In the following article Theresa Stiles, a new member of the church of Our Lady of Fatima in Bala, reflects on the background influences that led her to embrace the Catholic religion.
In the next article Alan Lorimer Riley, pastor of the Snowdonia Christian Fellowship, will describe his journey from a Roman Catholic youth to an adult faith centred on the person of Christ and the witness of Scripture.
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When opening the pages of my Universal app for the Scripture readings of the day, it was a surprise to find that Cardinal Newman, as we youngsters knew him back then, whilst pupils at St. Philip’s Roman Catholic College, had only recently been canonized.
I attended the 6th form of St. Philip Neri [3], Edgbaston, Birmingham, as one of the first girls. Saint John Henry Newman founded the Birmingham Oratory which the 6th form college, and what used to be the Grammar School for Roman Catholic boys, were in the grounds of.
The humble vocation of the Oratory’s community of Roman Catholic priests and brothers is dedicated to our Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin Mary through the sacraments and acts of charity. It was two priests from this community who founded the Grammar School for boys in 1887, which became St Philip’s Roman Catholic Sixth Form College in 1976, and sadly closed in 1995. Unfortunately, the school or college has since been demolished.
The beautiful Italian basilica, the many masses I attended, and the privilege of practising for many hours on their lovely three-manual pipe organ, had a powerful influence on my recent conversion to Catholicism forty-four years later.
The beautiful Italian basilica, the many masses I attended, and the privilege of practising for many hours on their lovely three-manual pipe organ, had a powerful influence on my recent conversion to Catholicism forty-four years later.
This was not due to the amazing marble interior of the Oratory, as above, but here, I felt at home unlike the High Anglican Church I attended with my parents. My parents' decision to attend such a church, was obviously to find a compromise for family worship due to my father being an Anglican, and my mother a Roman Catholic. It was here, that my younger sister and I were confirmed at a young age.
Growing older and becoming more aware of my own beliefs with the troubles back home in Northern Ireland, and again my Grandparents being of mixed faiths, was not easy!
My ‘wee Grannie’ would drag me to the Presbyterian Kirk on Sundays since she felt it would be in accordance with my parents' beliefs, and of course her own! After fishing and walking with my dear ‘Granda’, I always enjoyed popping into the Catholic chapel and sitting there with him, listening to his tales as a youngster, especially the one about the young ‘cutty’ who was nicknamed the ‘Flying Angel’ because, in the middle of mass, she fell from the balcony above!
If I had a few pence, I would light a candle and say a wee prayer, and then we would be on our way. There in the small chapel, it gave me the same sense of belonging as I found in the Birmingham Oratory, and the assurance our Blessed Virgin Mary will always be there to receive our prayers for our Heavenly Father.
As a teenager I knew I wanted to be a Roman Catholic, but also very much aware this could not be so, for a long time to come, as I did not want to upset, or hurt my dear Grannie and probably other members of the family. Since then, I only visit St Tierney’s Roman Catholic Church in a small Co. Fermanagh village on the borders for requiems and anniversary masses, and of course to help tidy the family graves.
As a teenager I knew I wanted to be a Roman Catholic, but also very much aware this could not be so, for a long time to come, as I did not want to upset, or hurt my dear Grannie and probably other members of the family. Since then, I only visit St Tierney’s Roman Catholic Church in a small Co. Fermanagh village on the borders for requiems and anniversary masses, and of course to help tidy the family graves.
I know my Granda would be pleased I have taken his religion, and especially my mother’s first name ‘Maria’ for my confirmation name last July. None of this would have been possible without the influence of Saint John Henry Newman, and the brotherhood of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham who first introduced me to Roman Catholicism where I have now found peace and true faith, as an adopted child of God.
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