THE P RTAL
April 2014
Page 10
The Sorrow of Nature:
The Way of the Cross with George Congreve SSJE
and St Thérèse of Lisieux
Reviewed by Sister Deirdre Michael Clark SBVM
Older Anglicans may still have the works of George
Congreve SSJE on their shelves, but he is now unknown
to younger generations and it is
doubtful whether Catholics have
ever come across his writings, so
we owe a debt to the Archdeacon
of Hampstead, Fr Luke Miller, for
making these extracts available.
Nature and Beauty
In the third talk, Nature and Beauty, Luke Miller
quotes passages from the writings
of both which show how they saw
natural beauty as the reflection
of the beauty of God. Thérèse
tended to reflect on the beauty
of flowers, and can sometimes
appear sentimental, but there is
Catholic League
nothing sentimental in her awe
Centenary Pilgrimage
at the sight of the ocean when
The first part of the book
she was a child, which she never
consists of three talks given to
forgot: ‘I couldn’t take my eyes
the Catholic League Centenary
off its majesty, the roaring of
Pilgrimage to Our Lady of
its waves, everything spoke to
Walsingham in 2013.
my soul of God’s grandeur and
power.’ George Congreve, too,
They bring together the spiritual
dwelt upon the things of nature
insights of George Congreve and
where he found beauty, and in
Thérèse of Lisieux. Living at much the same time, but beauty he found God.
coming from very different traditions, they share the
deep thirst for sanctity which is the mark of the true ‘The Sorrow of Nature’
mystic. Fr Congreve writes: ‘The tiniest token of divine
The next section of the book, ‘The Sorrow of Nature’,
life in any soul is the desire to advance in grace. And a letter written on Robben Island, describes how a soul
the direction of Christian advance will always be from might be moved from the things of this world to union
the outward to the inward, from form to motive, from with God. George Congreve wrote from his annual
activity to love.’
retreat. ‘No talk, no newspaper, but the prayer of the
longing of nature on the sea and in the sky, and the
Parallel with these thoughts, we find in the writings human prayer of silence in the heart.’ The Archdeacon
of Thérèse her teaching on the Little Way. Wanting to of Hampstead confesses: It is for me one of the greatest
be a saint, she saw herself as too small to do the heroic things Congreve wrote and I am always moved to tears
acts of the great saints. Sh