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Vincent McNabb 1868-1943, an Anniversary Commemoration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Aidan Nichols OP
Aidan Nichols OP*
Affiliation:
Blackfriars, Buckingham Road Cambridge CB3 0DD, Cambridge, United Kingdom
*
aidan.nichols@english.op.org
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Abstract

This commemorative article, drafted for the 75th anniversary of Vincent McNabb's death in 2018 (it was also the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth), re-tells his story, visits the unresolved question of his sanctity, and, by considering his themes, seeks to point up his amor intellectualis, and not just cordialis, the generosity of a many-sided man.

Keywords

Donald ProudmanFerdinand ValentineHilary CarpenterMichael de la BedoyereEaster Rising
Type
Original Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 100 , Issue 1088 , July 2019 , pp. 373 - 397
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 McNabb, Vincent O.P., Eleven, thank God (London: Sheed and Ward, 1942)Google Scholar.

2 Valentine, Ferdinand O.P., Father Vincent McNabb. The Portrait of a Great Dominican (London: Burns and Oates, 1954), p. 4Google Scholar.

3 Ibid.

4 Proudman, Donald O.P. and Walsh, R. P., Fr Vincent McNabb, O. P. (Wigan: privately published, n. d.), p. 7Google Scholar. Consulted in Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27. Proudman was the proposed Vice-Postulator of McNabb's ‘cause’ for beatification, on which more anon.

5 Catholic Herald, 6 May, 1955.

6 Letter 9 May 1955 from Hilary Carpenter, O.P., to the Editor, Catholic Herald. Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27.

7 McNabb, Vincent O.P., ‘The Call of St Patrick’, in idem., Francis Thompson and Other Essays (London: Blackfriars Publications, 1955 [1935]), p. 67Google Scholar.

8 Ibid.

9 Idem., ‘The Example of Ireland’, The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion, 4 August 1916. Consulted in Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

10 Ferdinand Valentine, O.P., Father Vincent McNabb, op. cit., p. xv.

11 Ibid., p. 16.

12 Ibid., p. 35.

13 Jarrett, Bede O.P., The English Dominicans (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1921), pp. 201-202Google Scholar. By introducing the name of (Henri-Dominique) Lacordaire, in context a red herring, Jarrett downplayed the Observantine inspiration owed to Jandel. For the ideological rivalry between these two French founders in the nineteenth century revival, see Bonvin, Bernard, Lacordaire Jandel. Suivi de l’édition originale et annotée du Mémoire Jandel (Paris: Cerf, 1989)Google Scholar.

14 Writing to the Irish magazine The Leader, he paid a pseudonymous tribute to Belgium on three counts: intensely practised agriculture, decentralisation, and the moderate character of its nationalism: ‘Kintragh’ [Vincent McNabb, O.P.], ‘Three Years in Belgium’, The Leader, 12 January, 1901, pp. 313-314. Consulted in Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

15 McNabb, Vincent O.P., Europe's Ewe-Lamb (London: Washbourne, 1916)Google Scholar.

16 Royal warrant conserved in Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

17 For one of the most fruitful of these, see the numerous references to McNabb in Mercer, Giles, Convert, Scholar, Bishop: William Brownlow, 1830-1901 (Bath: Downside Abbey Press, 2018)Google Scholar. Brownlow's debt to McNabb was augmented in the first biography: McNabb, Vincent O.P., Bishop Brownlow (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1902)Google Scholar. I am grateful to Abbot Geoffrey Scott of Douai Abbey for drawing my attention to Mercer's study.

18 Carpenter, Hilary J. O.P., ‘Preface’, McNabb, Vincent O.P., Faith and Prayer (London: Blackfriars Publications, 1953), p. viiiGoogle Scholar.

19 McNabb, Vincent O.P., ‘Aquinas and the Common Good’ in Francis Thompson and Other Essays, op. cit., pp. 18-22, and here at p. 21Google Scholar.

20 Idem., The Catholic Church and Philosophy (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1927), p. 96.

21 Ibid., p. 6.

22 Ibid., p. 15.

23 The earliest bespoke study arguing for a strongly (Neo-) Platonist dimension to Thomas’ metaphysics, is Fabro, Cornelio, La nozione metafisica di partecipazione secondo San Tommaso d'Aquino (Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1939)Google Scholar, but a case has been made for a start-of-the-century anticipation in Picavet, François, Esquisse d'une philosophie générale et comparée de la philosophie mediévale (Paris: Alcan, 1907, 2nd edition)Google Scholar. Thus Plested, Marcus, Orthodox Readings of Aquinas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 14CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Vincent McNabb, The Catholic Church and Philosophy, op. cit., p. 30.

25 Ibid., p. 31.

26 Ibid., p. 38.

27 Ibid., pp. 107-109.

28 Idem., St Thomas Aquinas and Law (London: Blackfriars Publications, 1955), p. 18.

29 Idem., The Catholic Church and Philosophy, op.cit., pp. 3-4.

30 Idem., St John Fisher (London: Sheed and Ward, 1935), p. 9.

31 Ibid., p. 38.

32 Ibid., p. 126.

33 Ibid.

34 Idem., Infallibility (London: Sheed and Ward, 1927), p. 18, citing John 16: 7.

35 Ibid., p. 33.

36 Ibid., p. 69.

37 Bailey, Bede O.P., ‘Father McNabb and Rome’, The Chesterton Review XXII, 1-2 (1996), pp. 125-138CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Cited ibid., p. 129.

39 Cited ibid., p. 131.

40 McNabb, Vincent O.P., ‘The Lambeth Conference’ in idem., From a Friar's Cell (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1923), pp. 39-51, and here at p. 40Google Scholar.

41 Idem., ‘The Lambeth Conference’, art. cit, p. 45.

42 Ibid., p. 47.

43 Cited ibid., pp. 47-48.

44 Idem., ‘Canterbury and Rome’, in idem., From a Friar's Cell, op, cit., pp. 52-62, and here at p. 56.

45 Idem., ‘The Lambeth Conference’, art. cit, p. 50.

46 Ibid., p. 49. Unfortunately when what was available for Anglicans was eventually made clear under Pope Benedict XVI, the resultant document Anglicanorum coetibus enrolled the Ordinariates for former Anglicans quite explicitly under the Latin Church, rather than regarding them as a tertium quid – a distinctive body analogous to the Eastern Catholic Churches in union with Rome.

47 Causes of Christian Disunion. Cardinal Pole's Legatine Address at the Opening of the Council of Trent, 7 January 1546 (London: Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1936).

48 Vincent McNabb, ‘Dedicatory Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury’ in ibid., p. 2.

49 Letter of 4 May 1936 from Arthur Hinsley to the English Dominican Provincial, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 3.

50 Letter of 16 June 1936 from Bernard Delany to Vincent McNabb, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

51 McNabb, Vincent, Our Relations with the Nonconformists (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913), p. 8Google Scholar.

52 Ibid., p. 6.

53 Ibid., p. 3.

54 Ibid., p. 4.

55 Micklem, Nathaniel, ‘Introduction’, in McNabb, Vincent O.P., Catholics and Nonconformists (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1943), p. 4Google Scholar. See further on this aspect of McNabb: Keldany, Herbert, ‘Vincent McNabb – Pioneer Ecumenist’, New Blackfriars LX. 712 (1979), pp. 367-370CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56 McNabb, Vincent O.P., The Craft of Suffering (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1936), p. XGoogle Scholar.

57 Ibid., p. 38.

58 Ibid., p. 13.

59 Ibid., p. 3.

60 Ibid., p. 20.

61 Ibid., p. 66.

62 Ibid., p. 103.

63 McNabb, Vincent O.P., God's Way of Mercy (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1937), p. 5Google Scholar.

64 Ibid., p. 31.

65 Ibid., p. 84.

66 Idem., The Craft of Prayer (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1935), p. 57.

67 Ibid., p. 59.

68 Idem., Faith and Prayer, op. cit., p. 203.

69 See, for instance, the memoir by an intelligent North London laywoman, a civil servant in the War Office, who had attended many of his days of recollection, Dorothy Finlayson (ed.),’I Well Remember. The Unconscious Autobiography of Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. Pieced together from verbatim records of his spoken words at Retreats during the years 1928 to 1943’, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 6.

70 McNabb, Vincent O.P., Some Mysteries of Jesus Christ (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne 1941)Google Scholar.

71 Idem., The New Testament Witness to St Peter (London: Sheed and Ward, 1928); The New Testament Witness to Our Lady (London: Sheed and Ward, 1930).

72 Idem., A Life of our Lord (London: Sheed and Ward, 1940); Mary of Nazareth (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1940); St Mary Magdalene (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1940).

73 Idem., Where Believers may Doubt. Studies in Biblical Inspiration and other Problems of Faith (London: Burns and Oates, 1903).

74 See Montagnes, Bernard, Marie-Joseph Lagrange. Une biographie critique (Paris: Cerf, 2004), pp. 203-264Google Scholar.

75 Holmes, J. Derek (ed.), The Theological Papers of John Henry Newman on Biblical Inspiration and Infallibility (Oxford: Clarendon, 1979)Google Scholar.

76 Hastings, Adrian, ‘Some reflexions on the English Catholicism of the late 1930s’, in idem. (ed.), Bishops and Writers. Aspects of the Evolution of Modern English Catholicism (Wheathampstead: Anthony Clarke, 1977), pp. 107-126Google Scholar, and here at p. 110.

77 Letter of 19 September 1939 from Vincent McNabb, O.P., to Harold Robbins, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27.

78 Siderman's, E. A. A Saint in Hyde Park. Memories of Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1950)Google Scholar.

79 Cited in Ferdinand Valentine, O.P., Father Vincent McNabb, O.P., op. cit., p. 136.

80 Cited ibid.

81 Cited ibid., p. 137.

82 See Nichols, Aidan O.P., ‘The English Dominican Social Tradition’, in Compagnoni, Francesco O.P., and Alford, Helen O.P. (eds.), Preaching Justice. Dominican Contributions to Social Ethics in the Twentieth Century (Dublin 2007), pp. 394-441Google Scholar, at pp. 394-441. For the wider context, see Cunningham, Adrian, ‘Primary Things: Land, Work, and Sign’, The Chesterton Review XXII, 1-2 (1996), pp. 73-87CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Bryan Keating, ‘The Catholic Land Movement in England’, in ibid., pp. 89-99.

83 McNabb, Vincent O.P., The Church and the Land (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1923)Google Scholar.

84 Idem., Nazareth or Social Chaos (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1933).

85 Idem., Old Principles and the New Order (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1942).

86 Bernard Delany, O.P., ‘Father Vincent McNabb, O.P., 1868-1943’, a typescript produced for the Dublin journal Studies, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 6.

87 From the anonymous obituary in The Tablet for 26 June, 1943.

88 Vincent McNabb, O.P., ‘The Mistakes of Monasticism’, in idem., Francis Thompson and Other Essays, op. cit., pp. 69-74.

89 Idem., ‘Are Catholics selfish?’ in ibid., pp. 33-35, and here at p. 35.

90 Idem., ‘The Ritual of Marriage’ in ibid., pp. 39-46.

91 Idem., ‘The Riches of Ritual’ in idem., The Wayside. A Priest's Gleanings (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1934), pp. 122-127, and here at p. 122.

92 Ibid., p. 126.

93 God's Happy Warrior. A Sermon preached at Saint Dominic's Priory church, London, by Father Bernard Delany, O.P., on the 21st of June, 1943, at the Funeral Mass of Father Vincent McNabb, O.P., S. T. M. who died on the 17th of June, 1943 (Oxford: Blackfriars, 1943).

94 ‘Famous English Dominican. Petition to Review his Life and Work’, Cork Examiner, 19 October 1954. Consulted in Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27.

95 Letter of 2 March 1955 from David Donohue to Bernard Delany, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

96 ‘List of suggested witnesses of Fr Vincent McNabbb's life and sanctity’, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27.

97 Questionnaire, with accompanying letter dated ‘February 1955’, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 27.

98 Walters, Hugh, ‘Was Father Vincent McNabb a dangerous crank?’, The Chesterton Review XXII. 1-2 (1996), pp. 101-111CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

99 Letter of 5 April 1954 from Bernard Delany to Hilary Carpenter, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

100 Letter of 7 November 1953 from Ferdinand Valentine to Bernard Delany, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2.

101 Letter of 12 August 1955 from Hilary Carpenter to Bernard Delany, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box. 2.

102 Wykeham-George, Kenneth O.P., and Mathew, Gervase O.P., Bede Jarrett of the Order of Preachers (London: Blackfriars Publications, 1952), pp. 67-75Google Scholar.

103 Bernard Delany, ‘Vincent McNabb’, p. 5, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 6. Compare idem., ‘Father Vincent McNabb in the Field’, Blackfriars XXXV. 412-413 (1954), pp. 295-304, which reproduces much of this material. (The Notes, bound in folders and alphabetically arranged, can be found in Boxes 13 to 23 of the McNabb Papers. A ledger with a full index is included in Box 1.)

104 Bernard Delany, ‘Vincent McNabb’, art. cit., p. 6.

105 For Finlayson, see note 68 above.

106 Letter of 8 September, 1955 from Dorothy Finlayson to Bernard Delany, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 2. Emphasis is original.

107 Davis, Henry S.J., Moral and Pastoral Theology (London: Sheed and Ward, 1935), 4 volumesGoogle Scholar.

108 George Taylor, O.P., ‘Remarks of Fr Vincent’, Dominican Archives, McNabb Papers, Box 26. Emphasis is original.

109 Torrell, Jean-Pierre O.P., Thomas d'Aquin, Maître spirituel (Fribourg: Editions universitaires/Paris: Cerf, 1996)Google Scholar.