Tuesday, June 21, 2005

St. John Rigby Feastday: June 21 1600

St. John Rigby Feastday: June 21 1600 Martyr of England, a lay­man executed at Southwark. He was born near Wigan, England, and was reconciled to the Church. Admitting that he was a Catholic, he was arrested and placed in Newgate Prison. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Southwark on June 21. John is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales and was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI

Monday, June 20, 2005

Five Martyred Saints June 19-20

Bl. Humphrey Middlemore 19 June
English Carthusian martyr, d. at Tyburn, London, 19 June 1535. They were then brought before the council, and required to take the oath. Not only did they refuse, but justified their attitude by able arguments from Scripture and the Fathers in favour of the papal claims. They were accordingly condemned to death, and suffered at Tyburn with the greatest fortitude and resignation

Bl. Anthony Turner Feastday: June 20 1679
Martyr of England. The son of a Protestant minister, he was born in Leicestershire and educated at Cambridge. A convert to Catholicism, Anthony went to Rome and joined the Jesuits in Flanders and was ordained in 1661. He returned to England and labored in Worcester until he was arrested in the so-called Titus Oates affair. Convicted on perjured evidence, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on June 20. Anthony was beatified in 1929
Bl. John Fenwick & John Gavan d. 1679 Feastday: June 20
Jesuit Martyrs of England. John Fenwick was born in Durham and educated at Saint-Omer. He became a Jesuit in 1656. John Gavan was born in London and entered the Jesuits in 1660. They were involved in the Titus Qates Plot hysteria, falsely charged with complicity, and put to death atTyburn with three Jesuit companions.
Bl. Thomas Whitbread d. 1679 Feastday: June 20
English Jesuit and martyr. A native of Essex, England, he studied at St. Omer, France, and entered the Jesuits in 1635. Back in England and using the alias Thomas Harcourt, he served as provincial of the Jesuit mission until his arrest on the entirely false charges of complicity in the Popish Plot. Thomas was tried for sheltering the plotters and was convicted of the charge of attempting to murder the king. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.

Bl. William Harcourt d. 1679 Feastday: June 20
Jesuit martyr of England, also called William Barrows. Born in Lancashire in 1609, he studied at St. Omer, France, where in 1632 he became a Jesuit. Returning to England in 1645, he labored in London on behalf of the Catholic mission for more than thirty years. Condemned falsely for complicity in the so-called Popish Plot, he was executed at Tyburn with five other Jesuits, He was beatified in 1929.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Bl. William Greenwood Feastday: June 16

Bl. William Greenwood Feastday: June 16 1537
Carthusian martyr of England. A lay brother in the Carthusian London Charterhouse, he was arrested for opposing the policies of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) and starved to death in Newgate Prison with six companions

All were starved to death at Newgate.

Bls. Thomas Green, Thomas Scryven, and Thomas Reding Feastday: June 15 1537
English Carthusian martyrs. Thomas Green studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, entering the London Charterhouse of the Carthusians where he took vows and received ordination. Arrested for opposing King Henry VIII's (r. 1509-1547) claim of spiritual supremacy over the English Church, Thomas was imprisoned with two other Carthusians, the lay brothers Thomas Scryven and Thomas Reding, and four other companions. All were starved to death at Newgate.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Starved to death in Newgate Prison

Bls. Thomas Green, Thomas Scryven, and Thomas Reding Feastday: June 15 1537
English Carthusian martyrs. Thomas Green studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, entering the London Charterhouse of the Carthusians where he took vows and received ordination. Arrested for opposing King Henry VIII's (r. 1509-1547) claim of spiritual supremacy over the English Church, Thomas was imprisoned with two other Carthusians, the lay brothers Thomas Scryven and Thomas Reding, and four other companions. All were starved to death at Newgate.


St. Edburga of Winchester Feastday: June 15 960
Benedictine abbess, the daughter of King Edward the Elder and his third wife Edgiva, and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great. She became a nun at Winchester Abbey, then abbess, and was known for her miracles. Her shrine is at Pershore, in Worchestershire, England.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Three English Saints-Starved to death in prison-June 6

Bl. Walter Pierson June 6 1537-
Carthusian martyr of England. A member of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London, he served as a lay brother and was arrested with his companions by English authorities for opposing the religious policies of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547). With six other Carthusians, he was starved to death in prison.

Bl. John DavyFeastday: June 6 1537 Carthusian martyr of England. A member of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London, he was an opponent of the Act of Supremacy of King Henry VIII. and was arrested and starved to death in Newgate Prison with six Carthusian companions. John was beatified in 1886.

Bl. Robert Salt Feastday: June 6 1537 Carthusian martyr. Robert was a lay brother in the Carthusian community of London who, with six other members of the order, was starved to death at Newgate by order of King Henry VIII of England after they resisted his Dissolution of the Monasteries.