ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS AND MARTYRS MAY 2-8
St. Ultan
Feastday: May 2
686 A.D.
Benedictine abbot.The brother of Sts. Fursey and Foil Ian, he followed them into the monastic life, entering the community of monks at Burgh Castle, nearyarmouth, East Anglia, England. He subsequently went to France to escape the predations of the Mercians and was greeted with enthusiasm by St. Gertrude of Nivelles. After serving as chaplain to Gertrude's nuns, be became the founding abbot of Fosses Monastery on land given to him by Sts. Gertrude and Ita. He also ruled Peronne.
St. Neachtian
Feastday: May 2
Irish confessor. He was a friend of St. Patrick, possibly a relative, and was supposedly present when Patrick died.
St. Ethelwin
Feast day: May 3.
(d. eighth century) Second bishop of Lindsey, England. He accompanied St. Egbert to Ireland, where he died.
St. Scannal
Feastday: May 3
563 A.D.
Disciple of St. Columba and an Irish missionary. He was associated with the region of CellColeraine.
St. John Houghton
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
Protomartyr of the English Reformation. A native of Essex, he served as a parish priest after graduating from Cambridge. He then became a Carthusian and the prior of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London. As an opponent of King Henry Viii’s Acts of Succession and Supremacy, he was arrested with other Carthusians but was released temporarily. He then refused to swear to the Oath of Supremacy, the first man to make this refusal. Dragged through the streets, he was executed at Tyburn with four companions by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Parts of his remains were put on display in assorted spots throughout London. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
St. Augustine Webster
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, canonized in 1970. Augustine was a Carthusian prior of the Charterhouse at Axholme, England. He was arrested in London and martyred at Tyburn.
St. John Payne
1582 A.D.
English martyr. Payne was born at Peterborough, England, and was possibly a convert. In 1574, he departed England and went to Douai, where he was ordained in 1576. Immediately thereafter, he was sent back to England with St. Cuthbert Mayne. His labors met with considerable success, but he was arrested within a year. Released by English authorities, he departed the island but came back in 1579. While staying in Warwickshire on the estate of one Lady Petre, he was arrested once more after being denounced by John Eliot, a known murderer who made a career out of denouncing Catholics and priests for bounty. Imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London for nine months, he was finally condemned to death and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Chelmsford. He is one of the Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
St. Robert Lawrence
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. After joining the Carthusians, he served as prior of the Charterhouse at Beauvale, Nottinghamshire, at the time when King Henry VIII of England broke with Rome and launched the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Robert went with St. John Houghton to see Thomas Cromwell, who had them arrested and placed in the Tower of London. When they refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, they were cruelly tortured and executed at Tyburn, making them among the first martyrs from the order in England. Beatified in 1886, Robert was canonized by Pope Paul VI with the other martyrs in 1970.
St. Conleth
Feastday: May 4
519 A.D.
Irish metalworker and hermit, also called Conlaed. He lived as a recluse at Old Connell on the Liffey, and was a close friend of St. Brigid. In time he served as spiritual director of St. Brigid’s convent at Kildare. A copyist and skilled illuminator of manuscripts, he is noted for the crozier that he fashioned for St. Finbar of Termon Barry.
St. Ethelred
Feastday: May 4
King of Mercia who resigned his throne to become a Benedictine monk at Bardney, England. He became the abbot at Bardney.
Forty Martyrs of England & Wales
Feastday: May 4
A famed group of Catholic martyrs who were put to death for the faith and who received canonization on October 25 , 1970, by Pope Paul VI. The saints belonging to this group are covered in individual entries, but the members are: Alban Roe (January 21), Alexander Bryant (December 1), Ambrose Barlow (September 11), Anne Line (February 27), Augustine Webster (May 4), Cuthbert Mayne (November 29), David Lewis (August 27), Edmund Arrowsmith (August 28), Edmund Campion (December 1), Edmund Gennings (December 10), Henry Morse (February 1), Henry Walpole (April 7), John Almond (December 5), John Boste (July24), John Houghton (May 4), John Jones (July 12), John Kemble (August 22), John Lloyd (July 22), John Payne (April 2), John Plessington (July 19), John Rigby (June 19), John Roberts (December 9), John Stone (May 12), John Southworth (June 27), John Wall (August 22), Luke Kirby (May 30), Margaret Clitherow (October 21), Margaret Ward (August 30), Nicholas Owen (March 2), Philip Evans (July 22), Philip Howard (October 19), Polydore Plasden (December 10), Ralph Sherwin (December 1), Richard Gwyn (October 17), Richard Reynolds (May 4), Robert Lawrence (May 4), Robert Southwell (February 21), Swithun Wells (December 10), and Thomas Garnet (June 26).
Bl. John Haile
Feastday: May 5
1535 A.D.
Martyr of England, a companion in death of St. John Houghton at Tyburn. He was an elderly secular priest, the vicar of Isleworth, Middlesex, when he was arrested by King Henry VIII’s men. John was executed at Tyburn. He was beatified in 1886.
St. Aventinus
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1642
Feastday: May 5
1180 A.D.
Hermit and companion of St. Thomas Becket. A hermit in Tours, France, he was ordained a deacon by St. Thomas and accompanied him to the Synod of Tours in 1163. When Thomas was martyred In 1170 Aventinus went toTouraine, France, remaining there until his death.
St. Echa
Feastday: May 5
767 A.D.
Anglo-Saxon priest hermit, also called Etha. He was a Benedictine who lived at Crayk, near York, England. Hermits such as Echa served as a link to the early Desert Fathers of Egypt.
Bl. Edmund Ignatius Rice
Feastday: May 5
1844 A.D.
The founder of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, often called the Irish Christian Brothers. Edmund was born in Wescourt, Ireland, in June, 1762, the fourth of seven sons in a fanning family At seventeen he began working at his uncle’s import-export business in Waterford. He later inherited the business. Married at twenty-five, Edmund lost his wife two years later and was left with a sickly infant daughter. A devout man, Edmund dedicated himself to charitable works. Though he saw how the economic and political storms of the day were impacting Ireland, he desired a religious vocation in the contemplative life. However, the Bishop of Waterford drew Edmund’s attention to the bands of ragged youth in the streets, asking Edmund if he, too, planned to abandon them. Encouraged by Pope Pius VII and Bishop Hussey, Edmund sold his business, arranged for his daughter’s care, and opened his first school in 1802
St. Hydroc
Feastday: May 5
5th century
The patron saint of Lanhydroc Cornwall, England.
Bl. Anthony Middleton
1590 A.D.
Feastday: May 6
English martyr from Middleton, Yorkshire. Anthony was educated and ordained at Reims, France, and then went back to England to serve the remaining Catholics of that land. Arrested and charged, Anthony was hanged, drawn, and quartered in London.
Bl. Edward Jones
Feastday: May 6
English martyr
Blessed Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, Martyrs Edward Jones from Wales and Anthony Middleton from Yorkshire were both educated at the Douai College in Rheims. They became priests and were sent to the English mission in the time of Elizabeth II. Middleton was the first to arrive in England, in 1586, and pursued the ministry for some time without being discovered, helped considerably by his youthful appearance and slight stature. Jones followed, in 1588, and quickly became known by the English Catholics as a devout and eloquent preacher. The two men of God were hunted down and captured with the aid of spies posing as Catholics, and they were hanged before the very doors of the houses in Fleet Street and Clerkenwell where they were arrested. Their trial is regarded as full of irregularities; the reason for the summary justice dispensed to them was spelled out in large letters: "For treason and foreign invasion." After offering their death for the forgiveness of their sins, the spread of the true Faith, and the conversion of heretics, they died on May 6, 1590.
St. John of Beverly
Feastday: May 7
John was born at Harpham, Yorkshire, England. He studied under Adrian at St. Theodore's School in Kent, and on his returen to his native land, became a monk at Whitby. He was named bishop of Hexham in 687 and then transferred to York as metropolitan in 705, succeeding St. Bosa. John was known for his holiness, his preference for the contemplative life, and his miracles, many of which are recounted in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the author of which he had ordained. In ill health, John resigned the bishopric of York in 717 and retired to Beverly Abbey, which he had founded, and remained there until his death on May 7. His shrine was for centuries one of the most popular pilgrim centers in England. He was canonized by Pope Benedict IX in 1037.
St. Liudhard
Feastday: May 7
600 A.D.
Bishop and chaplain to Queen Bertha, daughter of King Charibert of Paris, France. When Bertha went to England to marry King Ethelbert of Kent, Liudhard accompanied her. He played an important role in King Ethelbert’s conversion and Baptism by St. Augustine of Canterbury. Liudhard, also called Liphard and Letard, was buried at Canterbury.
St. Abran
Feastday: May 8
515 A.D.
Hermit also called Gibrian. From Ireland, Abran, the eldest of five brothers and three sisters, sailed to Brittany with his siblings. There all of them continued their hermitages and greatly influenced the people of the area. Abran and his brothers and sisters were all declared saints.
St. Odrian
Feastday: May 8
5th century
One of the first bishops of Waterford, Ireland. Waterford was part of an ancient deanery system at the time, ruled by abbot bishops. Odrian was a prelate.
Feastday: May 2
686 A.D.
Benedictine abbot.The brother of Sts. Fursey and Foil Ian, he followed them into the monastic life, entering the community of monks at Burgh Castle, nearyarmouth, East Anglia, England. He subsequently went to France to escape the predations of the Mercians and was greeted with enthusiasm by St. Gertrude of Nivelles. After serving as chaplain to Gertrude's nuns, be became the founding abbot of Fosses Monastery on land given to him by Sts. Gertrude and Ita. He also ruled Peronne.
St. Neachtian
Feastday: May 2
Irish confessor. He was a friend of St. Patrick, possibly a relative, and was supposedly present when Patrick died.
St. Ethelwin
Feast day: May 3.
(d. eighth century) Second bishop of Lindsey, England. He accompanied St. Egbert to Ireland, where he died.
St. Scannal
Feastday: May 3
563 A.D.
Disciple of St. Columba and an Irish missionary. He was associated with the region of CellColeraine.
St. John Houghton
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
Protomartyr of the English Reformation. A native of Essex, he served as a parish priest after graduating from Cambridge. He then became a Carthusian and the prior of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London. As an opponent of King Henry Viii’s Acts of Succession and Supremacy, he was arrested with other Carthusians but was released temporarily. He then refused to swear to the Oath of Supremacy, the first man to make this refusal. Dragged through the streets, he was executed at Tyburn with four companions by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Parts of his remains were put on display in assorted spots throughout London. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
St. Augustine Webster
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, canonized in 1970. Augustine was a Carthusian prior of the Charterhouse at Axholme, England. He was arrested in London and martyred at Tyburn.
St. John Payne
1582 A.D.
English martyr. Payne was born at Peterborough, England, and was possibly a convert. In 1574, he departed England and went to Douai, where he was ordained in 1576. Immediately thereafter, he was sent back to England with St. Cuthbert Mayne. His labors met with considerable success, but he was arrested within a year. Released by English authorities, he departed the island but came back in 1579. While staying in Warwickshire on the estate of one Lady Petre, he was arrested once more after being denounced by John Eliot, a known murderer who made a career out of denouncing Catholics and priests for bounty. Imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London for nine months, he was finally condemned to death and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Chelmsford. He is one of the Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
St. Robert Lawrence
Feastday: May 4
1535 A.D.
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. After joining the Carthusians, he served as prior of the Charterhouse at Beauvale, Nottinghamshire, at the time when King Henry VIII of England broke with Rome and launched the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Robert went with St. John Houghton to see Thomas Cromwell, who had them arrested and placed in the Tower of London. When they refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, they were cruelly tortured and executed at Tyburn, making them among the first martyrs from the order in England. Beatified in 1886, Robert was canonized by Pope Paul VI with the other martyrs in 1970.
St. Conleth
Feastday: May 4
519 A.D.
Irish metalworker and hermit, also called Conlaed. He lived as a recluse at Old Connell on the Liffey, and was a close friend of St. Brigid. In time he served as spiritual director of St. Brigid’s convent at Kildare. A copyist and skilled illuminator of manuscripts, he is noted for the crozier that he fashioned for St. Finbar of Termon Barry.
St. Ethelred
Feastday: May 4
King of Mercia who resigned his throne to become a Benedictine monk at Bardney, England. He became the abbot at Bardney.
Forty Martyrs of England & Wales
Feastday: May 4
A famed group of Catholic martyrs who were put to death for the faith and who received canonization on October 25 , 1970, by Pope Paul VI. The saints belonging to this group are covered in individual entries, but the members are: Alban Roe (January 21), Alexander Bryant (December 1), Ambrose Barlow (September 11), Anne Line (February 27), Augustine Webster (May 4), Cuthbert Mayne (November 29), David Lewis (August 27), Edmund Arrowsmith (August 28), Edmund Campion (December 1), Edmund Gennings (December 10), Henry Morse (February 1), Henry Walpole (April 7), John Almond (December 5), John Boste (July24), John Houghton (May 4), John Jones (July 12), John Kemble (August 22), John Lloyd (July 22), John Payne (April 2), John Plessington (July 19), John Rigby (June 19), John Roberts (December 9), John Stone (May 12), John Southworth (June 27), John Wall (August 22), Luke Kirby (May 30), Margaret Clitherow (October 21), Margaret Ward (August 30), Nicholas Owen (March 2), Philip Evans (July 22), Philip Howard (October 19), Polydore Plasden (December 10), Ralph Sherwin (December 1), Richard Gwyn (October 17), Richard Reynolds (May 4), Robert Lawrence (May 4), Robert Southwell (February 21), Swithun Wells (December 10), and Thomas Garnet (June 26).
Bl. John Haile
Feastday: May 5
1535 A.D.
Martyr of England, a companion in death of St. John Houghton at Tyburn. He was an elderly secular priest, the vicar of Isleworth, Middlesex, when he was arrested by King Henry VIII’s men. John was executed at Tyburn. He was beatified in 1886.
St. Aventinus
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1642
Feastday: May 5
1180 A.D.
Hermit and companion of St. Thomas Becket. A hermit in Tours, France, he was ordained a deacon by St. Thomas and accompanied him to the Synod of Tours in 1163. When Thomas was martyred In 1170 Aventinus went toTouraine, France, remaining there until his death.
St. Echa
Feastday: May 5
767 A.D.
Anglo-Saxon priest hermit, also called Etha. He was a Benedictine who lived at Crayk, near York, England. Hermits such as Echa served as a link to the early Desert Fathers of Egypt.
Bl. Edmund Ignatius Rice
Feastday: May 5
1844 A.D.
The founder of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, often called the Irish Christian Brothers. Edmund was born in Wescourt, Ireland, in June, 1762, the fourth of seven sons in a fanning family At seventeen he began working at his uncle’s import-export business in Waterford. He later inherited the business. Married at twenty-five, Edmund lost his wife two years later and was left with a sickly infant daughter. A devout man, Edmund dedicated himself to charitable works. Though he saw how the economic and political storms of the day were impacting Ireland, he desired a religious vocation in the contemplative life. However, the Bishop of Waterford drew Edmund’s attention to the bands of ragged youth in the streets, asking Edmund if he, too, planned to abandon them. Encouraged by Pope Pius VII and Bishop Hussey, Edmund sold his business, arranged for his daughter’s care, and opened his first school in 1802
St. Hydroc
Feastday: May 5
5th century
The patron saint of Lanhydroc Cornwall, England.
Bl. Anthony Middleton
1590 A.D.
Feastday: May 6
English martyr from Middleton, Yorkshire. Anthony was educated and ordained at Reims, France, and then went back to England to serve the remaining Catholics of that land. Arrested and charged, Anthony was hanged, drawn, and quartered in London.
Bl. Edward Jones
Feastday: May 6
English martyr
Blessed Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, Martyrs Edward Jones from Wales and Anthony Middleton from Yorkshire were both educated at the Douai College in Rheims. They became priests and were sent to the English mission in the time of Elizabeth II. Middleton was the first to arrive in England, in 1586, and pursued the ministry for some time without being discovered, helped considerably by his youthful appearance and slight stature. Jones followed, in 1588, and quickly became known by the English Catholics as a devout and eloquent preacher. The two men of God were hunted down and captured with the aid of spies posing as Catholics, and they were hanged before the very doors of the houses in Fleet Street and Clerkenwell where they were arrested. Their trial is regarded as full of irregularities; the reason for the summary justice dispensed to them was spelled out in large letters: "For treason and foreign invasion." After offering their death for the forgiveness of their sins, the spread of the true Faith, and the conversion of heretics, they died on May 6, 1590.
St. John of Beverly
Feastday: May 7
John was born at Harpham, Yorkshire, England. He studied under Adrian at St. Theodore's School in Kent, and on his returen to his native land, became a monk at Whitby. He was named bishop of Hexham in 687 and then transferred to York as metropolitan in 705, succeeding St. Bosa. John was known for his holiness, his preference for the contemplative life, and his miracles, many of which are recounted in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the author of which he had ordained. In ill health, John resigned the bishopric of York in 717 and retired to Beverly Abbey, which he had founded, and remained there until his death on May 7. His shrine was for centuries one of the most popular pilgrim centers in England. He was canonized by Pope Benedict IX in 1037.
St. Liudhard
Feastday: May 7
600 A.D.
Bishop and chaplain to Queen Bertha, daughter of King Charibert of Paris, France. When Bertha went to England to marry King Ethelbert of Kent, Liudhard accompanied her. He played an important role in King Ethelbert’s conversion and Baptism by St. Augustine of Canterbury. Liudhard, also called Liphard and Letard, was buried at Canterbury.
St. Abran
Feastday: May 8
515 A.D.
Hermit also called Gibrian. From Ireland, Abran, the eldest of five brothers and three sisters, sailed to Brittany with his siblings. There all of them continued their hermitages and greatly influenced the people of the area. Abran and his brothers and sisters were all declared saints.
St. Odrian
Feastday: May 8
5th century
One of the first bishops of Waterford, Ireland. Waterford was part of an ancient deanery system at the time, ruled by abbot bishops. Odrian was a prelate.
Comments