ENGLISH SAINTS AND MARTYRS JULY 18-JULY 24
July 18
St. Theneva, 7th century. Also called Thenova, the patron saint of Glasgow, Scotland, with her son St. Kentigern.
St. Minnborinus, 986 A.D. Benedictine abbot. He was born in Ireland and became abbot of St. Martin Monastery in Cologne, Germany, in 974. There he promoted monastic reform and scholarly pursuits.
St. Edburga of Bicester, 7th century. Nun at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, the daughter of Penda , the pagan king of Mercia. Her shrine is at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, but her relics, originally at Bicester, were taken to Flanders, Belgium.
July 19
St. John Plessington, 1697 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born at Dimples, Lancashire, England, and the son of a Royalist Catholic. Educated at Valladolid, Spain, and St. Omer’s in France. he was ordained in Segovia in 1662. John returned to England after ordination and served as a missionary in Cheshire. He became a tutor at Puddington Hall near Chester until his arrest and martyrdom by hanging at Barrowshill, Boughton. near Chester. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
July 20
St. Etheidwitha. Widowed queen of King Alfred the Great of England. She was an Anglo-Saxon princess, also called Ealsitha. Etheldwitha founded a convent at Winchester in the Benedictine rule and became the abbess there.
July 22
Sts. Philip Evans and John Lloyd- Martyrs . Philip Evans was born at Monmouth in 1645, was educated at Saint-Omer, and joined the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty. In 1675 he was ordained at Liege and sent to South Wales. He was soon well known for his zeal, but no active notice was taken by the authorities until the scare of Oates plot, when in the November of 1678 John Arnold, of Llanvihangel Court near Abergavenny, a justice of the peace and hunter of priests, offered a reward of £200 for his arrest. Father Evans refused to leave his flock, and early in December was caught at the house of Christopher Turberville at Sker in Glamorgan. He refused the oath and was confined alone in an underground dungeon in Cardiff Castle. Two or three weeks afterwards he was joined by Mr. John Lloyd, a secular priest, who had been taken at Penlline in Glamorgan. He was a Breconshire man, who had taken the missionary oath at Valladolid in 1649 and been sent to minister in his own country.
After five months the two prisoners were brought up for trial at the shire-hall in Cardiff, charged not with complicity in the plot but as priests who had come unlawfully into the realm. It had been difficult to collect witnesses against them, and they were condemned and sentenced by Mr. Justice Owen Wynne principally on the evidence of two poor women who were suborned to say that they had seen Father Evans celebrating Mass. On their return to prison they were better treated and allowed a good deal of liberty, so that when the under-sheriff came on July 21 to announce that their execution was fixed for the morrow, Father Evans was playing a game of tennis and would not return to his cell till he had finished it. Part of his few remaining hours of life he spent playing on the harp and talking to the numerous people who came to say farewell to himself and Mr. Lloyd when the news got around. The execution took place on Gallows Field (at the north-eastern end of what is now Richmond Road, Cardiff). St Philip died first, after having addressed the people in Welsh and English, and saying ‘Adieu, Mr. Lloyd, though for a little time, for we shall shortly meet again, to St John, who made only a very brief speech because, as he said, ‘I never was a good speaker in my life.
St. Dabius. Irish missionary to Scotland called Davius in some lists. He was part of the great monastic missionary effort in the British Isles, and then in Europe. Several churches there bear his name.
St. Movean. Abbot and companion of St. Patrick also called Biteus. Movean was abbot of Inis-Coosery, County Down, Ireland. He served as a missionary in Perthshire and died as a hermit.
July 23
Sts. Rasyphus and Ravennus, 5th century. Martyrs. They came from Britain, fleeing the islands upon the invasions by the Anglo Saxons. Settling in Gaul, they became hermits and were martyred, perhaps by Arian Goths who were advancing through the West. Their relics are enshrined in the cathedral of Bayeux.
July 24
St. Declan. St. Declan First bishop of Ardmore in Ireland July 24 was baptized by St. Colman, and preached the faith in that country a little before the arrival of St. Patrick, who confirmed the Episcopal see of Ardmore, in a synod at Cashel in 448. Many miracles are ascribed to St. Declan, and he has ever been much honored in the viscounty of Dessee, anciently Nandesi.
Sts. Wulfhade and Ruffinus, 7th century. Wulfhade and Ruffinus (d.c. seventh century). Martyrs of England. Little is known about them with any certainty, although according to tradition they were two princes of Mercia who were baptized by St. Chad and were swiftly executed by their pagan father. They were martyred at Stone, Staffordshire
St. John Boste, 1594 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born at Dufton, at Westmoreland, England, and studied at Oxford. Becoming a Catholic in 1576, he went to Reims and received ordination in 1581. John went back to England where he worked in the northern parts of the kingdom and became the object of a massive manhunt. He was betrayed, arrested, and taken to London. There he was crippled on the rack and returned to Dryburn near Durham. On July 24, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as a martyr of Durham.
St. Lewina, 5th century. Martyred virgin of England, a Briton slain by invading Saxons. In 1058, her relics were translated from Seaford, in Sussex, England, to Berques in Flanders, Belgium.
St. Menefrida, 5th century. Patron saint of Tredresick, in Cornwall, England. She belonged to the family of Brychan of Brecknock.
St. Theneva, 7th century. Also called Thenova, the patron saint of Glasgow, Scotland, with her son St. Kentigern.
St. Minnborinus, 986 A.D. Benedictine abbot. He was born in Ireland and became abbot of St. Martin Monastery in Cologne, Germany, in 974. There he promoted monastic reform and scholarly pursuits.
St. Edburga of Bicester, 7th century. Nun at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, the daughter of Penda , the pagan king of Mercia. Her shrine is at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, but her relics, originally at Bicester, were taken to Flanders, Belgium.
July 19
St. John Plessington, 1697 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born at Dimples, Lancashire, England, and the son of a Royalist Catholic. Educated at Valladolid, Spain, and St. Omer’s in France. he was ordained in Segovia in 1662. John returned to England after ordination and served as a missionary in Cheshire. He became a tutor at Puddington Hall near Chester until his arrest and martyrdom by hanging at Barrowshill, Boughton. near Chester. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
July 20
St. Etheidwitha. Widowed queen of King Alfred the Great of England. She was an Anglo-Saxon princess, also called Ealsitha. Etheldwitha founded a convent at Winchester in the Benedictine rule and became the abbess there.
July 22
Sts. Philip Evans and John Lloyd- Martyrs . Philip Evans was born at Monmouth in 1645, was educated at Saint-Omer, and joined the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty. In 1675 he was ordained at Liege and sent to South Wales. He was soon well known for his zeal, but no active notice was taken by the authorities until the scare of Oates plot, when in the November of 1678 John Arnold, of Llanvihangel Court near Abergavenny, a justice of the peace and hunter of priests, offered a reward of £200 for his arrest. Father Evans refused to leave his flock, and early in December was caught at the house of Christopher Turberville at Sker in Glamorgan. He refused the oath and was confined alone in an underground dungeon in Cardiff Castle. Two or three weeks afterwards he was joined by Mr. John Lloyd, a secular priest, who had been taken at Penlline in Glamorgan. He was a Breconshire man, who had taken the missionary oath at Valladolid in 1649 and been sent to minister in his own country.
After five months the two prisoners were brought up for trial at the shire-hall in Cardiff, charged not with complicity in the plot but as priests who had come unlawfully into the realm. It had been difficult to collect witnesses against them, and they were condemned and sentenced by Mr. Justice Owen Wynne principally on the evidence of two poor women who were suborned to say that they had seen Father Evans celebrating Mass. On their return to prison they were better treated and allowed a good deal of liberty, so that when the under-sheriff came on July 21 to announce that their execution was fixed for the morrow, Father Evans was playing a game of tennis and would not return to his cell till he had finished it. Part of his few remaining hours of life he spent playing on the harp and talking to the numerous people who came to say farewell to himself and Mr. Lloyd when the news got around. The execution took place on Gallows Field (at the north-eastern end of what is now Richmond Road, Cardiff). St Philip died first, after having addressed the people in Welsh and English, and saying ‘Adieu, Mr. Lloyd, though for a little time, for we shall shortly meet again, to St John, who made only a very brief speech because, as he said, ‘I never was a good speaker in my life.
St. Dabius. Irish missionary to Scotland called Davius in some lists. He was part of the great monastic missionary effort in the British Isles, and then in Europe. Several churches there bear his name.
St. Movean. Abbot and companion of St. Patrick also called Biteus. Movean was abbot of Inis-Coosery, County Down, Ireland. He served as a missionary in Perthshire and died as a hermit.
July 23
Sts. Rasyphus and Ravennus, 5th century. Martyrs. They came from Britain, fleeing the islands upon the invasions by the Anglo Saxons. Settling in Gaul, they became hermits and were martyred, perhaps by Arian Goths who were advancing through the West. Their relics are enshrined in the cathedral of Bayeux.
July 24
St. Declan. St. Declan First bishop of Ardmore in Ireland July 24 was baptized by St. Colman, and preached the faith in that country a little before the arrival of St. Patrick, who confirmed the Episcopal see of Ardmore, in a synod at Cashel in 448. Many miracles are ascribed to St. Declan, and he has ever been much honored in the viscounty of Dessee, anciently Nandesi.
Sts. Wulfhade and Ruffinus, 7th century. Wulfhade and Ruffinus (d.c. seventh century). Martyrs of England. Little is known about them with any certainty, although according to tradition they were two princes of Mercia who were baptized by St. Chad and were swiftly executed by their pagan father. They were martyred at Stone, Staffordshire
St. John Boste, 1594 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born at Dufton, at Westmoreland, England, and studied at Oxford. Becoming a Catholic in 1576, he went to Reims and received ordination in 1581. John went back to England where he worked in the northern parts of the kingdom and became the object of a massive manhunt. He was betrayed, arrested, and taken to London. There he was crippled on the rack and returned to Dryburn near Durham. On July 24, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as a martyr of Durham.
St. Lewina, 5th century. Martyred virgin of England, a Briton slain by invading Saxons. In 1058, her relics were translated from Seaford, in Sussex, England, to Berques in Flanders, Belgium.
St. Menefrida, 5th century. Patron saint of Tredresick, in Cornwall, England. She belonged to the family of Brychan of Brecknock.
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