It is an evangelical truth that priestly vocations must be asked for through prayer. Jesus makes this clear in the Gospel when He says: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field!" (Mt 9, 37-38). A very meaningful example of this is Englishwoman Eliza Vaughan, a mother and a woman with a priestly spirit, who prayed earnestly for vocations.
Eliza came from a Protestant family, the Rolls, which later founded the Rolls-Royce automobile industry. However, as a young woman, during her time and education in France, she was deeply impressed by the Catholic Church's exemplary care for the poor. In the summer of 1830, after marrying Colonel John Francis Vaughan, Eliza, despite strong resistance from her relatives, converted to Catholicism. She made this decision with conviction, not merely because she was joining a famous English family with a Catholic tradition. The Vaughan ancestors, during the persecution of Catholics under Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), preferred to suffer the confiscation of their goods and imprisonment rather than renounce their faith.
Courtfield, the ancestral residence of her husband’s family, had become, during the decades of terror, a shelter for persecuted priests, a place where Holy Mass was celebrated. Three centuries had passed since then, but nothing had changed in the Catholic spirit of the family.
Let us donate our children to God
Converted in the depth of her heart, filled with zeal, Eliza proposed to her husband to dedicate their children to God. This woman of great virtues prayed every day for an hour before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of Courtfield, asking God for a large family and many religious vocations among her children. She was answered! She had 14 children and died shortly after the birth of her last child in 1853. Of the 13 surviving children, including 8 boys, six became priests: two in religious orders, one diocesan priest, one bishop, one archbishop, and one cardinal. Of the five daughters, four became nuns. What a blessing for the family and what effects for all of England! All of the Vaughan children had a happy childhood because their holy mother had the ability to naturally associate spiritual life and religious obligations with fun and joy. By the mother's will, daily life included prayers and Holy Mass in the house chapel, as well as music, sports, amateur theater, horseback riding, and playtime. The children never grew bored when their mother told them the lives of the saints, who slowly became their intimate friends. Eliza also took her children on visits and to care for the sick and the suffering in the neighborhood, so that they could learn, on these occasions, to be generous, to make sacrifices, and to give their savings and toys to the poor.
She passed away shortly after the birth of her fourteenth child, John. Two months after her death, Colonel Vaughan, convinced that she had been a gift from Providence, wrote in a letter: “Today, during adoration, I thanked the Lord for having been able to return to Him my beloved wife. I opened my heart to Him, full of gratitude for having given me Eliza as a model and guide, to whom I am still spiritually bound. What a marvelous consolation and grace she gives me! I still see her as I always saw her before the Blessed Sacrament, with that pure and human gentleness that lit up her face during prayer.”
Work in the Lord's vineyard
The numerous vocations among the Vaughan children are truly an extraordinary heritage in the history of the United Kingdom and a blessing that came primarily from their mother, Eliza. When Herbert, the oldest son, at sixteen, announced to his parents that he wanted to become a priest, the reactions were different. His mother, who had prayed fervently for this to happen, smiled and said: “My son, I knew it for a long time.” However, his father needed a little time to accept the announcement, as he had placed many hopes on his eldest son, the heir to the family estate, and had envisioned a brilliant military career for him. Who could have imagined that Herbert would become the Archbishop of Westminster, founder of Mill Hill, and eventually a cardinal?
But the father also soon became convinced and wrote to a friend: “If God wants Herbert for Himself, He can have all the others too.” Reginald, however, married, as did Francis Baynham, who inherited the family estate. God also called nine other Vaughan children. Roger, the second, became a Benedictine prior and later the beloved Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, where he had the cathedral built. Kenelm became a Cistercian and later a diocesan priest. Joseph, the fourth son of the Vaughans, was a Benedictine like his brother Roger and founded a new abbey. Bernard, perhaps the most lively of all, who loved dance and sports, and never missed a fun event, became a Jesuit. It is said that the day before he entered the order, he attended a ball and told his partner: “This is my last dance because I will be a Jesuit!” Surprised, the young woman exclaimed: “But please! You, who love the world so much and dance so wonderfully, want to become a Jesuit?” The answer, which can be interpreted in various ways, is very beautiful: “Exactly for that reason, I give myself to God!” John, the youngest, was ordained a priest by his brother Herbert and later became the Bishop of Salford in England. Of the five Vaughan daughters, four became nuns. Gladis entered the Order of the Visitation, Teresa became a Sister of Mercy, Claire a Poor Clare, and Mary became the prioress of the Augustinians. Margaret, the fifth daughter, also wanted to be a nun but couldn’t due to her poor health. She lived at home as a consecrated person and spent the last years of her life in a convent.