Merrily On High: An Anglo-Catholic Memoir [Paperback]

Stephenson (Author), Colin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2009

Widely regarded as one of the most amusing ecclesiastical memoirs of the 20th century, Colin Stephenson's autobiography is an Anglo-Catholic classic, embodying a great love for people and a relish for their eccentricities and foibles. The heady peaks of Tractarian glories between the wars decidedly shaped Colin Stephenson's preferences. Young and impressionable, he revelled in the rich ceremonial of continental Catholicism in all its triumphal self-assurance. As an inexperienced naval chaplain in the Second World War, he set about installing baroque altars on warships, despite the 'violent firmness' with which certain admirals and captains reacted.Such encounters delighted him and many episodes are stories told against himself. After the war, and despite serious injury, he returned to Oxford and created the 'highest church in the city', before succeeding Alfred Hope Patten as Guardian of the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, where he found plenty to satisfy his appetite for the oddities of high Anglicanism. 'It may be a trivial record', he writes,' but I hope it is illuminated by love and I think I have made myself as ridiculous as anyone.'

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

COLIN STEPHENSON was Guardian of Walsingham from 1958 until his death in 1973. Merrily on High was first published in 1972.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: CANTERBURY PRESS; 2nd edition (February 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853119121
• ISBN-13: 978-1853119125
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An affectionate look at a bygone era, December 14, 2002

By 

Serge (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merrily on high

Having had interest in and contact with what's left of the Anglo-Catholic movement for 20 years, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although in the end Fr Stephenson (writing in the early 1970s) seems to have abandoned some of the beliefs of the movement, regrettable in my opinion, he still wrote about the movement with a delightful sense of humor - nearly every paragraph ends with a little joke. I first read this book in England and have been to several of the places he describes so well, particularly in and around Oxford.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for Anglo-Catholics - funny, heartfelt, and not as bygone as you might think, July 22, 2009

By 

D. Kovacs (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Merrily On High: An Anglo-Catholic Memoir (Paperback)

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. My family kept wondering why I was chuckling so much -- but Colin Stephenson provides a bit of a laugh on nearly every page. He also writes about some heart-rending events with clarity and admirable restraint. Reading this book, I learned about Anglo-Catholicism throughout the 20th century -- and what surprised me is how much is still alive. Like Father Stephenson, I fell in love with the Church when I encountered Anglo-Catholicism. Like him, I sometimes wonder why every Anglican or Episcopal church isn't higher than the Vatican! I looked up every place he mentioned, and thanks to the Internet found out that nearly all of them are still vital Anglo-Catholic places of worship. I was blessed enough to visit both Oxford and Walsingham in the last year, and they are exactly as Father Stephenson described them -- St. Mary Mags in Oxford is still a romantic and peace-filled refuge from the busy city streets, and the shrine at Walsingham still exudes mystery and holiness. Even my Protestant friend was impressed! The book ends on an amazing note with Father Stephenson's accounts of his time among the Orthodox monks on Mt. Athos as well as his meeting with Pope John. He gives us insight into how his devotion to the Catholic faith developed from his youthful extremism into the mature wisdom of his later life. Colin Stephenson, pray for us.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Merrily on High, January 1, 2011

By 

Paul D. Wage (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Merrily On High: An Anglo-Catholic Memoir (Paperback)

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES I COULD NOT PUT DOWN. BEGINS AS A "COMEDY" IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH ANGLICANISM IN GENERAL;
AND CONCLUDES IN A PROFOUNDLY MOVING WAY.