The Death and Resurrection of the Church of England

But among the deluded nations, none drank more deeply of the cup of error than England. For many centuries this country had been conspicuous in the Christian world for the orthodoxy of its belief, as also for the number of its saints. But by a misfortune never to be sufficiently lamented, and by an unfathomable judgment from above, its Church shared a fate which seemed the least to threaten it. The lust and avarice of one despotic sovereign threw down the fair edifice, and tore it off the rock on which it had hitherto stood. Henry VIII., at first a valiant asserter of the Catholic faith against Luther, giving way to the violent passions which he had not sufficient courage to curb, renounced the supreme jurisdiction which the Pope had always held in the Church, presumed to arrogate to himself that power in his own dominions, and thus gave a deadly blow to religion. --Fr. Muller http://writer.zoho.com/public/immaculate/The-Catholic-Dogma1

St. Paul of the Cross:

Paul corresponded with these, by uniting
himself more closely to the Sovereign Good in the way of loving
and suffering. He spent many hours in holy meditations, during
which he felt himself sometimes inflamed with the most burning
desires to drink with Jesus Christ the chalice of his Passion,
sometimes with fervent zeal for the conversion of unhappy sinners,
or of infidels, and particularly for the conversion of England.

There is no telling how many tears he shed, how many sighs
he breathed out to heaven, how many prayers he put up to God,
for the return of England to the Catholic church. Often he used
to say with great feeling : Ah, England, England, let us pray
for England. I could not help doing it even if I wished ; for as
soon as I begin to pray, that unhappy kingdom comes before
me. It is now fifty years that I have been praying for the
conversion of England. I do it every morning in the holy
mass. What may be God's intentions concerning that kingdom
I know not : perhaps he will yet have mercy on it, and the day
will come when he will by his goodness bring it to the true .
faith. Well, let us pray for this blessing and leave it in God's
hands." One day when he was ill, the infirmarian came into his
room, and found him as in an ecstacy ; he had to shake him three
times at least before he came to himself. He then exclaimed :
Oh, where was I just now ? I was in spirit in England, considering
the great martyrs of times past, and praying God for
that kingdom. It pleased God in part to console his servant ;

St. Dominic Savio:

Last of all we cannot but be struck by the extraordinary fact of Domenico's interest in England, as mentioned in chapter ten, and his wonderful vision narrated in chapter nineteen. As far as I know, there is nothing to show why this little Italian schoolboy should have felt any interest in England, or indeed how he came to know anything about it. It reminds one of the case of St. Paul of the Cross, except that it is a much more wonderful phenomenon in the case of a mere child. For this reason I feel specially pleased to see the life in an English dress...

Dominic made himself acquainted chiefly with the lives of those Saints who had spent their lives in the salvation of souls. A favourite topic with him was the missionary life, and what missionaries were actually undertaking at that time; and as it was impossible for him to help them materially, he offered daily prayers for their welfare, and at least one Communion a week. Strangely enough I have often heard him exclaim: "How many souls there are in England awaiting our assistance; there is nothing would please me more, had I the strength and virtue, than to go there and help, by preaching and good works, to gain them to Jesus Christ." He frequently lamented the lack of zeal in this direction, and also as regards the proper instruction of children in the truths of the Faith.
...
It was remarkable that he often spoke about the Sovereign Pontiff, and expressed the desire of being able to see him, as he had something of great importance to tell him. As he had repeated this on several occasions, I one day asked him what the important matter was. He replied: "If I could have an interview with the Pope, I would tell him, that in spite of the great tribulations which he has to endure at present he should never slacken in his particular solicitude for England: God is preparing a great triumph for Catholicism in that kingdom."

"Why, what grounds have you for that statement?"

"I will tell you, but do not mention it to others, for they might think it ridiculous. But if you go to Rome, tell Pius IX. for me. This is why I think so. One morning, during my thanksgiving after Communion, I had a repeated distraction, which was strange for me; I thought I saw a great stretch of country enveloped in a thick mist, and it was filled with a multitude of people. They were moving about, but like men, who, having missed their way, are not sure of their footing. Somebody near by said: 'This is England.' I was going to ask some questions about it when I saw His Holiness Pius IX. as I had seen him represented in pictures. He was majestically clad, and was carrying a shining torch with which he approached the multitude as if to enlighten their darkness. As he drew near, the light of the torch seemed to disperse the mist, and the people were left in broad daylight. 'This torch,' said my informant, 'is the Catholic religion which is to illuminate England.' "

When I was in Rome in 1858 I related this to the Holy Father, who was greatly interested and said: "What you have told me confirms me in my resolution to do all that is possible for England, which has long been the object of my special care. What you have related is, to put it at its lowest estimation, the counsel of a devout soul."

[When in Rome in 1858 Don Bosco related this
to the Sovereign Pontiff, who listened with interest
and declared that he was not surprised. His Holiness
had just then established the Catholic Hierarchy in
England, and every day heard of some new conversion
in that noble country. Source]
...
When he was going he turned to me and said: "Then you will not have my body with you, and I must needs take it to Mondonio? It would have been but a brief inconvenience and then all would be over . . . . But the Will of God be done. If you go to Rome do not forget the message I have given you concerning England; pray that I may have a happy death, and that we may see each other again in Heaven.

Source: St. Dominic of Savio

St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney:

I was speaking of prayer for England, and of the sufferings of
our poorer Catholics on account of their faith; and
he [St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney] was listening, his eyes nearly closed, when suddenly
he opened their singular light in all its brightness full
upon me, and breaking in on the narrative in a way
I shall never forget, with the manner of one giving a
confidence, he said: 'But I believe that the Church
in England will return again to its ancient splendour.' --Life of the Curé d'Ars

Fr. Charles Dallet:

La résurrection du catholicisme en Angleterre a-t-elle rien de plus frappant, de plus surnaturel que sa résurrection au Japon? (Is not the resurrection of Catholicism in England more striking, more supernatural than the resurrection in Japan?) [The resurrection of England is the Oxford Movement, the resurrection of Japan is the finding of the Kirishitans] Fr. Dallet: http://books.google.com/books?id=jXFCAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA394&dq=inauthor:charles+inauthor:dallet&as_brr=1&ei=peq4R5GeDIzWiwGTibXZBQ#PPP17,M1