Meditations and Devotions

This is a selection from a collection of meditations published after Newman's death by William Neville. Most of the book is devoted to reflections on Christian doctrine but there is also a section specifically on Mary and a few gems in the third part written in prospect of death, incidentally many years before he actually died. For the non-Catholic the most appealing extract is 'a short route to perfection' where he defines as perfect 'the one who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek perfection.' He sees this as a simplification and adds some more specific advice about giving one's first thoughts to God and the importance of daily self examination.