Ignatius Spencer
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Father Ignatius of St Paul (1799-1864), born as George Spencer, was a son of the 2nd Earl Spencer. He converted from Anglicanism to the Roman Catholic Church and entered the Passionist Order in 1841 and spent his life working for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith. He is also known as the 'Apostle of Prayer for England'.
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[edit] Birth and Education
George Spencer was born at Admiralty House, London, on 21 December 1799, the youngest son of the 2nd Earl Spencer, who was at that time the First Lord of the Admiralty. The following year his father resigned his office and the family went to live at Althorp (where Diana Spencer is buried), the family seat, in Northamptonshire. When he was nine, George was sent to Eton College - not the happiest time of his life - and eventually in 1817 went up to Cambridge, where he took a first class degree and with his parents' blessing decided to take Orders in the Church of England.
[edit] Ordination and Conversion to Catholicism
He was ordained in 1824 and was given the living of Great Burlington by his father. He was a most caring pastor for his people but became increasingly uneasy about the teaching of the Anglican Church. After much prayer and study he was received into the Catholic Church in January 1830. Although his family were deeply shocked at his decision, they respected it and never lost their love for him. He went to the Venerable English College in Rome and was there ordained a priest in May 1832 in the Church of St. Gregory, a short distance from the Monastery of SS John and Paul - the mother house of the Passionist Fathers - a place which was to have such a profound influence on him for the rest of his life.
[edit] Catholic Priest
It was at SS John and Paul that he met Father Dominic Barberi whose great longing for the return of England to the faith of its fathers was his overwhelming desire. Father Spencer returned to England and was appointed to the parish of Walsall and West Bromwich. At West Bromwich, through the generosity of his father, he helped to build a new church and became parish priest. After seven years of most fruitful work he was sent by his bishop to be spiritual director of the students for the priesthood at Oscott College, Birmingham, where he remained for a further seven years. Throughout all this time he was on fire with his desire, like that of Father Dominic Barberi, to bring England back to the Catholic faith and undertook heroic labours for this purpose, preaching not only in England but throughout Europe and invoking the help of people of high and low degree in his 'Association of Prayer and Good Works' for the conversion of England.
[edit] Passionist
By 1841, Fr. Dominic and the Passionist Fathers had been established in England at Aston Hall near Stone in Staffordshire and with the consent of his bishop, George was received into the Passionist Order, changing his name to Ignatius of St Paul, by which he would henceforth be known.
The austerity of the life he embraced must have been a great hardship to him but his love for our Lord in his suffering helped him to persevere in his new apostolate and he began the work of preaching missions and retreats throughout the country and beyond. In 1849 Dominic died and Ignatius was appointed to succeed him as superior of the order in England. During all this time he never lost touch with his family who were always most kind to him.
[edit] Death
At this time he also became the director of another religious order in the Church, now known as the Sisters of the Cross and Passion. He especially guided the foundress, Mother Mary Joseph, and was at her side at her holy death in January 1864. Shortly before that time he had been appointed rector of the new monastery and church of St Anne at Sutton in Lancashire, but his own death was not far off. Worn out with incessant work, he died suddenly at Carstairs in Scotland on 1 Oct 1864.
[edit] Cause for Beatification and Cult
His reputation for great sanctity had been known throughout his life and shortly after his death it was said that many miracles had been performed through his intercession. Father Dominic was declared 'Blessed' by Pope Paul VI in 1963 and lies in the shrine of the new church of St Anne in Sutton and after their remains were exhumed, the bodies of Ignatius and Mother Mary Joseph were interred on each side of that shrine. Devotees confidently hope that in the not too distant future, they will both be raised to the altar and Sutton will be known as the 'church of the three saints'.
On March 6th 2007 it was announced that papers relating to Fr. Ignatius' cause had been forwarded to Rome by the Postulator for his cause in hope that he might soon be declared 'Venerable'.[1]
[edit] Family
As a matter of interesting recent history Fr. Ignatius Spencer was the great great great uncle of Diana Spencer and also the great uncle of Sir Winston Churchill.
[edit] Prayers for England
Father Ignatius also obtained the following indulgences for prayers for England:
"On the 9th March 1851 His Holiness granted a plenary indulgence, to be gained once a month on any chosen day, on condition of confession and communion, and saying every day 'Hail Mary' three times, for the conversion of England, adding to each 'Hail Mary' the invocation 'Help of Christians, pray for us'
Besides the above, in May, 1850, he granted 300 days' indulgence to all who shall offer a devout prayer, as for example one 'Hail Mary', - for the conversion of England. This grant has since been extended to all who pray in general for the return of those separated from the church"
[edit] Sources
Father Ignatius' translation of the 'Life of Blessed Paul of the Cross', London, 1853
[edit] External links
- A Letter to the Hon. and Rev. George Spencer on the Oxford Movement in the United States by Americo-Catholicus, Formerly a Member of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1842)
