John Mason Neale
Encyclopedia
John Mason Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn-writer.
, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale
and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good
. He was educated at Sherborne School
, Dorset, and Trinity College, Cambridge
, where (despite being said to be the best classical scholar in his year) lack of ability in mathematics prevented him taking an honours degree.
Neale was named after the Puritan
cleric and hymn writer John Mason (1645–1694), of whom his mother Susanna was a descendant.
At the age of 22 Neale was the chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge
. At Cambridge he was affected by the Oxford Movement
and helped to found the Cambridge Camden Society
(afterwards known as the Ecclesiological Society). Though he was ordained in 1841, ill health prevented his settling in England until 1846, when he became warden of Sackville College
, an alms-house at East Grinstead
, an appointment which he held until his death.
In 1854 Neale co-founded the Society of Saint Margaret
, an order of women in the Church of England
dedicated to nursing the sick. Many Anglicans in his day, however, were very suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. Only nine years earlier, John Henry Newman had encouraged Catholic practices in Anglican churches and had ended up becoming a Roman Catholic
. This encouraged the suspicion that anyone such as Neale was an agent of the Vatican
, assigned to destroy Anglicanism by subverting it from within. Once Neale was attacked and mauled at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honour or preferment in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by Trinity College (Connecticut)
. However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St Margaret survived and prospered.
He was also the principal founder of the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
, a religious organization founded as the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union in 1864.
Neale was strongly high church
in his sympathies, and had to endure a good deal of opposition, including a fourteen years' inhibition by his bishop. Neale translated the Eastern liturgies into English, and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. However, he is best known as a hymn writer and, especially, translator, having enriched English hymnody with many ancient and mediaeval hymns translated from Latin and Greek. More than anyone else, he made English-speaking congregations aware of the centuries-old tradition of Latin, Greek, Russian, and Syrian hymns. The English Hymnal (1906) contains 63 of his translated hymns and six original hymns by Neale. His translations include:
carol, "Good King Wenceslas
". He was also responsible for much of the translation of the Advent hymn "O come, O come, Emmanuel
", based on the "O Antiphons
" for the week preceding Christmas, and his hymn "A Great and Mighty Wonder" (translated from the Greek of St Germanus). Neale also published An Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church (1850, 2 vols); History of the so-called Jansenist Church of Holland (1858); Essays on Liturgiology and Church History (1863); and many other works.
Since Neale died on the Festival of the Transfiguration
, he is commemorated by the Anglican churches on the following day, 7 August. He is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
as a hymnwriter on 1 July with Catherine Winkworth
.
Life
Neale was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale
Cornelius Neale
Cornelius Neale was an English clergyman.Cornelius Neale came from a London family with an Evangelical background: his father James Neale was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society. He entered St John's College, Cambridge and graduated Senior Wrangler in 1812, with first Smith's...
and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good
John Mason Good
John Mason Good , English writer on medical, religious and classical subjects, was born at Epping, Essex.John Good's parents were the Nonconformist minister Revd Peter Good and Sarah Good, the daughter of another Nonconformist minister, Revd Henry Peyto of Great Coggeshall...
. He was educated at Sherborne School
Sherborne School
Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
, Dorset, and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where (despite being said to be the best classical scholar in his year) lack of ability in mathematics prevented him taking an honours degree.
Neale was named after the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
cleric and hymn writer John Mason (1645–1694), of whom his mother Susanna was a descendant.
At the age of 22 Neale was the chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
. At Cambridge he was affected by the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
and helped to found the Cambridge Camden Society
Cambridge Camden Society
The Cambridge Camden Society, later known as the Ecclesiological Society from 1845 when it moved to London, was a learned architectural society founded in 1839 by undergraduates at Cambridge University to promote "the study of Gothic Architecture, and of Ecclesiastical Antiques." Its activities...
(afterwards known as the Ecclesiological Society). Though he was ordained in 1841, ill health prevented his settling in England until 1846, when he became warden of Sackville College
Sackville College
Sackville College is a Jacobean almshouse in town of East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.It was founded in 1609 with money left by Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset...
, an alms-house at East Grinstead
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
, an appointment which he held until his death.
In 1854 Neale co-founded the Society of Saint Margaret
Society of Saint Margaret
The Society of Saint Margaret is an order of women in the Anglican Church. The Sisters of St. Margaret were founded in 1855 by Dr. John Mason Neale at Rotherfield, England. As their numbers increased, they moved into their first convent, Saint Margaret's in East Grinstead, Sussex...
, an order of women in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
dedicated to nursing the sick. Many Anglicans in his day, however, were very suspicious of anything suggestive of Roman Catholicism. Only nine years earlier, John Henry Newman had encouraged Catholic practices in Anglican churches and had ended up becoming a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. This encouraged the suspicion that anyone such as Neale was an agent of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, assigned to destroy Anglicanism by subverting it from within. Once Neale was attacked and mauled at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honour or preferment in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
. However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St Margaret survived and prospered.
He was also the principal founder of the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
Anglican and Eastern Churches Association
The Anglican and Eastern Churches Association is a religious organization founded as the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union in 1864 by John Mason Neale and others...
, a religious organization founded as the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union in 1864.
Neale was strongly high church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
in his sympathies, and had to endure a good deal of opposition, including a fourteen years' inhibition by his bishop. Neale translated the Eastern liturgies into English, and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. However, he is best known as a hymn writer and, especially, translator, having enriched English hymnody with many ancient and mediaeval hymns translated from Latin and Greek. More than anyone else, he made English-speaking congregations aware of the centuries-old tradition of Latin, Greek, Russian, and Syrian hymns. The English Hymnal (1906) contains 63 of his translated hymns and six original hymns by Neale. His translations include:
- All Glory, Laud, and Honour
- Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious BattlePange Lingua Gloriosi Proelium CertaminisPange Lingua Gloriosi Proelium Certaminis is a sixth-century Latin sequence hymn generally credited to the Christian poet St Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, celebrating the Passion of Christ. In the Catholic Church, the first five stanzas are used at Matins during Passiontide in the...
- To Thee Before the Close of DayTe lucis ante terminumTe lucis ante terminum is an old Latin hymn. It is the hymn at Compline in the Roman Breviary.-Origin:The authorship of Ambrose of Milan, for which Pimont contends, is not admitted by the Benedictine editors or by Luigi Biraghi...
- O come, O come, EmmanuelO come, O come, EmmanuelO come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin text by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons , which now serves as a popular Advent hymn...
- Of the Father's Heart BegottenOf the Father's Heart BegottenOf the Father's Heart Begotten alternately known as Of the Father's Love Begotten is a Christmas carol based on the latin poem Corde natus by the Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius, from his Liber Cathemerinon Of the Father's Heart Begotten alternately known as Of the Father's Love Begotten is a...
Legacy
Neale's most enduring and widely known legacy is probably his contribution to the Christmas repertoire, most notably "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" and his original legendary Boxing DayBoxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
carol, "Good King Wenceslas
Good King Wenceslas
"Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen . During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step,...
". He was also responsible for much of the translation of the Advent hymn "O come, O come, Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin text by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons , which now serves as a popular Advent hymn...
", based on the "O Antiphons
O antiphons
thumb|The [[Annunciation]]The O Antiphons are Magnificat antiphons used at Vespers of the last seven days of Advent in various liturgical Christian traditions.Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture...
" for the week preceding Christmas, and his hymn "A Great and Mighty Wonder" (translated from the Greek of St Germanus). Neale also published An Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church (1850, 2 vols); History of the so-called Jansenist Church of Holland (1858); Essays on Liturgiology and Church History (1863); and many other works.
Since Neale died on the Festival of the Transfiguration
Transfiguration of Jesus
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
, he is commemorated by the Anglican churches on the following day, 7 August. He is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints
Calendar of Saints (Lutheran)
The Lutheran Calendar of Saints is a listing which details the primary annual festivals and events that are celebrated liturgically by some Lutheran Churches in the United States. The calendars of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod are from the...
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
as a hymnwriter on 1 July with Catherine Winkworth
Catherine Winkworth
Catherine Winkworth was an English translator. She is best known for bringing the German chorale tradition to English speakers with her numerous translations of hymns.-Biography:...
.
External links
- Works of John Mason Neale from Project CanterburyProject CanterburyProject Canterbury is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999, and is hosted by the non-profit Society of Archbishop Justus...
- John Mason Neale and the Christian Heritage by Dale J. Nelson, prefaced by links to more than one hundred of Neale's hymn texts in The Cyber Hymnal
- John Mason Neale 1818-1866
- The Society of St. Margaret
- Eclectic Ethereal Encyclopedia
- The latitudinarian author wrote about a Catholic martyr, Blessed Caius of Korea
- Papers relating to Neale, including his correspondence and diary, at Lambeth Palace Library