can't praise it highly enough. Reading this has been a life-changing experience. Newman's combination of zeal, compassion and profound thought shines on every page.

[booklady]

I have the audio version of "The Catholic Sermons of Blessed John Henry Newman" which will allow me to listen to some of these. As sermons and homilies are meant to be heard, I look forward to listening to those which are recorded ... would that I could get them all!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have ever read on living as a Christian completely and authentically. Newman roots out many peculiarly modern heresies, and forces his reader to acknowledge the incredible struggles and joys at the heart of Christian orthodoxy.

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous edition of some of Newman's finest preaching. A classic example of Christian moral and biblical preaching by one of the finest minds of the 19th Century.

[Erik]

Included in the "Catholicism Explained/Theology" section of Fr. John McCloskey's 100-book Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.