**But many more Oratories owe their foundation directly or indirectly to the influence of Newman’s house, particularly the Oratories in Germany, Austria, the United States, Canada and South Africa. In a very real way Newman can be said to be the modern refounder of the Oratory. He showed in the house he founded in Birmingham how St Philip’s sixteenth century community life of prayer and practical charity can be reinterpreted and lived in the modern world.**
I had no idea about the extent of Cardinal Newman’s reach with the Oratorians.
When I lived in London as a college student, working for a London law firm at the time, I spent many an evening reading in the Brompton Oratory.
It was a beautiful time in my life—a time of spiritual growth, though truly at the time, I was very much alone. And it didn’t seem to matter at all.
It’s been a reflective time to read about Cardinal Newman, about his life and works, and really, about this article on his oratory and ultimately the one in London whose church I spent so much time in as a youth.
I was a Baptist at the time who didn’t have a clue about the workings of the Catholic Church or what an oratory was for that matter. I just knew that I felt close to God there.