John Payne
1532-1582
John était né en 1532 à
Peterborough, et devait être déjà «mûr» quand il rejoignit en 1574 le Collège
anglais de Douai pour se préparer au sacerdoce.
Il fut ordonné prêtre en 1576.
Avec Cuthbert Mayne, il repassa
bientôt en Angleterre. Cuthbert fut martyrisé en 1577 et sera béatifié en même
temps que notre John (voir au 30 novembre).
John trouva refuge chez une
veuve d’Ingatestone (Essex), Madame Petre : c’était la fille de William Browne,
ancien maire de Londres. John se faisait passer pour le secrétaire de cette
dame.
Parmi ses activités, il put
ramener au catholicisme un certain George Godsalve (Godsalf), qui avait été
diacre, avant de passer au protestantisme ; ce dernier revint au catholicisme
et gagna Douai pour recevoir le sacerdoce.
John fut arrêté une première
fois en 1577, et bientôt relâché : il gagna Douai en novembre de cette
année-là. On pense qu’il réussit à retourner à Ingatestone avant Noël 1579.
Les deux, John et George
Godsalf se retrouvèrent en juillet 1581. Mais la police les arrêta dans le
domaine de Madame Petre, sur indications d’un traître connu de l’époque,
criminel, assassin, ravisseur et voleur de son état, dénonceur en titre au
service de la police.
John et George furent
interrogés, et envoyés à la Tour de Londres, le 14 juillet 1581.
George ne trahit pas, mais
passa plusieurs années en prison, avant d’être relâché et banni : il finit ses
jours à Paris en 1592.
L’homme qui dénonça John avait
travaillé chez Madame Petre, chez laquelle il avait détourné pas mal d’argent.
Il y avait aussi séduit une jeune fille et demandé à John de les marier ; sur
son refus, il avait décidé de se venger.
John représentait une «prise»
bien plus intéressante que George. Il fut torturé le 14 août, puis de nouveau
le 31 octobre. Le 20 mars 1581, on le réveilla brusquement, on le tira de sa
cellule à moitié-nu, et il fut livré aux officiers qui l’attendaient pour
l’emmener à la prison de Chelmsford : on ne lui laissa pas même la possibilité
de prendre ses affaires, qui lui furent dérobées par la femme de l’officier.
Le 22 mars, à Chelmsford, John
fut accusé de trahison, pour avoir conspiré à l’assassinat de la Reine
et de ses ministres, dans le but de la remplacer par la Reine d’Ecosse,
Marie. John nia ces accusations stupides, protestant de sa loyauté
envers la Reine, contestant la fiabilité des renseignements de son traître,
dont on ne se fatigua pas à vérifier les allégations. De toutes façons, le
verdict était fait d’avance.
Après donc une année de
prison, le 2 avril au matin, John fut amené de la prison à l’endroit de
l’exécution. Il commença par se mettre à genoux pour prier, pendant environ une
demi-heure, puis il embrassa l’échafaud, fit ouvertement une profession de foi
et déclara sa totale innocence.
On avait envoyé de Londres des
renforts pour mener assez rondement l’exécution. De nouveau on pria John de
regretter sa trahison, il s’y refusa encore une fois. Un
Protestant vint alors déclarer que le frère de John, quelques années
auparavant, avait admis la trahison de John Payne : John répondit que son
frère, tout Protestant sérieux qu’il eût été et demeurât, n’aurait jamais juré
une telle chose ; et pour appuyer sa parole, il demanda que l’on convoquât son
frère, puisqu’il habitait sur place, mais on ne le trouva pas et il fallait
procéder à l’exécution.
On retira donc l’échelle qui
retenait John. Le gouvernement avait l’intention d’amener l’exécution à son
terme, sans tarder, avec le moins possible de tourments. En effet, la foule
sympathisait tellement avec ce prêtre, que beaucoup vinrent s’accrocher aux
pieds du pendu pour en accélérer la mort et lui éviter le supplice de
l’écartèlement (car d’ordinaire, on ne laissait pas pendus les condamnés
jusqu’à leur mort, on les descendait, on les éviscérait encore vivants et
ensuite seulement on les écartelait). On s’en prit aussi au bourreau qui,
pendant ce temps, se demandait encore s’il allait procéder à l’écartèlement,
dans le cas où Payne reviendrait à lui et souffrirait encore.
On a dit que ce martyre eut lieu
en 1581, «neuf mois» après l’arrestation de John. Il se peut bien que
l’exécution ait eu lieu plutôt en 1582, donc après vingt-et-un mois de prison.
Béatifié en 1886, canonisé en
1970, John Payne est commémoré le 2 avril.
Le miracle retenu pour la
canonisation, advint par l’intercession de Cuthbert Mayne et de ses Compagnons
en 1962 : un malade fut guéri instantanément et de façon stable d’un sarcome à
l’épaule.
Bl. John Payne
Born in the Diocese of Peterborough; died at Chelmsford, 2 April, 1582. He went to Douai in 1574, was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Cambrai on 7 April, 1576, and left for England with Blessed Cuthbert Mayne on 24 April. He resided for the most part with Anne, widow of Sir William Petre, and daughter of Sir William Browne, sometime Lord Mayor of London, at Ingatestone, Essex, but also in London. Shortly after his arrival he reconciled George Godsalve, B.A. Oxon., a Marian deacon, of Bath diocese, whom he sent to Douai to be prepared for the priesthood, which he received at Cambrai on 20 December, 1576. John was arrested and imprisoned early in 1577, but, being not long afterwards discharged, came back to Douai in November. He probably returned to Ingatestone before Christmas, 1579. Early in July, 1581, he and Godsalve, who had come to England in June, 1577, were arrested in Warwickshire through the instrumentality of "Judas" Eliot, and, after being examined by Walsingham at Greenwich, were committed to the Tower on 14 July. There Blessed John was racked on 14 August, and again on 31 October. Eliot had accused him of plotting to kill the queen and her three most trusted statesmen. On this charge he was indicted at Chelmsford on 23 March, and, though no attempt was made to corroborate Eliot's story, the jury gave the verdict expected of them. At his execution the crowd interfered to prevent the infliction of the last barbarities until he was dead.
Sources
Camm, Lives of the English Martyrs (London, 1904-5), II, 424;
Allen, A Briefe Historie, ed. Pollen (London, 1908).
Wainewright, John. "Bl. John Payne." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 2 Apr. 2016
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08483a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Richard E. Cullen.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur.
+John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Saint John Payne
·
Century: 16th Century
·
Patronage: -
·
Feast Day: May 4th
Fr. John Payne was indicted at Chelmsford on March 22, on a charge of treason for conspiring to murder the Queen and her leading officers. John denied the charges, and affirmed his loyalty to the Queen in all that was lawful; contesting the reliability of the murderer Eliot how had turned him in. No attempt was made to corroborate Eliot’s story, which had been well rehearsed. The guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion.
At his execution, he was dragged from prison on a hurdle to the place of execution and first prayed on his knees for almost thirty minutes. He then kissed the scaffold, made a profession of faith, and publicly declared his innocence. He was called upon to repent of his treason, and again, Payne denied it. A Protestant minister shouted out that he knew of Payne’s treason, from his brother, year’s prior. Fr. Payne admitted that his brother was an earnest Protestant, but that he would never had said such a lie. Fr. Payne asked that his brother who was in the same vicinity, be brought in and asked. The execution proceeded and John Payne was at their mercy. What was supposed to be a smooth, quiet execution was anything but that. The crowd had become so sympathetic to John Payne that they hung on his feet to speed up his death and prevented the infliction of the quartering until he was dead.
John Payne was one of a group of prominent Catholic martyrs of the persecution who were later designated as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII, by means of a decree, and was canonized along with the other Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope VI, on October 25, 1970.
Practical Take Away
St. John Payne was from England, and became a Priest while in his forties. He was sent to Essex to be a missionary, shortly after his ordination. Being a Catholic, much less a Priest was forbidden in his time, and a known thief living in his household betrayed him. He was arrested, and sent to the Tower of London. He was convicted on a trumped up charge of trying to murder the Queen. He denied the charges, and the courts had several opportunities to overturn his conviction based on truth, but because he was a Priest, his outcome was predetermined. He was falsely accused, convicted, and then martyred for the faith. St. John Payne was one of a group of prominent Catholic martyrs of the persecution who were later designated as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII, by means of a decree, and was canonized along with the other Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI, on October 25, 1970.
SOURCE : http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/saint-john-payne
John Paine, Priest M (RM)
(also known as John Payne)
Born in Peterborough, England; died at Chelmsford, England, April 2, 1582; beatified
in 1886; canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of
England and Wales.
It seems that Saint John
was a convert to Catholicism. He went to Douai in 1574, was ordained two years
later, and immediately sent on the English mission with Saint Cuthbert Mayne.
Payne was so successful in bringing back many to the Church that he was
arrested a year after his arrival in England. He was released and left England,
but returned in 1579.
Again he was arrested--this
time in Warwickshire, where he was acting as steward for Lady Petre at
Ingatestone Hall, which Lady Petre used as a hiding place for priests. He was
accused of plotting to murder the Queen by one John Eliot, a seasoned criminal
and murderer who denounced dozens of priests for money.
Payne was imprisoned and
tortured in the Tower for nine months before being condemned to death. He was
hanged, drawn, and quartered--the usual punishment for being a Catholic priest
in Protestant England. This meant he was hanged on a gallows, but cut down
before losing consciousness. While still alive and aware, his body was ripped
open, eviscerated, and the hangman groped about among the entrails until he
found the heart--which he tore out and showed to the people before throwing it
on a fire (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Undset).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0402.shtml
St. John Payne, April 2, 1582
SOURCE : http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.ca/2012/04/st-john-payne-april-2-1582.html
Saint John Payne
St. John Payne, April 2, 1582
According the website for the Catholic Church in Colchester,
England dedicated to St. John Payne (which also provides us with the image at
the right):
John Payne was a native of the Diocese of Peterborough, but the date of his birth remains unknown. There has been some speculation about his early life, but his first association with Essex seems to have been as a steward to the Shelley family of Stondon Hall. He was ordained at Cambrai on April 7th 1576 and left for England shortly afterwards with St. Cuthbert Mayne.
He acted as chaplain and steward to Lady Petre at Ingatestone Hall and also ministered to catholics in the district. He worked further afield too and is known to have taken lodgings in London. A successful pastor, he was brought to the attention of the authorities and was imprisoned during the winter of 1576-77. . . .
Following several unsuccessful attempts to secure a confession of guilt, John Payne was executed at Chelmsford on April 2nd 1582 - one of 127 priests put to death during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was one of the English and Welsh Martyrs beatified by Pope Leo XIII on December 29th 1886. The process was again resumed under Pope Pius XI in 1923 and Blessed John Payne was included in a smaller group of 40 martyrs proposed by the Bishops of England and Wales and approved by Rome in 1960. The Forty Martyrs were canonised by Pope Paul VI in October 1970.
Anne Petre (pronounced Peter), mentioned above, was the widow of Sir William Petre, who served as Secretary of State for four of the five Tudor monarchs, while remaining Catholic (although he did profit from the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was instrumental in the destruction of the Gilbertine monastic movement, the only native monastic order in England, founded by St. Gilbert of Sempringham!). As the wikipedia article linked above notes:
Sir Williams's widow, Anne, who survived him many years, was also Catholic; she lived on at Ingatestone Hall, and there received and sheltered many of the seminary priests, whose presence was strictly forbidden in England by Elizabeth's law at that time. Coming from Douai they were usually missionaries to the persecuted Catholics, but sometimes plotters against the protestant Queen. Amongst them was John Payne, who lived for some time at Ingatestone Hall under the protection of old Lady Petre. In 1577, he was arrested at Ingatestone, thrown into prison for three weeks, and then released. He returned to France by the end of the year, but it was not long before he was back in England, and residing at Ingatestone Hall, where he passed as Lady Petre's steward. In 1581, information was laid against him, and he was arrested at Warwick and tried, not only for saying Mass, which was then a punishable offence, but also for plotting against Elizabeth. After long investigation, trial, and torture, he was executed in 1582 at Chelmsford. John Payne was nephew of Rector Woodward, of Ingatestone who had resigned rather than conform. Lady Petre herself was on the list of recusants whose addresses were to be sent up in 1582. The trial and execution of her confessor and pseudo-steward seems to have been a severe blow to the old lady, for she died in April of the same year and was buried with her husband in the vault in the chancel, and her effigy lies by his on the tomb above.
John Payne was a native of the Diocese of Peterborough, but the date of his birth remains unknown. There has been some speculation about his early life, but his first association with Essex seems to have been as a steward to the Shelley family of Stondon Hall. He was ordained at Cambrai on April 7th 1576 and left for England shortly afterwards with St. Cuthbert Mayne.
He acted as chaplain and steward to Lady Petre at Ingatestone Hall and also ministered to catholics in the district. He worked further afield too and is known to have taken lodgings in London. A successful pastor, he was brought to the attention of the authorities and was imprisoned during the winter of 1576-77. . . .
Following several unsuccessful attempts to secure a confession of guilt, John Payne was executed at Chelmsford on April 2nd 1582 - one of 127 priests put to death during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was one of the English and Welsh Martyrs beatified by Pope Leo XIII on December 29th 1886. The process was again resumed under Pope Pius XI in 1923 and Blessed John Payne was included in a smaller group of 40 martyrs proposed by the Bishops of England and Wales and approved by Rome in 1960. The Forty Martyrs were canonised by Pope Paul VI in October 1970.
Anne Petre (pronounced Peter), mentioned above, was the widow of Sir William Petre, who served as Secretary of State for four of the five Tudor monarchs, while remaining Catholic (although he did profit from the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was instrumental in the destruction of the Gilbertine monastic movement, the only native monastic order in England, founded by St. Gilbert of Sempringham!). As the wikipedia article linked above notes:
Sir Williams's widow, Anne, who survived him many years, was also Catholic; she lived on at Ingatestone Hall, and there received and sheltered many of the seminary priests, whose presence was strictly forbidden in England by Elizabeth's law at that time. Coming from Douai they were usually missionaries to the persecuted Catholics, but sometimes plotters against the protestant Queen. Amongst them was John Payne, who lived for some time at Ingatestone Hall under the protection of old Lady Petre. In 1577, he was arrested at Ingatestone, thrown into prison for three weeks, and then released. He returned to France by the end of the year, but it was not long before he was back in England, and residing at Ingatestone Hall, where he passed as Lady Petre's steward. In 1581, information was laid against him, and he was arrested at Warwick and tried, not only for saying Mass, which was then a punishable offence, but also for plotting against Elizabeth. After long investigation, trial, and torture, he was executed in 1582 at Chelmsford. John Payne was nephew of Rector Woodward, of Ingatestone who had resigned rather than conform. Lady Petre herself was on the list of recusants whose addresses were to be sent up in 1582. The trial and execution of her confessor and pseudo-steward seems to have been a severe blow to the old lady, for she died in April of the same year and was buried with her husband in the vault in the chancel, and her effigy lies by his on the tomb above.
Saint John Payne
Also
known as
§
John
Pain
§
John
Paine
§
2 April
§
25 October
as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
§
29 October
as one of the Martyrs
of Douai
Profile
Convert.
Studied at Douai, France
in 1574.
Ordained on 7
April 1576.
Returned to Ingatestone, Essex, England,
ministering to covert Catholics
and bringing many back to the Church.
Worked with Saint Cuthbert
Mayne. Arrested
for his work in 1577,
he was exiled to Douai in 1579.
Returned to England
in 1581
to resume his work. Betrayed by by John Eliot, a known murderer who made a
career of denouncing Catholics
and priests for bounty, he was arrested
in Warwickshire, tortured several times, accused of plotting to kill
the queen based solely on Eliot’s testimony, and executed.
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Born
§
diocese
of Petersborough, Northampton, England
§
hanged, drawn, and quartered on 2 April 1582
at Chelmsford, Essex, England
§
29
December 1886
by Pope leo
XIII (cultus confirmation)
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-payne/
San Giovanni Payne Sacerdote e martire
Peterborough, Inghilterra, 1550 circa – Chelmsford,
Inghilterra, 2 aprile 1582
Nato
nel 1550 in Inghilterra, protestante, si convertì al cattolicesimo e diventò
prete nel 1576. Nell'Essex venne arrestato una prima volta nel 1577 e poi
ancora nel 1581. Venne martirizzato a Chelmsford nel 1582.
Martirologio
Romano: A Chelmsford in
Inghilterra, san Giovanni Payne, sacerdote e martire, che, durante il regno di
Elisabetta I, sotto la falsa accusa di tradimento patì il supplizio del
patibolo.
John Payne nacque intorno al 1550 presso Peterborough
nell’Huntingdonshire. Nulla sappiamo della sua
giovinezza, se non che venne educato nella fede protestante. Solo in seguito
dunque si convertì al cattolicesimo nel 1574 entrò nel nuovo collegio di Douai
per prepararsi al sacerdozio. Qui gli fu affidato l’incarico di economo e già
nel 1576 gli fu conferita l’ordinazione presbiterale, ma ciò lascia supporre
che il Payne avesse intrapreso gli studi teologici altrove già in precedenza.
Tornò
allora in patria insieme a San Cuthberto Mayne per esercitare il suo ministero,
stabilendosi nell’Essex presso Ingatestone Hall, ospite della famiglia Petres,
fortemente contraria alla politica religiosa condotta dal governo inglese. Ciò
facilitò la sua attività pastorale tra i cattolici del luogo, pur essendo
comunque tempi difficili per i cirstiani in comunione con la Santa Sede, ed
infatti nel 1577 fu arrestato ed imprigionato per un breve periodo. Una volta
rilasciato tornò a Douai, ma già verso la metà del 1578 tornò ad Ingatestone
Hall.
Nel 1581, mentre lavorava nel Warwickshire, John Payne venne tradito, arrestato
e condotto alla Torre di Londra: accusato di tradimento della regina, fu
torturato sulla ruota e condannato ed essere impiccato, sventrato e squartato.
Egli rifiutò l’aiuto offertogli da un certo George Elliott, ribadendo piuttosto
“che egli sempre, con la mente o le parole, aveva onorato sua maestà la regina
più di ogni altra donna al mondo; che avrebbe sempre felicemente obbedito ad
ogni dovere civile; che pregava per lei come per la propria anima; che non
aveva mai pensato o complottato nessun tradimento contro sua maestà o alcun
nobile d’Inghilterra”.
Il 2 aprile 1582 presso Chelmsford nell’Essex
si consumò il triste evento, che meritò a John Payne la corona dei martiri. Le
persone che assistettero alla sua esecuzione, colpite dall’integerrima condotta
del sacerdote, chiesero che il suo corpo fosse lasciato appeso sino alla morte,
aspettando dunque a compiere su di esso le raccapriccianti pratiche previste.
Il santo morì pronunciando le parole “Gesù, Gesù, Gesù”.
Papa Paolo VI ha canonizzato John Payne il 25 ottobre 1970, unitamente al
gruppo dei Quaranta Martiri d’Inghilterra e Galles.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
