While walking around, outside the Catholic Church of Blessed Dominic Barberi in Littlemore village:
An amiable Irish man encouraged us to visit the International Newman Study Centre across the road, upon hearing that we were following in the footsteps of John Henry Newman:
Immediately, I recognised the Study Centre as the collection of flats/cells that Newman had had built at Littlemore for High Church Anglicans who wanted to seriously reflect on whether to cross over into (Roman) Catholicism or not (Newman mentions the flats/cells a lot in Apologia pro Vita Sua).
After having gained permission to enter the Newman Study Centre from a religious sister in a communal house:
We were greeted with a very pleasant garden setting:
With a statue of Newman holding pride of place:
My friend, who is a horticulturalist, commented that it was apt that Michaelmas daisies were growing in such a religious place.
Shortly afterwards, a young African sister appeared from one of the flats/cells asking if there was anything she could do for us, and she became incredibly receptive when we said we were following in the footsteps of Newman, Tolkien, and CS Lewis around Oxford.
Her exact words, said with the broadest of smiles, were something like:
"These three great men are often mentioned together, as great defenders of the Christian faith".
The young sister looked in a state of grace, and she very kindly found a key to show us the quarters where Newman, himself, had slept:
And done private study:
Not long afterwards, an older German/Austrian sister arrived to kindly extend our tour of Newman's life at Littlemore, showing us the beautiful small chapel where Blessed Dominic Barberi had heard Newman's confession and received him into the (Roman) Catholic Church:
Have just read that Barberi also said Mass for Newman (and two of his companions) in this small chapel, the morning after the threesome had all been received into the Catholic Church by him.
After this, the German/Austrian sister showed us into a room where Newman had done much of his earlier writing that had led to him later becoming Catholic:
The sister placed special emphasis on Newman having written An Essay on Development of Christian Doctrine (1845/1878) in this study room, which had been pivotal to him finally becoming (Roman) Catholic after years of monumental reflection process.
This room contained many other items connected to Newman and his incredible life:
Throughout this short but profound trip to the Newman International Study Centre, my friend and I felt that we were being given access to the finer/private details of Newman's life at Littlemore (my friend stressed this afterwards).
We can't help but thank the two sisters for having taken the trouble to show us around.
Allowing us to visually enter Newman's private world on the road to Rome (home):
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