Newman's Dream

Reflections on Prayer as Liturgy

In a certain sense, this page is the heart of the site. It certainly reflects the heart of Newman.
Liturgy originally meant a public service for others. For Catholics, it means the service of the worship of God in the whole of our lives. Through this page and its links, I would like to explore that idea, especially as it relates to the last things of our lives. Our lives as both personal and corporate.

These reflections are not the formal essays of an academic. The are turning back of my thoughts on the experience of my life in the light of both the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. As such, any would be readers should use due caution when reading what I write and see what benefits them (or, not) in the light of their own experience and the teachings of the Magisterium. Still, it is a salutary thing to undertake such reflections through and at the end of our lives.

Litany, Prayers and Dying

My second brother died within days of his birth. I was quite young, but it affected me greatly. When my third brother came along two years later, I insisted upon seeing him immediately. Of course, in those days, children were not allowed on the ward with newborns. Try explaining that to a determined six-year-old. My father arranged for my mother to be at a ground-floor window with a flyscreen at the back of the annex. I could not see my brother, but I could hear him crying and my mother soothing him...More...