Venite Prandete

  ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF LONDON - FATHER GERARD Father Gerard's "Autobiography of a Hunted Priest" Father John Gerard, Nicholas Owen (Father Garnet’s servant) and Father Gerard’s servant were arrested after betrayal by a protestant servant of a recusant family with whom they stayed. Father Gerard, Nicholas Owen and Father Gerard’s servant were initially taken to a prison in Cheapside called the Poultry Compter, a small, privately run prison under the control of the sheriff, where the conditions were very bad and which Father Garnet described as a ‘very evil prison’. (1) There, according to Gerard: ‘They were both hung up for three hours together, having their arms fixed into iron rings and their bodies hanging in the air; a torture which causes frightful pain and intolerable extension of the sinews. It was all to no purpose; no disclosure could be wrestled from them that was hurtful to others; no rewards could entice, no threats or punishments force them to discover whe...

  NICHOLAS OWEN PRIEST-HOLE MAKER FEAST DAY 22nd MARCH                     Melchior Kussel (17th century) "Torture of Nicholas Owen SJ" engraving. Elizabeth I was brought to power under the tutelage of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and her power base was sustained by a vast network of supporters whose livelihoods and social ascendancy were dependent upon her monarchy and the continuation of the Tudor line. Crucial to the claim to the throne by Elizabeth was the protestant religion as the State church of the realm: under the Catholic faith, Elizabeth was illegitimate, disentitling her to any claim to the throne, and furthermore, disentitling all those further down the line whose claim arose through her. Moreover, a new ascendant aristocracy, those who had benefitted under the patronage of Henry VIII, and who had been granted the lands formerly owned by the Abbeys and Priories that had been plundered and sold off, had a vest...

  IN MEMORIAM TO THE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS SAINT OF THE DAY THOMAS ATKINSON – PRIEST REFORMATION MARTYR 11th MARCH 1616 Modern-day martyr in the Middle East, (Image from Aid to the Church in Need).                                    The Martyrs Painting, by Alberti, in the English College in Rome. This reflection is taken from Aleteia, by Brother Silas Henderson SDS: Father Atkinson came from the East Riding in Yorkshire. After being ordained as a priest in Rheims, he returned to England to minister to the oppressed Catholics of England in 1588. Known for his care for the poor, he would walk from village to village, until a broken leg forced him to ride a horse. At the age of 70, he was betrayed and taken to York. At his arrest, he was found with a rosary and a written grant of indulgence, items which were used as evidence to convict him. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and...