English Speaking Saints And Martyrs

Bl. William Howard Feastday: December 29 1680 Martyr of England. He was born the son of Thomas, earl of Arundel, in 1616 and raised a Catholic. The grandson of Blessed Philip Howard and a member of the noble family of the Howards, William held the title of Viscount Stafford. He was made a Knight of the Bath by King Charles I (r.1624-1649), and married Mary Stafford in 1637. In 1640, William was named Baron Stafford. A county in Virginia in the United States bears his name. He was arrested on the false accusation of complicity in the so-called Popish Plot and imprisoned for two years before finally being beheaded on Tower Hill on December 29. He was beatified in 1929

St. John Almond Feastday: December 5 1612 One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A native of Allerton, England, he was educated in Ireland and then at Reims and in Rome. After his ordination in 1598, he returned to England as a missionary, and was arrested in 1602. John was imprisoned in 1608 for a time and arrested again in 1612. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. St. John Roberts Feastday: December 9 1610 Benedictine member of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales, and studied at Oxford. John became a Catholic and went to Paris in 1598, Studying and becoming a Benedictine priest in 1602. He then returned to England and aided so many victims of the plague of 1603 that he became quite famous. He left England for a time to establish a seminary but then returned to London. He had many adventures until his final arrest for being a priest. With Blessed Thomas Somers, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Bl. Thomas S

Bl. Alexander Briant Feastday: December 1 1581 Missionary and martyr, one of the English priests slain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Alexander was born in Somerset, England, circa 1556 , and entered Oxford University at a young age. He was called "the beautiful Oxford youth" because of his handsome appearance and the radiance of his holiness. Alexander converted to Catholicism at Oxford and met Richard Holtby, following Holtby to the English seminary college at Reims, France. He was ordained a priest there on March 29, 1578. Returning to England, Alexander worked in Somerset and was caught up in a search by British authorities in April 1581. Taken to the Tower of London, he was subjected to inhuman tortures but did not reveal the names of other priests. He also wrote to the Jesuit Fathers, asking permission to join. He was accepted. In November 1581, he was condemned to death by an English court. Again Alexander suffered hideous tortures and died on December 1,1581, at t