The Dream of Gerontius

and a moment of grace

The Dream of Gerontius, a poem written by John Henry Newman, chronicles the journey of a soul after the death of one’s body.¹ Written in 1865, it can be found here. That’s the first thing to know; now the rest of the story.

A few weeks ago I attended a conference at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Outside the large meeting room is a gathering space called the Fides Shepperson Suite, named after the late (d. 1952) Sister M. Fides Shepperson,² where the good sister’s portrait hangs on a wall. Nearby, under her quiet gaze, during a break in the conference, I began a chance conversation with a gentleman at the coffee bar. Coffee leads to such things.

“Did you know,” I asked, “that she was a convert—and it was Newman’s writing on purgatory that helped?”

“Was it his Dream of Gerontius?” he asked.

“It’s likely; based on my research and some of her comments, I’d say so, yes.”

“Well, me, too,” he replied, and then shared a brief summary of his own conversion and his struggle with Dante’s vision of purgatory contrasted with that of Newman in Dream. He much preferred Newman, who was a convert himself.

It didn’t strike me as such at the time, but in retrospect this little scene of less than three minutes was a moment of grace. Think about it: here we were, having this conversation of poetry, purgatory, and conversion triggered by an image of the smiling Sister Fides. What would she think? What would Newman think? I think he too would smile. I know I did, and still do.

Grace, amazing. And coffee, too.

1. Portion of synopsis found on Wikipedia: Newman's poem tells the story of a soul's journey through death and provides a meditation on the unseen world of Roman Catholic theology. Gerontius (a name derived from the Greek word geron, "old man") is a devout Everyman.

In the first part, we hear Gerontius as a dying man of faith, by turns fearful and hopeful, but always confident. A group of friends (also called "assistants" in the text) joins him in prayer and meditation. He passes in peace, and a priest, with the assistants, sends him on his way with a valediction. In the second part, Gerontius, now referred to as "The Soul", awakes in a place apparently without space or time, and becomes aware of the presence of his guardian angel, who expresses joy at the culmination of his task. After a long dialogue, they journey towards the judgment throne.

They safely pass a group of demons, and encounter choirs of angels, eternally praising God for His grace and forgiveness. The Angel of the Agony pleads with Jesus to spare the souls of the faithful. Finally, Gerontius glimpses God and is judged in a single moment. The Guardian Angel lowers Gerontius into the soothing lake of Purgatory, with a final benediction and promise of a re-awakening to glory.

NB: Dream of Gerontius was also set to music in 1900 by composer Edward Elgar.

2. Sister Fides is the subject of my forthcoming biography. A Sister of Mercy, she was the first female to be admitted to any Catholic college in America. A graduate of Duquesne University (BA, 1911, MA, 1913) and first woman to receive a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh (PhD, 1923). Isabel Shepperson was born into a Protestant family in 1867; she converted in 1886 while visiting her relatives in England. In 1888 she entered the Sisters of Mercy, professing her vows in 1891. She taught in elementary schools in Pittsburgh before becoming one of the original faculty members of Mount Mercy College when it opened in 1929. Sister Fides (d. 1952) was a prolific writer, authoring several books, essays, poems, and a screenplay on the life of St. Francis.