ENGLISH SAINTS AND MARTYRS AUGUST 22-28
August 22
St. Sigfrid. Sigfrid, who died in the year 690, was a deacon at Wearmouth Abbey. He was known for his knowledge of scripture and for his frail health. He was elected coadjutor abbot in 688 on the death of St. Erstwine while Abbot St. Benedict Biscop was in Rome. Sigfrid died soon after St. Benedict.
St. Andrew the Scot, 877 A.D. Archdeacon and companion of St. Donatus. Andrew and his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, were born in Ireland of noble parents. They were educated by St. Donatus, and when Donatus went on a pilgrimage to Italy, Andrew accompanied him. In Fiesole, through a miracle, Donatus was elected bishop. Andrew was ordained the archdeacon of Fiesole, serving Donatus for forty-seven years. He also founded a monastery in Mensola, Italy. Andrew died shortly after Donatus, but his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, was carried by an angel to his bedside, all the way from Ireland.
St. Arnulf, 9th century. Hermit, venerated at Arnulphsbury or Eynesbury, in England.
Bl. William Lacey, 1582 A.D. Martyr of England. Born in Horton, West Riding, Yorkshire, he distinguished himself as a lawyer and as an ardent Catholic, using his house as a refuge for the much oppressed Catholics of the time. Following the death of his second wife in 1579, he left England and studied at Reims, France, in preparation for his eventual ordination at Rome. William returned to England and worked in the area of Yorkshire until his arrest. He was arrested in York Prison while participating in the Eucharistic ceremony being sung in the cell of Blessed Thomas Bell. Condemned, he was executed at Knavesmaire, just outside of York with Blessed Richard Kirkman. William was beatified in 1886.
St. Ethelgitha. Benedictine abbess of Northumbria, England.
St. Gunifort. A martyr of Pavia, Italy. He was Irish, Scottish, or English.
St. John Kemble, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1599, and studied at Douai, where he was ordained in 1625. Returning to England, John labored in missions for fifty-three years. At the age of eighty-one, he was arrested at Pembridge Castle, the home of his brother. He was falsely charged in the Titus Oates Plot and condemned for being a Catholic. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Hereford. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
St. John Wall, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born near Preston, England, and was educated at Douai and Rome and ordained in 1645. In 1651 he became a Franciscan, called Father Joachim of St. Anne, returning to Worcester, England, in 1656. There he was arrested in December 1678 and imprisoned for five months. He was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Redhill. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
Bl. Richard Kirkman, 1582 A.D. English martyr. Born in Addingham, Yorkshire, he left England and studied at the famous Catholic school of Douai, France, the preparatory institution for English Catholics who would then return home and work for the reconversion of the isle. Ordained in 1579, in Reims, he sailed to England and served as a tutor for Richard Dymake’s family in Scrivelsby. Richard then went to Yorkshire and Northumberland and he was arrested near Wakefield. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered near York with Blessed William Lacey, on August 22, for denying the supremacy of Queen Elizabeth I as head of the Church of England
August 23
St. Tydfil, 480 A.D. Welsh martyr, reportedly from the clan of Brychan. She was slain by a group of pagan Picts or Saxons and is venerated at Merthyr-Tydfil, Glamorgan. Wales.
St. Ebba, 870 A.D. Abbess of Coldingham, England, on the Scottish border, called “the Younger.” She and her nuns were martyred by Danes in an invasion. She mutilated her face to discourage rape by the invading Danes. The raiders set fire to Coldingham, killing all of the nuns.
St. Eugene, 6th century. Irish missionary to England who became the first bishop of Ardstraw, in Tyrone, Ireland, now Derry. He is also listed as Eoghan, Enny, and Owen. He was born in Leinster, Ireland, and was a relative of St. Kevin of Glendalough. Kidnapped as a child, he spent years as a slave before returning to Ireland. There he helped St. Tigernach found Clones Monastery in 576.
August 24
St. Yrchard, fifth century. Scottish bishop and disciple of St. Ternan also called Yardcard. Yrchard served as a missionary among the Picts.
August 26
St. Bregwin, 764 A.D. Also Breguivine, the twelfth archbishop of Canterbury, England. He served from 761 until his death. His letters to St. Lullus of Mainz are extant and Eadmer wrote his life.
Bl. Thomas Percy, 1572 A.D. English Martyr, born in 1528. Earl of Northumberland from 1537, Thomas initially enjoyed an excellent relationship with Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603). Thomas also served Queen Mary (r. 1542-1587). Queen Elizabeth bestowed the Order of the Garter on him in 1563. He then became involved in the Rising of the North and fled to Scotland but was sold to Queen Elizabeth for two thousand pounds. For three years he languished in a prison, refusing fervently to abjure his faith in return for his freedom. Thomas was finally beheaded at York and was beatified in 1896.
St. Pandwyna, 10th century. A Scottish or Irish saint also called Pandonio. A church is dedicated to her in Cambridgeshire, England.
August 27
St. Decuman, 706 A.D. Hermit martyr, also called Dagan. He was Welsh, and he lived as a recluse in Somersetshire, England. There he was murdered in a fashion that led to his veneration as a martyr.
St. Etherius, 602 A.D. Bishop of Lyons, France, who welcomed St. Augustine when he was on his way to England. Pope St. Gregory I the Great recommended Etherius to St. Augustine. Etherius is sometimes listed as Alermius.
St. Malrubius. Martyred hermit of Merns, Scotland. He was slain by Norse invaders who landed in his area and razed the countryside.
August 28
St. Edmund Arrowsmith, 1628 A.D. St. Edmund Arrowsmith (1585 - 1628) Edmund was the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a farmer, and was born at Haydock, England. He was baptized Brian, but always used his Confirmation name of Edmund. The family was constantly harrassed for its adherence to Catholicism, and in 1605 Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1612 and sent on the English mission the following year. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until about 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Protestant bishop of Chester. He was released when King James ordered all arrested priests be freed, joined the Jesuits in 1624, and in 1628 was arrested when betrayed by a young man he had censored for an incestuous marriage. He was convicted of being a Catholic priest, sentenced to death, and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Lancaster on August 28th. He was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Blesseds John Roche and Margaret Ward. John Roche was one of the London martyrs of 1588. Blessed Margaret Ward was a gentle woman born at Congleton in Cheshire, in the service of another gentle woman, Whitall, in London. She had visited in the Bridewell prison, Mr. Richard Watson, a secular priest; to him she smuggled a rope, but in making use of it to escape, Watson had fallen and broken an arm and a leg. He was gotten away by Margaret's young Irish serving-man, John Roche, who, to assist the priest's escape, changed clothes with him and so, was himself arrested. When charged, both Blessed Margaret and Blessed John refused to disclose Mr. Watson's whereabouts. They were offered their liberty if they would ask the Queen's pardon and promise to go to church; to which they replied that they had done nothing that could reasonably offend her Majesty, and that it was against their conscience to attend a protestant church. So they were condemned. These martyrs, who suffered with such firm constancy and patience, were forbidden to speak to the people from the scaffold because their persecutors were afraid of the impression they would make; "but the very death of so many saint-like innocent men (whose lives were unimpeachable), and of several young gentlemen, which they endured with so much joy, strongly pleaded for the cause for which they died."
Bl. William Dean, 1588 A.D. Martyr of England. Born at Linton in Craven, Yorkshire, he was originally a minister who was converted to Catholicism. William left England and received ordination at Reims, France, in 1581. Returning to England, he was arrested and exiled but returned and was arrested again in London. William was executed in Nile End Green, London. He was beatified in 1929.
Bl. William Guntei, 1588A.D. Martyr of Wales. A native of Raglan, Gwent, Wales, he was a Catholic who received ordination at Reims, France, in 1587. He returned to England to work for the Catholic mission. Captured, he was hanged at Shoreditch and beatified in 1929.
Bl. Thomas Felton, 1588 A.D. English martyr. The son of Blessed John Felton, he was born at Bermondsey, England, in 1568. Leaving England to study at Reims, France, he entered the Friars Minim and went home to England to recover from an illness. He was arrested and imprisoned for two years. Released, he was again put in prison and hanged at lsleworth, London.
Bl. Thomas Holford, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Also known as Thomas Acton, he was born at Aston, in Cheshire, England. Raised a Protestant, he worked as a schoolmaster in Herefordshire until converting to the Catholic faith. He left England and was ordained at Reims in 1583. Going home, he labored in the areas around Cheshire and London until his arrest. He was hanged at Clerkenwell in London.
Bl. Hugh More, 1588 A.D. Martyr of England. He was a native of Lincolnshire, educated at Oxford. After converting while at Reims, Hugh was martyred at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by hanging. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929.
Bl. Robert Morton, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Bawtry, Yorkshire, he left England and studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome. After ordination in 1587, he returned home immediately and was soon arrested. He was executed at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Robert was beatified in 1929 as one of the Martyrs of London of 1588.
St. Rumwald, 650 A.D. Was a prince, the son of King Aldfrith and Queen Cuneburga, in the kingdom of Northumbria, England. He is said to have been only three days old when, upon his Baptism, he declared the profession of faith and then died. Venerated for centuries in parts of England.
St. Sigfrid. Sigfrid, who died in the year 690, was a deacon at Wearmouth Abbey. He was known for his knowledge of scripture and for his frail health. He was elected coadjutor abbot in 688 on the death of St. Erstwine while Abbot St. Benedict Biscop was in Rome. Sigfrid died soon after St. Benedict.
St. Andrew the Scot, 877 A.D. Archdeacon and companion of St. Donatus. Andrew and his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, were born in Ireland of noble parents. They were educated by St. Donatus, and when Donatus went on a pilgrimage to Italy, Andrew accompanied him. In Fiesole, through a miracle, Donatus was elected bishop. Andrew was ordained the archdeacon of Fiesole, serving Donatus for forty-seven years. He also founded a monastery in Mensola, Italy. Andrew died shortly after Donatus, but his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, was carried by an angel to his bedside, all the way from Ireland.
St. Arnulf, 9th century. Hermit, venerated at Arnulphsbury or Eynesbury, in England.
Bl. William Lacey, 1582 A.D. Martyr of England. Born in Horton, West Riding, Yorkshire, he distinguished himself as a lawyer and as an ardent Catholic, using his house as a refuge for the much oppressed Catholics of the time. Following the death of his second wife in 1579, he left England and studied at Reims, France, in preparation for his eventual ordination at Rome. William returned to England and worked in the area of Yorkshire until his arrest. He was arrested in York Prison while participating in the Eucharistic ceremony being sung in the cell of Blessed Thomas Bell. Condemned, he was executed at Knavesmaire, just outside of York with Blessed Richard Kirkman. William was beatified in 1886.
St. Ethelgitha. Benedictine abbess of Northumbria, England.
St. Gunifort. A martyr of Pavia, Italy. He was Irish, Scottish, or English.
St. John Kemble, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1599, and studied at Douai, where he was ordained in 1625. Returning to England, John labored in missions for fifty-three years. At the age of eighty-one, he was arrested at Pembridge Castle, the home of his brother. He was falsely charged in the Titus Oates Plot and condemned for being a Catholic. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Hereford. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
St. John Wall, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born near Preston, England, and was educated at Douai and Rome and ordained in 1645. In 1651 he became a Franciscan, called Father Joachim of St. Anne, returning to Worcester, England, in 1656. There he was arrested in December 1678 and imprisoned for five months. He was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Redhill. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.
Bl. Richard Kirkman, 1582 A.D. English martyr. Born in Addingham, Yorkshire, he left England and studied at the famous Catholic school of Douai, France, the preparatory institution for English Catholics who would then return home and work for the reconversion of the isle. Ordained in 1579, in Reims, he sailed to England and served as a tutor for Richard Dymake’s family in Scrivelsby. Richard then went to Yorkshire and Northumberland and he was arrested near Wakefield. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered near York with Blessed William Lacey, on August 22, for denying the supremacy of Queen Elizabeth I as head of the Church of England
August 23
St. Tydfil, 480 A.D. Welsh martyr, reportedly from the clan of Brychan. She was slain by a group of pagan Picts or Saxons and is venerated at Merthyr-Tydfil, Glamorgan. Wales.
St. Ebba, 870 A.D. Abbess of Coldingham, England, on the Scottish border, called “the Younger.” She and her nuns were martyred by Danes in an invasion. She mutilated her face to discourage rape by the invading Danes. The raiders set fire to Coldingham, killing all of the nuns.
St. Eugene, 6th century. Irish missionary to England who became the first bishop of Ardstraw, in Tyrone, Ireland, now Derry. He is also listed as Eoghan, Enny, and Owen. He was born in Leinster, Ireland, and was a relative of St. Kevin of Glendalough. Kidnapped as a child, he spent years as a slave before returning to Ireland. There he helped St. Tigernach found Clones Monastery in 576.
August 24
St. Yrchard, fifth century. Scottish bishop and disciple of St. Ternan also called Yardcard. Yrchard served as a missionary among the Picts.
August 26
St. Bregwin, 764 A.D. Also Breguivine, the twelfth archbishop of Canterbury, England. He served from 761 until his death. His letters to St. Lullus of Mainz are extant and Eadmer wrote his life.
Bl. Thomas Percy, 1572 A.D. English Martyr, born in 1528. Earl of Northumberland from 1537, Thomas initially enjoyed an excellent relationship with Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603). Thomas also served Queen Mary (r. 1542-1587). Queen Elizabeth bestowed the Order of the Garter on him in 1563. He then became involved in the Rising of the North and fled to Scotland but was sold to Queen Elizabeth for two thousand pounds. For three years he languished in a prison, refusing fervently to abjure his faith in return for his freedom. Thomas was finally beheaded at York and was beatified in 1896.
St. Pandwyna, 10th century. A Scottish or Irish saint also called Pandonio. A church is dedicated to her in Cambridgeshire, England.
August 27
St. Decuman, 706 A.D. Hermit martyr, also called Dagan. He was Welsh, and he lived as a recluse in Somersetshire, England. There he was murdered in a fashion that led to his veneration as a martyr.
St. Etherius, 602 A.D. Bishop of Lyons, France, who welcomed St. Augustine when he was on his way to England. Pope St. Gregory I the Great recommended Etherius to St. Augustine. Etherius is sometimes listed as Alermius.
St. Malrubius. Martyred hermit of Merns, Scotland. He was slain by Norse invaders who landed in his area and razed the countryside.
August 28
St. Edmund Arrowsmith, 1628 A.D. St. Edmund Arrowsmith (1585 - 1628) Edmund was the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a farmer, and was born at Haydock, England. He was baptized Brian, but always used his Confirmation name of Edmund. The family was constantly harrassed for its adherence to Catholicism, and in 1605 Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1612 and sent on the English mission the following year. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until about 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Protestant bishop of Chester. He was released when King James ordered all arrested priests be freed, joined the Jesuits in 1624, and in 1628 was arrested when betrayed by a young man he had censored for an incestuous marriage. He was convicted of being a Catholic priest, sentenced to death, and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Lancaster on August 28th. He was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Blesseds John Roche and Margaret Ward. John Roche was one of the London martyrs of 1588. Blessed Margaret Ward was a gentle woman born at Congleton in Cheshire, in the service of another gentle woman, Whitall, in London. She had visited in the Bridewell prison, Mr. Richard Watson, a secular priest; to him she smuggled a rope, but in making use of it to escape, Watson had fallen and broken an arm and a leg. He was gotten away by Margaret's young Irish serving-man, John Roche, who, to assist the priest's escape, changed clothes with him and so, was himself arrested. When charged, both Blessed Margaret and Blessed John refused to disclose Mr. Watson's whereabouts. They were offered their liberty if they would ask the Queen's pardon and promise to go to church; to which they replied that they had done nothing that could reasonably offend her Majesty, and that it was against their conscience to attend a protestant church. So they were condemned. These martyrs, who suffered with such firm constancy and patience, were forbidden to speak to the people from the scaffold because their persecutors were afraid of the impression they would make; "but the very death of so many saint-like innocent men (whose lives were unimpeachable), and of several young gentlemen, which they endured with so much joy, strongly pleaded for the cause for which they died."
Bl. William Dean, 1588 A.D. Martyr of England. Born at Linton in Craven, Yorkshire, he was originally a minister who was converted to Catholicism. William left England and received ordination at Reims, France, in 1581. Returning to England, he was arrested and exiled but returned and was arrested again in London. William was executed in Nile End Green, London. He was beatified in 1929.
Bl. William Guntei, 1588A.D. Martyr of Wales. A native of Raglan, Gwent, Wales, he was a Catholic who received ordination at Reims, France, in 1587. He returned to England to work for the Catholic mission. Captured, he was hanged at Shoreditch and beatified in 1929.
Bl. Thomas Felton, 1588 A.D. English martyr. The son of Blessed John Felton, he was born at Bermondsey, England, in 1568. Leaving England to study at Reims, France, he entered the Friars Minim and went home to England to recover from an illness. He was arrested and imprisoned for two years. Released, he was again put in prison and hanged at lsleworth, London.
Bl. Thomas Holford, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Also known as Thomas Acton, he was born at Aston, in Cheshire, England. Raised a Protestant, he worked as a schoolmaster in Herefordshire until converting to the Catholic faith. He left England and was ordained at Reims in 1583. Going home, he labored in the areas around Cheshire and London until his arrest. He was hanged at Clerkenwell in London.
Bl. Hugh More, 1588 A.D. Martyr of England. He was a native of Lincolnshire, educated at Oxford. After converting while at Reims, Hugh was martyred at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by hanging. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929.
Bl. Robert Morton, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Bawtry, Yorkshire, he left England and studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome. After ordination in 1587, he returned home immediately and was soon arrested. He was executed at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Robert was beatified in 1929 as one of the Martyrs of London of 1588.
St. Rumwald, 650 A.D. Was a prince, the son of King Aldfrith and Queen Cuneburga, in the kingdom of Northumbria, England. He is said to have been only three days old when, upon his Baptism, he declared the profession of faith and then died. Venerated for centuries in parts of England.
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