English Speaking Saints And Martyrs

September 19 St. Theodore of Tarsus, 690 A.D. Archbishop of Canterbury , England, and a memorable figure in the English Church. A native of Tarsus, Turkey, he was a Greek by descent. After studying in Tarsus and Athens, Greece, he went to Rome, where he became so respected that Pope St. Vitalian (r. 657-672) appointed him to succeed to the see of Canterbury in 667. After receiving consecration on March 26, 668, he set out for England in the company of Sts. Dominic Biscop and Hadrian the African, both of whom were to provide assistance and helped guarantee that Theodore's administration remained entirely orthodox. They arrived at Canterbury in May 669 and Theodore moved immediately to consolidate his position as primate of England and the metropolitan status of the see of Canterbury. To promote further unity, he convened two synods, at Hereford in 673 and at Hatfield in 680. Such was the success of his programs that the Venerable Bede wrote that Theodore was "the first archbish...

September 12 St. Ailbhe , 541 A.D. Bishop and preacher, one of the saints whose life has been woven into the myths and legends of Ireland. He was a known disciple of St. Patrick, and is called Albeus in some records. What is known about Ailbhe is that he was a missionary in Ireland, perhaps sponsored by King Aengus of Munster. He was also the first bishop of Emily in Munster, Ireland. Legends and traditions abound about his life. One claims that he was left in the woods as an infant and suckled by a wolf. This legend is prompted in part by Ailbhe's later life. An old she-wolf came to Ailbhe for protection from a hunting party, resting her head upon his breast. He is supposed to have been baptized by a priest in Northern Ireland, possibly in a British settlement. The so called Acts of Ailbhe are filled with traditions that are not reliable. Ailbhe was noted for his charity and kindness, as well as his eloquent sermons. He is beloved in Ireland. September 14 St. Cormac , 6th century...

September 5 Bl. William Browne, 1605 A.D. Martyr of England . He was a layman in Northamptonshire arrested and executed at Ripon for being a Catholic. He is associated in martyrdom with Blesseds Thomas Welbourne and John Fulthering. September 6 Sts. Felix and Augebert, seventh century. Two martyred Englishmen who were captured and sold into slavery in France. Ransomed by Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Felix became a priest and Augebert a deacon. While preparing to return to England as missionaries, they were slain by pagans in Champagne, France. St. Maccallin , Irish bishop of Lusk, Great Britain, Sometimes called Macallan and Macculin Dus. He is also venerated in Scotland. September 7 St. Grimonia . French legend relates that St. Grimonia was the daughter of a pagan Irish chief, and that when she was twelve years old; she was converted to Christianity and made a vow of perpetual virginity. Her father, in defiance of or not understanding such a vow, wished her to marry, and when she r...

August 29 St. Velleicus , 8th century. Anglo-Saxon abbot also listed as Willeic. He journeyed to Germany to assist in the evangelization of the region as a disciple of St. Swithbert and served as abbot of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine. St. Sebbi , 694 A.D. Also listed as Sebbe, he became the king of Essex (or the East Saxons) following the conversion of the kingdom by St. Cedd in 664. He ruled at a time when there was relative peace and the realm was under the domination of Mercia, a nearby kingdom. Sebbi abdicated after ruling thirty years and became a monk in London. He died there and was buried in the old St. Paul’s. St. Edwold , 9th century. A hermit who was the brother of St. Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, England. Edwold lived as a recluse in Cerne, Dorsetshire. Bl. Richard Herst, 1628 A.D. English martyr , also called Hurst. Born near Preston, Lancashire, England, he was well known as a farmer until being arrested on the charge of murder. He fought with three men who tried...

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...

August 16 St. Armagillus , 570 A.D. Welsh missionary, called Armel, Ermel, and Ervan, and a cousin of St. Samson. He studied under Abbot Carentmael, joining the abbot in missionary journeys to Brittany, France. The missionaries founded Saint-Armel-des-Boscheaux and Plou-Ermel or Plouharzel. Connor, a local chieftain, forced them to leave the mission until 555. Connor was slain in battle that year, allowing their return. Armagillus is honored by a Comish church, St. Erme. August 17 St. Drithelm , 700 A.D. A wealthy man of Northumbria, England, who supposedly died, experienced a powerful vision of heaven, hell, and purgatory, and then was found to be alive. He divided his possessions among his wife and children and made benefices for the poor before becoming a monk at Melrose Abbey. He lived as a hermit there with great austerities. St. Bede gives an account of his life. St. Hiero, 885 A.D. Irish martyr , also called Iero. He was an Irish missionary to Holland, where he was martyred St....

August 7 St. Donat . Patron saint of St. Donat’s or Llandunwyd, Glamorgan, Wales. Nothing else is known, but in some lists he is called Dunwyd. St. Claudia . Claudia was the mother of Linus, who became the second Pope. Tradition has her as the daughter of British King Caractacus, who was sent to Rome with his family in chains when he was defeated by Aulus Plautius. Released by Emperor Claudius, one of his daughters took the name Claudia, remained in Rome, was baptized, and is the Claudia mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. Another tradition has her as the daughter of Cogidubnus, a British ally of Claudius, who took the Emperor's name. Martial mentions a British lady, Claudia Rufina, and says she was married to his friend Aulus Pudens, a Roman senator. Another tradition has this senator the Pudens also mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. August 8 St. Ellidius , 7th century. Patron saint of Himant, Powys, Wales, and of a church in the Scilly Isles ...

August 1 St. Elined. Welsh virgin and martyr , also called Ellyw and Almedha. She is honored in Lianelly and Llanelieu. St. Almedha, sixth century. Virgin and martyr also called Aled or Filuned. The Welsh tradition reports that Almedha was the daughter of King Brychan. Having taken a vow of virginity and dedicated to Christ, Almedha fled from her father's royal residence to escape marriage to the prince of a neighboring kingdom. She went to three Welsh villages - Llandrew, Llanfillo, and Llechfaen - but the people turned her away, despite her promise warning that dreadful thing calamities would befall anyone who denied her sanctuary. Almedha reached Brecon, where she took up residence in a small hut, but the king arrived and demanded her return. When she refused him, he beheaded her. Tradition states that a spring of water appeared on the site of her murder. The three villages that refused her were visited by disasters. Bl. Thomas Welbourne, 1605 A.D. English martyr . Born in Hutt...

July 25 St. Nissen . Abbot and an Irishman, he was converted by St. Patrick and later became abbot of Mountgarret monastery in Wexford. July 26 Bl. William Ward, 1641 A.D. Martyr of England . Born in Westmorland, England, he went to Douai, France, in 1604, where he studied and received ordination in 1608. Upon returning home to England, William was forced to land in Scotland and was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was released and went on to England, where he spent twenty of his thirty-three years as a missionary in prison. When Catholic priests were banished on April 7, 1641, William was arrested. On July 26, he was executed at Tyburn. Bl. John Ingram, 1594 A.D. Martyr of Scotland . He was born in Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, in 1565, and became a convert at Oxford. After conversion, he went to Reims and Rome and was ordained in 1589. Sent to Scotland in 1592, John was arrested on the Tyneside and taken to the Tower of London, where he was tortured Martyred at Gateshead, he...

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...

July 11 St. Turketil , 975 A.D. Abbot and brother of King Edred of England, he served as his chancellor until 948 when he abandoned the court life and entered a monastery. He soon became abbot of Croyland and successfully established a school which was attached to the community. St. Oliver Plunkett, 1681 A.D. Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew in County Meath, Ireland on November 1, 1625. In 1647, he went to study for the priesthood in the Irish College in Rome. On January 1, 1654, he was ordained a priest in the Propaganda College in Rome. Due to religious persecution in his native land, it was not possible for him to return to minister to his people. Oliver taught in Rome until 1669, when he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. Archbishop Plunkett soon established himself as a man of peace and, with religious fervor, set about visiting his people, establishing schools, ordaining priests, and confirming thousands. The year 1673 brought a renewal of religious...

July 4 Bl. William Andleby, 1597 A.D. Martyr of England. Born at Eton, near Beverley, England, he studied at St. Johns College, Cambridge, and was converted to Catholicism on the way to fight the Spanish. He went to Douai, France, and was ordained in 1577. Returning home, he worked in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for two decades. Arrested and condemned, he was executed at York with Thomas Warcop and two companions. He was beatified in 1929. Bl. Thomas Warcop, 1597 A.D. English martyr . A gentleman in Yorkshire, England, who sheltered Blessed William Andleby. He was arrested and condemned for giving this aid and hanged at York with three companions on July 4. Bl. Edward Fulthrop, 1597 A.D. An English martyr at Yorkshire. He reconciled to the faith and was martyred at York. Edward was beatified in 1929. St. Henry Abbot, Blessed, 1597 A.D. Martyr of England. A native of Howden, England, Henry became a convert to the Church and was duly arrested and hanged at York. Pope Pius XI beatified ...

June 28 St. Almus , 1270 A.D. Cistercian abbot also called Alme and Alanus. He was a monk in the English Cistercian monastery at Melrose when he was elected abbot of Scotland's Balmerino monastery, founded by Ermengardis, the widow of William I of Scotland. St. John Southworth, 1654 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales . He was born in Lancashire and became a priest in 1619 in Douai. Sent to England that same year, he was arrested but released through the intercession of Queen Henrietta Maria. He joined St. Henry Morse, subsequently working diligently during the plague of 1636. Arrested again, he was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum. His relics are in Westminster Cathedral in London, discovered there in 1927. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970. St. Austell , 6th century. Confessor and disciple of St. Newman of Cornwall, England. Modern scholars believe that Austell was a woman named Hoystill, a daughter of Brychan of Wales. St. Crummine , 5th c...

June 20 St. Govan , 6th century. Hermit who lived on a cliff at St. Govan’s Head, Dyfed, Wales. He was a disciple of St. Ailbhe and in some lists is called Cofen or Gonen. Bl. Anthony Turner, 1679 A.D. 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. William Harcourt, 1679 A.D. 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...