Friday, May 29, 2009

The not so Merry Month of May-English Saints-Martyrs

Bl. Margaret PoleFeastday May 28Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and Rich­ard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Hemy VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain.

She opposed Henry’s mar­riage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from court, although he called her “the holiest woman in England.”

When her son, Cardinal Pole, denied Henry’s Act of Supremacy, the king imprisoned Margaret in the Tower of London for two years and then beheaded her on May 28.

In 1538, her other two sons were executed.

She was never given a legal trial.

She was seventy when she was martyred.

Margaret was beatified in 1886.

Bl. John ShertFeastday: May 28 1582 English martyr. He was born at Shert Hall, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Oxford. Converting to the Church, John studied at Douai and Rome. Ordained in 1576, he went to England three years later, working only two years before his arrest.

John was martyred at Tyburn with Blessed Thomas Ford and Blessed Robert Johnstone by being hinged, drawn, and quartered. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1886.

Bl. Thomas Ford Feastday:May 28 1582 Martyr of England. He was born in Devon and educated at Oxford. There he converted and set out for Douai, France. Ordained a priest in 1573, he was sent back to England three years later. Thomas labored in Oxfordshire and Berckshire until his arrest. He was martyred on May 28 at Tyburn by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. He was a companion of St. Edmund Campion, and he died with Blesseds Robert Johnson and John Shert. Thomas was beatified in 1882.

Bl. Robert Johnson Feastday: May 28 1582 English martyr. Born in Shropshire, England, he was a servant before he went to study at Rome and Douai, France, receiving ordination in 1576. Returning to the English mission, he served in the area of London for four years, until his arrest. Robert was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn with Blesseds Thomas Ford and John Short. Robert was beatified in 1886.

Bl. Richard Thirkeld
Feastday: May 291349
English martyr, also listed as Thirkild. Born in Durham, England, he studied at Oxford and was said to be quite old when he left the isle to receive preparation for the priesthood at Reims and Douai, France. Ordained in 1579, he went back to England and served the Catholics in the area around Yorkshire until his execution for being a priest on May 29 at York


Bl. William Filby
Feastday: May 301582
Martyr of England. Born in Oxfordshire, he studied at Oxford. After graduation, William was converted to Catholicism and went to Reims, France, where he received ordination as a priest in 1581. He returned to England immediately and was arrested with St. Edmund Campion. William was executed at Tyburn with three companions on May 30. He was beatified in 1886.

Bl. Thomas Cottam
Feastday:May 301582
English martyr. Born at Dilworth, Lancashire, England, in 1549, he was raised as a Protestant and studied at Oxford University before undergoing a conversion to Catholicism. Leaving England to prepare for ordination at Douai and Rome, he was ordained and joined the Jesuits. going home in 1580. Arrested at his landing at Dover, he was taken to the Tower of London and eventually hanged, drawn, and quartered with three companions

Bl. Lawrence Richardson
Feastday: May 301582
Martyr of England. He was born in Great Crosby, Lancashire, England, and was educated at Oxford. Converting to the faith, Lawrence went to Douai, France, and was ordained in 1577. He returned to Lancashire and worked there until his martyrdom at Tyburn. He was beatified in 1886.

Bl. Richard Newport
Feastday: May 301612
English martyr, also called Richard Smith. Born at Harringworth, Nothamptonshire, England, he studied in Rome and was ordained in 1597. Returning to England, he worked in London for a number of years before being arrested and banished twice, but he returned each time. His third arrest was with Blessed William Scott. Both were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum for being Catholic priests

St. Luke Kirby
Feastday: May 301582
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Probably educated at Cambridge, England, he converted and studied in Rome and in Douai, France. In 1580, he returned to England, only to be arrested two years later. Luke was imprisoned in the Tower of London and subjected to the infamous device “Scavenger’s Daughter.” a hideous form of torture. He was then martyred at Tyburn.

Bl. Maurus Scott
Feastday: May 301612
Benedictine martyr of England. Bom William Scott in Chigwell, Essex, England, he studied law at Cambridge, where he became a Catholic. Maurus was converted by Blessed John Roberts, the Benedictine, and was sent to Sahagun, in Spain, to St. Facundus Benedictine Abbey He was ordained there, taking the name Maurus. When he returned to England he was arrested, imprisoned for a year, and then banished. He returned again and again, being exiled each time. Finally, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on May 30 with Blessed Richard Newport. They were beatified in 1929.

To be Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

This was the ultimate punishment available in English law for men who had been convicted of High Treason. Women were burned at the stake instead, apparently for the sake of decency.

The full sentence passed upon those convicted of High Treason up to 1870 was as follows :

That you be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution where you shall be hanged by the neck and being alive cut down, your privy members shall be cut off and your bowels taken out and burned before you, your head severed from your body and your body divided into four quarters to be disposed of at the King’s pleasure.”

So not for the feint hearted then!!

As you will see from the sentence it should properly be called drawing, hanging and quartering as the condemned was drawn to the place of execution tied to the hurdle which was dragged by a horse.

This is confirmed by contemporary law books.

Drawing does not refer to the removal of the intestines in this context and remained part of the sentence for High Treason long after the disembowelling and dismemberment had ceased.

The hurdle was similar to a piece of fencing made from thin branches interwoven to form a panel to which the prisoner was tied to be dragged behind a horse to the place of execution.

Once there, the prisoner(s) were hanged in the normal way (i.e. without a drop to ensure that the neck was not broken) but cut down whilst still conscious.

The penis and testicles were cut off and the stomach was slit open.

The intestines and heart were removed and burned before them.

The other organs were torn out and finally the head was cut off and the body divided into four quarters.

The head and quarters were parboiled to prevent them rotting too quickly and then displayed upon the city gates as a grim warning to all.

At some point in this agonising process the prisoner inevitably died of strangulation and/or haemorrhage and/or shock and damage to vital organs.

Now That is Toture-English Version

Monday, May 4, 2009

The laws of England and USA started to change 1535 A.D.

Bl. Martyrs of the Carthusian OrderFeastday: May 41535
Eighteen Carthusian monks who were martyred in England during the reign of King Henry VIII . They opposed the king's break with Rome and his program for the English Reformation, including the suppression of the monasteries. They were beatified in 1886.

Martyrs of EnglandFeastday: May 4
A group of Blessed Catholics from England who were martyrs for the faith in the British Isles. They are to be differentiated from the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Fifty-four were beatified in 1886; nine were beatified in 1895; and 137 more received beatification in 1929.

The Forty Martyrs of England & WalesFeastday: 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).

Friday, May 1, 2009

Saints Francis Dickenson & Gerard Miles

Bl. Francis Dickenson 1590 A.D.English martyr. He was born in Yorkshire, England, and was a convert to the Church. After being ordained at Reims, France, in 1589, he returned to England and was promptly arrested. Francis was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Rochester.

St. Gerard Miles 1590 A.D. Martyr of England with Blessed Francis Dickinson. He was born in Lancashire, England, and went to Douai and Reims where he was ordained in 1583. Returning from England, he was arrested when the ship that he and Francis were using wrecked at Kent. They were arrested and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Rochester in April. They were beatified in 1929.He was beatified in 1929.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saintsilvestro/

DEFINITIONS FOR NON RC's, and C of E's

Toleration and tolerance are terms used in social, cultural and religious contexts to describe attitudes which are "tolerant" (or moderately respectful) of practices or group memberships that may be disapproved of by those in the majority.

In practice, "tolerance" indicates support for practices that prohibit ethnic and religious discrimination.

Conversely, 'intolerance' may be used to refer to the discriminatory practices sought to be prohibited.

Though developed to refer to the religious toleration of minority religious sects following the Protestant Reformation, these terms are increasingly used to refer to a wider range of tolerated practices and groups, or of political parties or ideas widely considered objectionable.

The concept of toleration is controversial. For one, "toleration" does not raise the level of an actual principle or ethic, such as other concepts (respect, reciprocity, love) do.

Liberal critics may see in it an inappropriate implication that the "tolerated" custom or behavior is an aberration or that authorities have a right to punish difference; such critics may instead emphasise notions such as civility, pluralism, or respect.

Other critics may regard a narrow definition of 'tolerance' as more useful, since it does not require a false expression of enthusiasm for groups or practices which are genuinely disapproved of.

Though developed to refer to the religious toleration of minority religious sects following the Protestant Reformation, the terms "toleration" and "tolerance" are increasingly used to refer to a wider range of tolerated practices and groups, such as the toleration of sexual practices and orientations, or of political parties or ideas widely considered objectionable.

Changing applications and understandings of the term can sometimes make debate on the question difficult.

For example, a distinction is sometimes drawn between mere "Toleration" and a higher notion of "Religious Liberty":
Some philosophers [. . .] regard toleration and religious freedom as quite distinct things and emphasize the differences between the two. They understand toleration to signify no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked upon with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful.

In contrast these thinkers recognize religious liberty as as the recognition of equal freedom for all religions and denominations without any kind of discrimination among them [. . .] in the case of religious liberty, no one is rightfully possessed of the power not to tolerate or to cancel this liberty.
Discussions of toleration therefore often divided between those who view the term as a minimal and perhaps even historical virtue (perhaps today to be replaced by a more positive and robust appreciation of pluralism or diversity), and those who view it as a concept with an important continuing vitality, and who are more likely to use the term in considering contemporary issues regarding discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, disability, and other reasons.

There are also debates with regard to the historical factors that produced the principle of toleration, as well as to the proper reasons toleration should be exercised, with some arguing that the growth of skepticism was an important or necessary factor in the development of toleration, and others arguing that religious belief or an evolving notion of respect for individual persons was or is the basis on which toleration was or should be practiced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolerance

tolerate
Verb
[-ating, -ated]
1. to allow something to exist or happen, even although one does not approve of it: you must learn to tolerate opinions other than your own
2. to put up with (someone or something): he found the pain hard to tolerate [Latin tolerare to sustain]
toleration n
Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006