It was whilst yet a Deacon, that Father Ignatius was visited at the Roman College by a Bishop who had come to Rome from the farthest corner of Italy, who on his soul had also the impression that great conversions were in store for England, and who asked that his eyes might be blessed with so rare a spectacle as that of a converted Anglican minister; and it was at the request of the Bishop of Oppido, for the edification of his flock, to whom the news had reached, that Father Ignatius wrote the narrative of his conversion; the translation of which brings us in view of another of those remarkable men who were then preparing themselves for entering on the work of the English mission, for that translation was done in Rome by Dr. Gentili.
It was under the direction of Cardinal Wiseman, then President of the English College, that Father Ignatius was pursuing his studies, when, at the end of two years, he broke a blood-vessel, and was summoned, in consequence, by Bishop Walsh, to hasten his ordination and return to England. Cardinal Wiseman arranged that he should receive the order of priesthood from the Cardinal Vicar in that very Church of St. Gregory, from which the Apostles of England had been sent to our shores, and that he should say his first mass on the Feast of that Venerable Bede, whose name is so intimately entwined with the literature, the religion, and the history of England. How Father Ignatius himself viewed these signs and his approaching ordination, he himself expressed in a letter to Father Dominic, in these terms: "Ten days ago I received orders from my Bishop, Dr. Walsh, to proceed to England without delay. You know the value and security of obedience, and will agree with me that I ought not to doubt of anything. The first festival day that presented itself for ordination was that of St. Philip Neri. Judge, then, what was my joy when, after that day had been fixed upon, I discovered that it was also the Feast of St. Augustine, the first Apostle of England, sent by St. Gregory. It seems to me that Providence wishes to give me some good omens. It is enough, if I have faith and humility."
Of the grace of humility, that virtue of the heroic virtues which had already taken possession of his heart, I cannot give you better proof than his own communing with the heart of Father Dominic, who had hinted rumours of his rising to ecclesiastical dignities. He writes in reply: "I can assure you it would give me the greatest displeasure. My prayer is that God would grant me a life like that of His Son and the Apostles, in poverty and tribulations for the Gospel. I must submit, if it be His will to raise me to any high worldly dignity; but it would be to me the same as to say that I am unworthy of the heavenly state, which I long for upon earth. Jesus Christ sent the Apostles in poverty. St. Francis Xavier, St. Dominic, and so many other great missionaries, preached in poverty, and I wish to do the same, if it be the will of God."
Here you behold the heart of this ecclesiastic, so young as yet in the Church, yet so mature in spiritual sense. On his return home, he meets his dear friend Father Dominic face to face for the first time, in the diocese of Lucca, and the latter writes to his friend in England:—
"How willingly would I go to England along with dear Mr. Spencer; but the time destined by the Divine mercy for this has not yet arrived. I hope, however, that it will arrive. I hope one day to see with my own eyes that kingdom, which for so many years I have borne engraven on my heart. May God be merciful to us both, that so we may meet together in the company of all our dear Englishmen above in heaven, to praise and bless the Divine Majesty throughout all ages."
I have lingered upon the first communing together of these two men, because it is so instructive to see how it was not merely in the schools, even where religion was studied under the shadow of the successor of St. Peter, but still more by drawing fire from the hearts of saintly men, that Father Ignatius was prepared for his future work. Returned to England, he has left it on record how affectionately he was received by his venerable father and his noble brother, Lord Althorp, then in the midst of his official career as a chief leader of the destinies of his country. Who that remembers those days does not recall the amenities of a character of humanity so gentle and true, that even in the midst of the most intense political strife he embittered no one, and drew on him no personal attack. By his noble relatives, Father Ignatius was received with the old affection, and their entire conduct towards him was an exception indeed to the treatment which so many members of other families have experienced in reward for their fidelity to God and to their conscience. For fifteen years Father Ignatius toiled in the work of the mission in the diocese of Birmingham, generously expending both himself and the private funds allowed him by his family in the service of souls. He founded the mission of Westbromwich, and the mission of Dudley; he raised there churches and schools, and preached and conversed with the poor unceasingly. He was called to Oscott, and a new office was created for him, that of Spiritual Dean, that he might inspire those young men who were preparing for the ministry with his own missionary ardours. The office began with him, and ended when he left the establishment, although unquestionably one of the greatest functions which could be exerted in our colleges would be the office of enkindling in youthful hearts that fire of charity for souls which is the true creator of the missioner. But the time was coming when he was to pass from the ordinary life of a missioner, led in an extraordinary manner, and to pass into that religious congregation where he was to carry out his special mission, his Apostleship of prayer. During those fifteen past years he had not lost sight of Father Dominic. In 1840, that holy man, with the name of England written on his heart, reached Boulogne with a community of his brethren. In the same year he visited Oscott, where those two men of God embraced each other anew; and in the following year the desire and prayer of so many years was realized. The Passionist Fathers were established at Aston, in Staffordshire, with Father Dominic as their head and founder; and whoever will look over the correspondence, so deeply interesting at this moment, which is printed as an appendix to the life of the Blessed Paul of the Cross, will see how great a part the Rev. George Spencer had in the work of bringing the Passionists into England.
It was in the year 1846, that, making a retreat under the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, God revealed to his heart his vocation to join the Passionists, and become the companion and fellow worker with Father Dominic. He cast himself at the feet of that holy man, and petitioned for the singular grace of being admitted to the Order. Their joint aspirations for England had brought them together, and their love of the Cross made them of one mind, and after the first ironic rebuff with which the spirit of the petitioner was tested, I can imagine the smile with which that man of God, so austere to himself whilst so loving to his neighbour, recalled the time, long past, when they wondered if ever they should meet in the flesh face to face. There before him was the man drawn by his prayers into his very bosom, of whom he had predicted, sixteen years ago, that he would carry the name of Jesus for the conversion of England before the kings and nations of the earth. In the Order he was distinguished by his simplicity, his humility, his self-mortification, his patience in suffering, and his obedience. I would gladly dwell on the traits of those virtues which formed his personal character, but time urges me to proceed. He filled successively the office of Consultor, of Novice-master, and of Rector, and it was to him that Father Dominic provisionally consigned his authority at his death. But his great and singular work was his Apostleship of prayer for England. Many had been the questionings in many hearts, as to whether this country would ever in any serious numbers return to the faith or not. And many had been the speculations as to how this could be accomplished; some dreamt it must come by missions; others, by learned writings; others, by the preaching of the Gospel; some had one scheme, some another, but in each there was something defective, something not altogether divine; something that was human, and resting more or less on the will of man. But Father Ignatius consulted the light and grace of his own soul, he penetrated to the true principle, he recalled his own history, he saw that conversion is the work of God, that the work itself is the work of grace, and that all that man can do, is to invoke God to put forth His power. Prayer that is pure, sincere, earnest, and of many souls, God always hears and inclines to grant. There are many ways of approaching to God, but there is one which He loves for its tender alliance with the Divine Humanity, for its humility and its beautiful faith, and that is the approach through her who is at once the Virgin Mother of God and ours. Let us plead to God through the Mother of God, and let her plead for her sons on earth to her Son in Heaven, and behold our prayer is tripled in its strength. So Ignatius looked to God through the eyes of Mary, prayed to God through the heart of Mary, and appealed through the purity of Mary, for a people who had forgotten her. And he went forth on his Apostleship of prayer over Italy and France, and Hungary and Austria, and the rest of Germany; and over Belgium and England, and Ireland and Scotland, and he corresponded with the other kingdoms of Christendom. He went before emperors and kings, and before ministers of state, and asked them to pray for the conversion of his country. He sought the Bishops in their dioceses, and the priests in their parishes, and holy religious in their convents, and devout lay persons in their houses, and prayed them to pray to God, and to set other souls to pray for the conversion of England. His faith was strong that from her conversion a great radiation of truth would spread forth in the world, and that all that was needed was the general prayer of believing souls, that God might grant so great a grace to the world. And so the name of Father Ignatius grew familiar on the lips of Christendom. Prayer arose in many countries; the Bishops issued pastorals, a day in the week was appointed for prayer for England. Prelates spoke of it in synods, and the clergy discussed it in their conferences. And all pious souls added on new prayers to their habitual devotions for the conversion of England. And as for the apostle of this prayer, he went on nourishing the flame which he had enkindled, and stirring the zeal of his brethren until, to use his own words, often repeated to his superior, this prayer, and the preaching of this prayer to God through Mary, had become a part of his nature, an element inseparable from his existence. He had but recently recommenced the work of this mission in a somewhat altered form, basing the conversion of the English upon the sanctification of the Irish people, but still his cry was—Pray for England. There can be no doubt, as sundry facts point out, but that he had a strong impression of late that his end was drawing near. And not long before his death he called the brethren individually to his room, and exhorted each with solemn earnestness to be instant in the mission of prayer for England.
And what has been the result of this Apostleship? That result Father Ignatius himself summed up but a few days before his death. On the 8th of September, he addressed a letter to an Italian periodical, from which I translate the following passage as the fit conclusion of this subject. He says:—
"It is more than thirty-four years since a worthy Bishop of a Neapolitan diocese came to seek me in the English College at Rome, wishing to look with his own eyes upon a converted Anglican clergyman; a sight so grateful to a noble Catholic heart, and in those days so rare. On what proof he spoke, I know not, but he assured me that the first Carmelite Scapular ever given, and given by that English Saint, Simon Stock, was secretly kept in England, and that he looked on this as a pledge that our country would one day come back to the faith. Be this assertion well or ill founded, the memory of him who made it is dear to me as is the memory of the presence of every one who bespeaks hope and peace for England.
"What have we seen in our days? Conversions to the faith so numerous and so important that the whole world speaks of them. And this movement towards Catholicism is of a character so remarkable, that the history of the Church presents nothing like it.