Tea at Trianon: Is J.R.R. Tolkien a Saint?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Is J.R.R. Tolkien a Saint?

From The European Conservative:

With this in mind, you may not be shocked to hear that there are some who hope and pray that Tolkien someday be declared a Catholic Saint. The likelihood that Tolkien may someday have a cause for canonisation has growing for a decade now, as international interest mounts to call for the Professor to be recognised for his personal holiness by being raised to the altars in the Catholic Church. Canonisation is the long term goal of an international group who would like to see the Professor’s life subjected to the scrutiny of Rome, to decide if the content of it is filled with the sufficient heroic virtue, necessary to pass him through the trifold stages of “servant of God,” “venerable,” “blessed,” and finally it is hoped “Saint Tolkien.” The purpose of this process and accompanying honorifics is to identify people of reputed sanctity and investigate whether they are to be made worthy of public veneration. Following a successful Canonisation, universities and schools as well as religious congregations can be formed, to live out the spirit or ‘charism’ of the holy person to which they are named after, whilst the laity can invoke the intercession of the saint to help them in their own spiritual journeys. In Tolkien’s case, there is potential for a regalvanisation of traditional Western values rooted in Christianity. These undergirded Tolkien’s own religious thought, fictitious writings, and spiritual life. This faith and its expressions are a treasure-hoard that has yet to be fully mined, something the Cause for the Canonisation of J. R. R. Tolkien seeks to explore and address directly.

While Tolkien’s personal piety was well-attested by those who knew him, most people who now call for his canonisation never met him in person, but have instead been inspired by his writings. His major fictitious works are imbued with his deep faith. This faith was also lived out, being filled with the presence of God and serving as a beacon of Christ’s love to the world.

At this point, support for the opening of a cause for canonization is centred around a Facebook group on the topic, which has more than 1.6 thousand members. The group is moderated by Fr. Daniele Pietro Ercoli, an Italian Salesian priest In 2015, Fr. Daniele contacted Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham (The diocese within which Tolkien died, within which canonically the Cause would generally start) about the possibility of opening a cause for Tolkien. After much prayer and reflection, Fr. Ercoli shared the archbishop’s response with the Facebook group.

While he did not, at that time, call for a cause to be opened, the archbishop was encouraging in his letter. He advised Fr. Daniele to both inform people about Tolkien’s faith and distribute a prayer for private and personal use asking God to allow Tolkien to be declared a Saint.

The letter has been well received by Catholics who have been spiritually nourished by Tolkien’s works. Many initiatives to begin laying the spiritual foundations for a formal process of postulation—the process by which a Cause begins—have flowed from the archbishop’s balanced and prudent response. In response to the first directive of the Archbishop, Tolkien’s faith can be best understood through his correspondence and private writings, which are now publicly available. These writings reveal a man whose entire mind, soul, and will were transformed by divine grace. This grace brought forth the desire in him, as he puts it, “to follow the light [of Christ] unflinchingly.” (Read more.)