Lead Kindly Light...

Last night saw one of the official launch events for the latest DVD from St. Anthony Communications, Lead, Kindly Light, at St. Ethelbert's Church, Ramsgate.

The film resembles a pilgrimage following the life of Blessed John Henry Newman. In it, Fr. Marcus Holden and Fr. Nicholas Schofield visit many of the sites associated with Blessed Cardinal Newman, and discuss his conversion to Catholicism.

I have to confess that I am not a fan of Cardinal Newman - I didn't enjoy reading his Apologia, never got past the middle of The Development of Christian Doctrine, and get irritated by his hymns. I find his writing rather dry, and very heavy-going. I have no doubt that the fault is all mine - but, fortunately, we are not obliged to like all the saints of the Church. I much prefer the works (and especially the hymns) of Fr. Faber, one of Newman's contemporaries. Nevertheless, it was fascinating to find out a little more about Blessed John Henry's work both before and after his conversion to Catholicism. I would have liked to find out a bit more about the man himself, but I suppose that would require another film.

The new Parish Priest of Margate also attended the launch - and was happy to pose for a photo with Fr. Marcus Holden and his brother, Chris Holden...

I do recommend the films produced by St. Anthony Communications. Produced and directed by Chris Holden (Fr. Marcus Holden's brother), they cover many important topics of interest to lay Catholics who wish to be able to understand and defend their faith. The films are very informative, and are packed with fantastic architecture, statues and paintings from our Catholic heritage. I must admit to being slightly biased here - in Faith of Our Fathers, some of my own photos were used. I happened to see a few of them on screen last night (clips of other DVDs were being played while the sound system was being calibrated) and I got quite a thrill.

St. Anthony Communications does not receive any money from outside bodies, so it is totally reliant on the sales of its DVDs in order to produce further films. Do visit the website to see what else they have to offer.