The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs, also known as the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs (OLEM), located at the junction of Hills Road and Lensfield Road in southeast Cambridge. It is a large Gothic Revival church built between 1885 and 1890.
Bienheureux Thomas Atkinson, prêtre et martyr
Né vers 1546, il fit ses études en vue de la prêtrise à Reims où il fut ordonné en 1588. De retour en Angleterre, il soutint inlassablement le courage des catholiques, bravant tous les dangers. Trahi, à l'âge d'environ 70 ans il fut emprisonné avec la famille qui l'avait hébergé et fut condamné à mort et pendu à York, l’an 1616, sous le roi Jacques Ier.
Bienheureux Thomas Atkinson
Prêtre et martyr, à York en Angleterre (+ 1616)
Né vers 1546, il fit ses études pour la prêtrise à Reims où il fut ordonné en 1588 à l'âge d'environ 42 ans. De retour en Angleterre il marchait à pied pour rencontrer les catholiques et devint un ami pour les plus pauvres. Suite à une fracture de la jambe, il continua ses voyages à cheval et comme son travail auprès des catholiques acquit une large réputation, il ne pouvait voyager que de nuit pour échapper aux autorités protestantes. Trahi, à l'âge d'environ 70 ans il fut emprisonné avec la famille qui l'avait hébergé et condamné à mort pour détention d'un rosaire et de textes d'indulgence.
Béatifié le 22 novembre 1987.
À York en Angleterre, l’an 1616, le bienheureux Thomas Atkinson, prêtre et martyr, qui fut condamné au supplice de la pendaison, sous le roi Jacques Ier, pour la seule cause de son sacerdoce.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/11509/Bienheureux-Thomas-Atkinson.html
Ven. Thomas Atkinson
Martyred at York,
11 March, 1616. He was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was ordained priest at Reims,
and returned to his native country in 1588. We are told that he was unwearied
in visiting his flock, especially the poor,
and became so well known that he could not safely travel by day. He always went
afoot until, having broken his leg, he had to ride a horse. At the age of
seventy he was betrayed, and carried to York with his host, Mr.
Vavasour of Willitoft, and some members of the family.
A pair of beads,
and the form of an indulgence were
found upon him, and he was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. He
suffered "with wonderful patience, courage,
and constancy, and signs of great comfort".
Ryan, Patrick W.F. "Ven. Thomas
Atkinson." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 4 Mar.
2021 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02051b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907.
Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop
of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02051b.htm
22
November as one of the 85
Martyrs of England, Scotland and Wales
29 October as
one of the Martyrs
of Douai
Profile
Studied and
was ordained at Rheims, France.
Returned to England in 1588 to
minister to covert Catholics.
He travelled by
night, hid by day, and served his flock for decades. Betrayed to the
authorities, he was arrested along
with the family who was hiding him. Martyred for
the crime of priesthood.
One of the 85
Martyrs of England, Scotland and Wales.
Born
Menthorpe, North Yorkshire, England
hanged,
drawn, and quartered on 11 March 1616 at
York, England
Venerated
10
November 1986 by Pope John
Paul II
22
November 1987 by Pope John
Paul II
Additional Information
Mementoes
of the English Martyrs and Confessors, by Father Henry
Sebastian Bowden
books
A
Calendar of the English Martyrs of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Book of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
nettsteder i norsk
MLA Citation
“Blessed Thomas Atkinson“. CatholicSaints.Info. 3
February 2020. Web. 4 March 2021.
<http://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thomas-atkinson/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thomas-atkinson/
Blessed Thomas Atkinson and His Rosary
Blessed Thomas Atkinson had returned to England as a missionary priest in 1588 and was executed in York on March 11, 1616 (four hundred years ago today) when he was 70 years old:
Thomas Atkinson, of Yorkshire, England, studied for the priesthood in Reims, France, where he was subsequently ordained in 1588 around the age of forty-two. Returning to England, he traveled about on foot to minister to his fellow Catholics, becoming a special friend of the poor among them. It was only after breaking a leg that the indefatigable priest resorted to traveling by horse instead. His labors in the service of persecuted Catholics became so well known that, to escape arrest by the Protestant authorities, he could only journey safely by night. In the end, he was betrayed by an informer and captured while staying at the home of a Catholic family. Then about seventy, Father Atkinson was led to prison together with the couple that had hosted him, and their children. The “incriminating evidence” found by the government officials in the priest’s possession consisted of Rosary beads and the text of an indulgence. Condemned to death by drawing and quartering, Father Atkinson is said to have faced death “with wonderful patience, courage, and constancy, and signs of great comfort.”
He was beatified by Blessed John Paul II in 1987 as
one of the Eight-five Martyrs of England and Wales. Obviously, as he
had served his Catholic flock for decades, quietly and unnoticed, he was no
danger to the state. But he was captured during a period of James I's reign
when fear of Catholicism was heightened and the Archbishop of Canterbury,
George Abbott, was much in favor of persecuting Catholics.
SOURCE : https://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.com/2016/03/blessed-thomas-atkinson-and-his-rosary.html?m=0
Blessed Thomas Atkinson
Priest and Martyr
(d. 1616)
His life
+ Thomas was born in East Reading, Yorkshire, England.
After being ordained a priest in Reims, France, he returned to minster to the
oppressed Catholics of England in 1588.
+ Known for his care of the poor, he would travel on
foot from home to home, village to village, until a broken leg forced him to
ride a horse.
+ At the age of 70, Thomas was betrayed and taken to
York. At his arrest, he was found with a rosary and the a written grant of
indulgence. These were used as evidence against him and he was condemned to be
hanged, drawn, and quartered.
+ Blessed Thomas Atkinson was executed on March 11,
1616, and beatified in 1987.
For reflection
“In the days of the martyrs whom we honor today, there
were other Christians who died for their beliefs. We can all now appreciate and
respect their sacrifice. Let us respond together to the great challenge which
confronts those who would preach the Gospel in our age. Let us be bold and
united in our profession of our common Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.”—Pope
Saint John Paul II
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, who brought your Martyr
blessed Thomas to overcome the torments of his passion, grant that we, who
celebrate the day of his triumph, may remain invincible under your protection
against the snares of the enemy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson,
S.D.S.
Access our archives of daily saint biographies here
SOURCE : https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/monday-march-11/
Beato Tommaso Atkinsons Sacerdote e martire
>>>
Visualizza la Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
East Riding dello Yorkshire, 1545 circa - York,
Scozia, 11 marzo 1616
Martirologio Romano: A York in Inghilterra, beato
Tommaso Atkinson, sacerdote e martire, che, durante il regno di Giacomo I, patì
il martirio solo per essere sacerdote.
L’11 marzo del 1616 veniva martirizzato a York, in Inghilterra, padre Tommaso Atkinson, colpevole soltanto di essere un sacerdote cattolico sorpreso a celebrare i Sacramenti. Fu una delle tante vittime della Riforma anglicana, iniziata da Enrico VIII e portata a termine dalla figlia Elisabetta, nata dalla sua passione adulterina per la cortigiana Anna Bolena, che portò alla tragedia dell’apostasia dell’Inghilterra, una nazione che era stata a lungo una delle gemme della Cristianità europea.
I martiri inglesi, dei quali si conoscono i più celebri, ovvero Tommaso Moro e John Fisher, furono migliaia. Uomini e donne comuni, nobili refrattari a sottomettersi al nuovo regime oligarchico instaurato dai Tudor, e tanti sacerdoti e religiosi. Tommaso Atkinson era uno di questi. Era nato nello Yorkshire, una delle zone dell’Inghilterra dove il Cattolicesimo aveva resistito maggiormente, e dove già durante il regno di Enrico era partita una pacifica rivolta che chiese libertà per la Chiesa e che venne schiacciata nel sangue. Venne chiamata, dai suoi promotori, Pellegrinaggio di Grazia, e fu guidata proprio da un laico dello Yorkshire, Robert Aske, che venne giustiziato.
Durante il regno di Elisabetta, la figlia che Enrico VIII aveva avuto da Anna Bolena e che gli era succeduta sul trono, avvenne la peggiore persecuzione. Nell’arco di soli cinque anni, dopo la rottura con la Chiesa universale e l’uccisione di Tommaso Moro, che aveva messo in discussione il sedicente “diritto” del re a fondare una chiesa a propria misura, il re di Inghilterra e con lui l’aristocrazia che lo fiancheggiava portarono a termine un sanguinoso radicale sovvertimento della propria secolare civiltà, così come l’Europa non aveva mai visto. La distruzione materiale a danno della Chiesa cattolica, monasteri, abbazie, chiese, fu accompagnata dalla peggiore persecuzione immaginabile: furono stabilite durissime leggi penali contro i cattolici: la Chiesa doveva scomparire dalla faccia del Paese, e con essa quanti si ostinassero ad aderirvi. Il clima di terrore instaurato, fece sì che fossero di più gli apostati che i martiri. La paura si impadronì anzitutto dei vescovi e del clero secolare, mentre la resistenza al nuovo ordine era più forte tra i religiosi e il popolo dei semplici fedeli.
Resistere nell’antica fede significava andare incontro ad arresti, spoliazioni, uccisioni sommarie. Durante il regno di Elisabetta I si assistette alla nascita di un nuovo culto: apparentemente l’Inghilterra era ancora cristiana, nonostante fosse separata da Roma, ma nella realtà rendeva culto a ben altro. Con Elisabetta trionfò il tema della supremazia della corona e dello Stato sulla Chiesa, ovvero dell’Impero. Il Rinascimento inglese fu inoltre un‘epoca di smodato interesse per il classicismo e allo stesso tempo per l’occultismo. Alla corte di Elisabetta, oltre ai pirati come Drake e ad abili politici come Cecil si affollavano maghi, alchimisti e cantori di una nuova Età dell’Oro che avrebbe dovuto giungere attraverso la Regina Vergine, che doveva soppiantare nella sua magnificenza il culto alla troppo umile Vergine di Nazareth, la nuova Dea della Giustizia, o come era conosciuta nell’antichità, Astrea.
La Chiesa cattolica sopravvisse nella clandestinità, sottoposta alle durissime leggi penali. I sacerdoti dovevano operare di nascosto, celebrare in case private, in una sorta di ritorno alle catacombe. Così fu per il povero padre Tommaso Atkinson, che per essere ordinato sacerdote sotto il regno di Enrico VIII aveva dovuto recarsi in Francia. Dopo l’ordinazione sacerdotale, era rientrato clandestinamente in Inghilterra, e svolgeva la sua missione visitando vari villaggi dello Yorkshire, confortando materialmente e spiritualmente i cattolici perseguitati. Viaggiava sempre a piedi, come un pellegrino, finchè accidentalmente si ruppe una gamba. Venne quindi riconosciuto come sacerdote, e consegnato alle autorità. Fu torturato, per fargli confessare i nomi di altri cattolici clandestini, ma il sacerdote resistette eroicamente. Infine salì sul patibolo l’11 marzo del 1616, dove venne impiccato, sventrato e squartato. Elisabetta era morta già da diversi anni, e sul trono sedeva re Giacomo I, ma nulla era cambiato nella politica di persecuzione del governo.
Tommaso diede la vita, perché nella sua terra non
venisse meno la presenza reale di Cristo, la Fede e la Verità.
Autore: Paolo Gulisano
Fonte : www.paologulisano.com
