Summer 2012 - The Mill Hill Missionaries

Summer 2012 Advocate:Layout 1 19/07/2012 12:14 Page 15The Story of a Paintingby Fr. Christy Fox, mhmELIZA VAUGHAN, the saintlymother of our founder, CardinalHerbert Vaughan, was reputed tohave spent an hour each day, prayingbefore the Blessed Sacrament, in theprivate Oratory of the Vaughan home inCourtfield, which is near Ross-on Wye inEngland - close to the border with Wales.Her intentions were simple. She would liketo have a large family and she prayed thatmany of them would devote their lives to Godas priests or Religious. She was blest withfourteen children. One died in infancy. Of theothers, six of her eight sons became priests,and four of her five daughters became religiousSisters. It is a remarkable record for onefamily, possibly never surpassed anywhere inthe history of the Church. Sadly, Eliza died in1853, the year before her eldest son, Herbert,was ordained priest.Mill Hill Missionaries came into possessionof the ancestral home in 1950. Some timelater our Brothers built an accommodationblock and Courtfield became a Retreat Centre,with accommodation for over 50 visitors.During my time there as Rector, I was privilegedto welcome many groups and individualswho came to reflect and to pray.Our many missionary promoters in Englandand Wales, who give so generously tohelp our mission apostolate worldwide lovedto come and pray before the Blessed Sacramentat the very spot where Eliza Vaughanspent so many hours of quiet adoration. Theywould ponder on the great outreach to themissions that began in this house through the14prayer and inspiration of that holy woman.‘Do whatever he tells you’On one occasion, the Abbess of the BenedictineSisters at Stanbrook Abbey, JoannaJamieson, came for a quiet retreat. She is agifted artist and was persuaded to do a paintingover the tabernacle in the Chapel whereEliza had prayed. Appropriately, she chose thetheme of the ‘Christian Vocation’.As every vocation is answering the call ofGod, the painting is entitled: ‘DO WHAT-EVER HE TELLS YOU’. As you can see, thedominant centre of the painting is a beautifulrepresentation of the Risen Christ. The Resurrectionof Jesus, His victory over sin anddeath, is the fundamental belief of our ChristianFaith. All else flows from that. The firstand last letter of the Greek alphabet, Alphaand Omega, underlines the painting - Christis the beginning and the end.The artist captures the diversity of Christianvocation in the various small paintingssurrounding the dominant figure of the RisenChrist. The light radiating from Christ animatesand inspires all followers of Jesus. TheHoly Spirit is simply the power of God releasedinto the world by the Resurrection ofJesus from the dead.In the left corner you can see the figure ofEliza Vaughan kneeling in prayer. What awonderful vocation she had as wife andmother. On the right is the picture of theChapel at Mill Hill College, founded by hereldest son, Herbert, in 1866. From this Collegeand Chapel over the years, priests and