The thought of an earlier generation is represented by these words of Cardinal Heenan, the predecessor of the late Cardinal Basil Hume as Archbishop of Westminster, who described him as "perhaps the greatest figure in the Church of the twentieth century," while Evelyn Waugh the novelist, and Mgsr. Knox's biographer, wrote: "I can think of no man of this century who enjoyed as did Ronald Knox such a mastery of the English language in all its varieties."

Ronald Knox was born in 1888 into an intellectually stimulating and well-to-do family. His father, who became the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, was a leading evangelical, but young Ronald began to develop a taste for a more "Catholic" outlook once he went to Eton, the famous public school, in 1900. He was quite shy but affectionate and popular, and also academically brilliant. Interestingly Eton was originally dedicated to Our Lady, and it was here that his lifelong devotion to Mary began.

He went to Oxford University in 1906 where he continued to develop intellectually, also becoming involved with Anglo-Catholicism, while deepening his faith and prayer life. He felt called to a priestly vocation and this was reflected in a private vow of celibacy which he took before he was twenty. He was much influenced by G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, and began to see the doctrinal shortcomings of Anglicanism, but nevertheless went on to be ordained as an Anglican priest in 1912, working as chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford.

His support for Anglo-Catholicism in the religious controversies of the time meant that he became quite well known, but at heart the shaky foundations of the Anglican Church worried him, and led him to study its claims to "catholicity." In the end he decided that a truly "Catholic" Church had to be in communion with the Pope, and in 1917 he converted to Catholicism.

He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1919 and began to preach widely while also writing books and articles. In 1926 he became Catholic Chaplain at Oxford University, a post he held until 1939. During this period his fame as a preacher and writer grew. His sermons and writings were notable in that while giving a well-argued and rational tone to Catholic apologetics, they were also quite often practical and humorous.

Msgr. Knox clearly saw that the decline in Christianity, in both moral and intellectual terms, could be combated by a renewed emphasis on the Bible, and thus from 1939 he worked on a new translation of the Bible which he hoped would make the Scriptures more accessible to ordinary people. This mammoth task took nine years and was well received, although it has now been superseded.

During the later forties and early fifties talks he had previously given were published as books on the Mass, the Creed and the Gospels. These became very popular and helped him to become well-known in America. He also produced a three volume New Testament commentary between 1952 and 1956.

Mgsr. Knox's own favorite work though was his Enthusiasm, published in 1950, which he had been working on periodically for over thirty years. It grew out of his aversion for "enthusiastic" spiritual displays. It details, without rancor, some of the "odd" spiritual movements which have disturbed Church history through the ages, including Montanism, various medieval heresies, and Jansenism.

His sermons have been collected in a number of volumes and these give evidence of his Marian devotion, particularly those concerned with Church Feasts, such as Christmas, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. All of these are beautifully crafted and expressive of a deep love and devotion to Mary.

It's hard to say how aware of Fatima, Msgr. Knox was, given that it did not really begin to become well known until the fifties, but his love and acceptance of Lourdes are evident in a beautiful sermon he delivered on St. Bernadette and the shrine in 1934. He saw Bernadette as a modern Moses, and Lourdes as a modern Sinai in which Our Lady's words echoed the commandments that God had given over three thousand years ago: as he concludes "Surely, when she pointed to the miraculous spring at Lourdes, our Lady was telling the whole world to weep for its sins. So many years have passed, and do we still come away from Lourdes dry-eyed?"

All of this helped to make Ronald Knox the best known Catholic priest in England over a period of three or four decades. He was a truly prayerful man strongly devoted to Our Lady, whose day was centered around the Mass, and one whose works deserve to be better known. His last years were spent in retirement and he died of cancer in 1957.

It seems fitting to conclude with this rebuttal of non-Catholic criticism of Mary, found in Msgr. Knox's book The Belief of Catholics, which also incidentally illustrates the richness of his style:

"They have said that we deify her; that is not because we exaggerate the eminence of God's Mother, but because they belittle the eminence of God. A creature miraculously preserved from sin by the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost - that is to them a divine title ... They refuse to honor the God-bearing Woman because their Christ is only a God-bearing Man. We ... are not afraid less the honor done to His creature of perfect Womanhood should prejudice the honor due to Him. Touchstone of truth in the ages of controversy, romance of the medieval world, she has not lost with the rise of new devotions, any fragment of her ancient glory. Other lights may glow and dim as the centuries pass, she cannot suffer change; and when a Catholic ceases to honor her, he ceases to be a Catholic."

This article originally appeared in Soul Magazine: http://www.bluearmy.com/

Sources: Kevin Morris, Mgr Ronald Knox, A Great Teacher, CTS, London, 1995; Ronald Knox Pastoral Sermons and Occasional Sermons, Burns & Oates, London, 1960; Enthusiasm, Collins, London, 1987.