Please note this is not a joke, William Shakespeare, famous Catholic author of the play Henry V* did write lots of other stuff. My Family and I went to an open air performance of The Tempest in the park. I looked up The Tempest in the index of The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce and was very happy to read,
"he would have been echoing in his actions [making sure Catholics had somewhere to go to Mass once he left London] the words of Prospero in the final words of the final act of the last play he wrote:
"he would have been echoing in his actions [making sure Catholics had somewhere to go to Mass once he left London] the words of Prospero in the final words of the final act of the last play he wrote:
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be reliev'd by prayer,
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.**
Desiring the prayers of the Catholic faithful in the hidden recesses of the Gatehouse, as he had desired the prayers of the audiences who watched his final play, Shakespeare disappeared into the sunset of his own life"
If you are not very bookish, Mr Pearce has a series of the same name on EWTN (Sky 589 or online) 4.30am Sundays or 9.30am Tuesdays for those of you who get up late!
*Sometimes one finds quotes in Latin or French in books with no translation, this can be quite annoying. Therefore let me say that, the 'V' in 'Henry V' is a Roman numeral meaning 5th. So it is a play about Henry The Fifth, a Welsh King of England.
**Although there are later plays attributed to collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher, The Tempest is the last play that is solely Shakespeare.
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