Bienheureux Roger Filcock
Martyr en Angleterre (+ 1601)
Roger Filcock (1570-1601) arrêté en Angleterre pendant sa période probatoire avant d'entrer chez les
jésuites. Il a étudié à Reims, puis à Valladolid.
Avec le père Marc
Barkworth, bénédictin, il fut traîné dans les rues de Tyburn. Les deux
prêtres s'encouragèrent en priant ensemble. Ils arrivèrent juste après
l'exécution d'Anne Line qui
avait été la pénitente du père Filcock.
Voir aussi:
À Londres, en 1601, sainte Anne Line, veuve et martyre. Née de parents
calvinistes, qui la déshéritèrent et la chassèrent de chez eux quand elle
devint catholique, elle épousa Roger Line, qui mourut en exil à cause de la foi
catholique. Après sa mort, elle fournit un hébergement à des prêtres à Londres,
et pour cela, fut pendue à Tyburn, sous la reine Élisabeth Ière. Avec elle
subirent le même supplice les bienheureux prêtres et martryrs Marc Barkworth,
bénédictin, et Roger Felcock, de la Compagnie de Jésus, qui furent mis en
pièces alors qu'ils respiraient encore.
Martyrologe romain
Roger Filcock (1570-1601) a été arrêté pendant
qu’il accomplissait une période probatoire avant d’entrer au noviciat Il avait
étudié au Collège Anglais à Reims en France et à Valladolid en Espagne, mais
quand il demanda d’entrer dans la Compagnie, on lui suggéra de renouveler sa
demande après avoir exercé son ministère en Angleterre pendant un peu de temps.
Le voyage vers l’Angleterre fut difficile. Le navire
qui l’emmenait de Bilbao à Calais en France fut arrêté par un calme plat et
devint la proie d’un navire hollandais qui bloquait le port. Roger Filcock fut
capturé, mai réussit à s’échapper et débarqua secrètement sur la côte de Kent.
Peu de temps après avoir commencé à exercer son ministère, il contacta la P.
Henry Garnet, le supérieur des jésuites, lui demandant d’être accepté comme
jésuite. En 1600 il a été accepté dans la Compagnie, mais fut trahi par
quelqu’un avec qui il avait étudié à Valladolid. Il a été arrêté et envoyé dans
la prison de Newgate à Londres. Son procès ne dura pas longtemps, malgré le
manque de preuves : il n’avait utilisé aucun des noms qui figuraient dans
l’acte d’accusation. Avec le P. Mark Barkworth, un bénédictin, il a été attaché
à une claie et traîné par les rues de Londres jusqu’à Tyburn. Le P. Barkworth
fut le premier à être pendu, éviscéré et écartelé. Le P. Filcock put observer
les souffrances de son compagnon, sachant que son tour suivrait. Les 2 prêtres
avaient récité des antiennes pour s’encourager l’un l’autre.
D'autres
martyrs d’Angleterre
Initialement regroupé et édité par: Tom Rochford,SJ
Traducteur: Guy Verhaegen
SOURCE : https://www.jesuits.global/fr/saint-blessed/le-bienheureux-roger-filcock/
Also known as
Profile
Born
Blessed Roger Filcock, SJ
Born: Circa 1570
Died: February 27, 1601
Beatified: November 22, 1987
Fr Roger Filcock was born in Sandwich, Kent, England.
He studied at the English college in Rheims, France and was amongst the first
students to go to St Alban’s seminary in Valladolid, Spain, where he was
ordained in 1597. When he requested to enter the Society of Jesus in Spain, he
was encouraged to return to England before applying again. He headed for
Calais, France, on a ship which was pursued by Dutch ships. Rather than
permitting themselves to be taken captive, many passengers jumped ship and
successfully made it to shore. Fr Filcock however, was captured but managed to
escape and landed on the Kent shore of England in early 1598 where he assumed
the alias of Arthur and began his priestly ministry. His desire to be a Jesuit
remained strong and he wrote to the Jesuit superior in England, Fr Henry
Garnet, asking to be admitted and this was granted in 1600.
While waiting to go to Flanders for his novitiate, Fr
Filcock was apprehended, betrayed by a former fellow student at Valladolid and
sent to Newgate prison in London. In 1601, Fr Filcock was charged for being a
priest but he would neither admit nor deny, insisting that witnesses and
evidence be brought forth. As none was forthcoming, he was brought for trial
and heard the indictment against him. He requested to be tried without jury
because he did not want the verdict, which he knew would be against him to be on
the jurors’ consciences. Nevertheless, the judge directed the jury to find the
defendant guilty and Fr Filcock was sentenced to the gallows for high treason.
In prison, Fr Filcock met Fr Mark Barkworth,
Benedictine, who was his fellow student in Valladolid and they were to be
companions in death. On February 22, the day of execution, the 2 priests were
bound together, tied to a hurdle and then dragged to Tyburn. They arrived just
after the execution of Anne Line, who was once Fr Filcock’s penitent. Seeing
her body still hanging from the beam, Fr Filcock kissed the hem of her garment
and said: “Blessed Anne Line, a thousand times more blessed than I, you beat me
in the contest and in winning the crown.” Just before Fr Barkworth’s martyrdom,
he intoned the Latin antiphon, “This is the day the Lord has made,” and Fr
Filcock sang out the response, “Let us rejoice and be glad.” Fr Filcock
witnessed the hanging and butchering of his companion but the horrid sight made
him more resolute in his willingness to die for Christ. When it was his turn,
the sheriff tried to get him to admit his treason, which he firmly denied. He
said, quoting St Paul: “I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ,” and
added that he was dying because he was: “a Catholic, a priest and a member of
the Society of Jesus”. After a short prayer, the cart was drawn from under him
and he was hanged, then cut down, disemboweled and quartered. Fr Filcock was
beatified by Pope John Paul II in November 22, 1987 .
SOURCE : https://www.jesuit.org.sg/feb-27th-roger-filcock-sj/
Blessed Roger Filcock
Roger Filcock (1570-1601) was arrested in England while he was
fulfilling a probationary period prior to entering the Jesuits. He had studied
at the English College in Rheims, France and then in Valladolid, Spain, but
when he asked to join the Society he was encouraged to apply again after
ministering for awhile in England.
His journey into England was difficult enough. The ship he was traveling on
from Bilbao, Spain to Calais, France, was becalmed just outside the port and
fell pray to a Dutch ship blockading the harbor. Filcock was captured, but
managed to escape and land surreptitiously on the shore in Kent in 1598. Soon
after he began his ministry, he contacted Father Henry Garnet, the Jesuit
superior, asking to become a Jesuit. He was accepted into the Society in 1600,
but then was betrayed by someone he had studied with in Spain. He was arrested
and committed to Newgate Prison in London. His trial did not last long, despite
the fact that there was no evidence against him and that the names in the
indictment were not names he had used. Together with Father Mark Barkworth, a
Benedictine, he was tied to a hurdle and dragged through the streets to Tyburn.
Barkworth was first to be hung, disembowelled and quartered. Filcock had to
watch his companion suffer, knowing that he would immediately follow. The two
priests prayed antiphonally to support each other.
Blessed Roger Filcock
Born at Sandwich, Kent, the son of Simon and Margaret Lowe (or Low), he
entered the English College at Rheims on 15 June 1581. From there he was sent
on 29 September 1581 to the English College, Valladolid, where he arrived on 20
February 1591. There is no record of where and when he was ordained a priest,
but this happened by October 1597, when he left the college and sailed from
Bilbao to Calais in December. His desire was to enter the Society of Jesus, but
it was considered prudent that he first gain some experience on the mission, as
indeed he did. He was admitted as a Jesuit novice by Father Henry Garnet in
1600 and should have proceeded to Flanders to the novitiate, but was in the
meantime arrested on suspicion of being a priest and sent to Newgate gaol in
London.
During his time as a missioner he had known Anne Line, a convert to the
Catholic faith and widow whose husband had died in exile after being caught
attending Mass. She had managed a variety of safe-houses for priests and lay
faithful. Filcock had also been Line's confessor.
Born at Sandwich, Kent, the son of
Simon and Margaret Lowe (or Low), he entered the English
College at Rheims on 15 June 1581.
From there he was sent on 29 September 1581 to the English College,
Valladolid, where he arrived on 20 February 1591. There is no record of where
and when he was ordained a priest,
but this happened by October 1597, when he left the college and sailed from Bilbao
to Calais in
December. His desire was to enter the Society of Jesus, but it was
considered prudent that he first gain some experience on the mission, as indeed
he did. He was admitted as a Jesuit novice by Father Henry Garnet in
1600 and should have proceeded to Flanders to
the novitiate, but was in the meantime arrested on suspicion of being a priest
and sent to Newgate gaol in London.
During his time as a missioner he
had known Anne Line,
a convert to the Catholic faith and widow whose husband had died in exile after
being caught attending Mass. She had managed a variety of safe-houses for
priests and lay faithful. Filcock had also been Line's confessor.
On Candlemas Day, 1601, Father Francis Page was
about to celebrate Mass in her lodgings when priest-catchers broke in. The
priest escaped in the confusion but his hostess was arrested and put on trial
at the Old Bailey on 26 February, either 1601 or 1602, indicted for harbouring
a priest. Although this could not be proved, she was condemned and led to the
gallows the next day. She was executed at the same occasion as Dom Mark Barkworth, a Benedictine monk,
and Filcock, who had gone on trial on 23 February. This was the first execution
of Catholics at Tyburn since 1595.
In St John's church there is a memorial window to Blessed Roger Filcock
in the Lady Chapel, where a red candle burns to remind us of his faith and
sacrifice, and our own call to holiness.
SOURCE
: http://www.catholicmas.com/blessedrogerfilcock.htm
Blessed
Roger Filcock (1570-1601) was arrested in England
while he was fulfilling a probationary period prior to entering the Jesuits. He
had studied at the English College in Rheims, France and then in Valladolid,
Spain, but when he asked to join the Society he was encouraged to apply again
after ministering for awhile in England.
His
journey into England was difficult enough. The ship he was traveling on from
Bilbao, Spain to Calais, France, was becalmed just outside the port and fell
pray to a Dutch ship blockading the harbor. Filcock was captured, but managed
to escape and land surreptitiously on the shore in Kent in 1598. Soon after he
began his ministry, he contacted Father Henry Garnet, the Jesuit superior,
asking to become a Jesuit. He was accepted into the Society in 1600, but then
was betrayed by someone he had studied with in Spain. He was arrested and
committed to Newgate Prison in London. His trial did not last long, despite the
fact that there was no evidence against him and that the names in the
indictment were not names he had used. Before he suffered, he paid tribute to
Father Barkworth, saying, "Pray
for me to our Lord, whose presence you now enjoy, that I too may faithfully run
my course."
St. Anne Line was among the Forty Martyrs of England and
Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970. She, St. Margaret Clitherow and St.
Margaret Ward share a separate Feast on August 30 (the date of St. Margaret
Ward's martyrdom in 1588) in the dioceses of England. Blessed Mark Barkworth
was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929. Pope John Paul II beatified
Blessed Roger Filcock on the 22nd of November 1987.
SOURCE
: http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.ca/2016_02_01_archive.html
Beato Ruggero Filcock Sacerdote gesuita, martire
Sandwich, Inghilterra, circa 1572 – Londra,
Inghilterra, 27 febbraio 1601
Roger Filcock,
vissuto all’epoca della regina Elisabetta I, frequentò i collegi per futuri
missionari inglesi di Reims e Valladolid, retti dalla Compagnia di Gesù. Egli
stesso domandò di essere ammesso in quella congregazione, ma gli venne
suggerito di attendere e di guadagnare esperienza. Tornato in Inghilterra,
intraprese il ministero sotto falso nome (Nayler o Arthur), ma venne scoperto e
arrestato. Condannato a morte, venne impiccato e squartato a Londra il 27
febbraio 1601, dopo il suo compagno di prigionia, il benedettino Mark
Barkworth, e una sua penitente, la vedova Anne Line. È stato beatificato il 22
novembre 1987.
Martirologio
Romano: A Londra in Inghilterra, sant’Anna Line, vedova e martire, che, morto
il marito in esilio per la fede cattolica, procurò in questa città una casa ai
sacerdoti e per questo, sotto la regina Elisabetta I, a Tyburn fu impiccata.
Insieme a lei patirono anche i beati sacerdoti e martiri Marco Barkworth,
dell’Ordine di San Benedetto, e Ruggero Filcock, della Compagnia di Gesù,
dilaniati con la spada mentre erano ancora vivi.
Figlio di Simon e Margaret Lowe (o Low), Roger Filcock nacque a Sandwich
nel Kent. Frequentò il collegio retto dai Gesuiti a Reims, in Francia, dove si
formavano i futuri missionari per riportare il cattolicesimo in Inghilterra.
Nel 1590 i Gesuiti aprirono un nuovo centro di formazione, il Real Collegio di
Sant’Albano a Valladolid, in Spagna, e Filcock vi si trasferì il 20 febbraio
1591.
Desiderava entrare nella Compagnia di Gesù, ma fu invitato ad attendere il
ritorno in patria per riprovarci e guadagnare esperienze. Non esistono dati certi sulla sua
ordinazione sacerdotale, ma dovette sicuramente accadere prima dell’ottobre
1597, quando lasciò il Collegio e, a dicembre, salpò da Bilbao, diretto verso
Calais.
La nave su cui viaggiava, però, venne inseguita da velieri olandesi: piuttosto
che lasciarsi catturare, molti passeggeri si gettarono in mare e riuscirono ad
arrivare a riva. Filcock, invece, venne catturato, ma riuscì a scappare e
approdò sulla costa del Kent agli inizi del 1598. Assunto il falso nome di
Nayler o Arthur, intraprese il suo ministero sacerdotale. Durante la sua
attività, divenne il confessore di Anne Line, una vedova che si era occupata di
alcuni rifugi per sacerdoti e laici cattolici, il cui marito era morto in
esilio dopo essere stato sorpreso a partecipare alla Messa.
Nel frattempo, rimase fermamente deciso a riprovare l’ammissione tra i Gesuiti:
scrisse quindi al superiore in Inghilterra, padre Henry Garnet, per domandargli
il consenso. Con sua grande gioia, gli venne concesso nel 1600, insieme alla
destinazione per compiere il noviziato nelle Fiandre.
Ma, proprio mentre si preparava a partire, venne tradito da un ex compagno di
studi a Valladolid, arrestato e condotto nel carcere di Newgate, a Londra.
Accusato di essere un sacerdote, non ammise e neppure negò, ma insistette che
venissero presentati prove e testimoni a riguardo. Dato che nessuno si
presentò, venne processato: chiese di non avere una giuria, in quanto non
voleva che il verdetto, che sarebbe stato chiaramente contro di lui, pesasse
sulle coscienze dei giurati. Tuttavia, il giudice pilotò la giuria in modo da
dichiararlo colpevole per alto tradimento, la pena abituale per chi riconosceva
solo nel Papa la suprema autorità religiosa anche per gli inglesi.
In prigione, padre Filcock incontrò Mark Barkworth, un suo compagno di
studi in Spagna, Oblato benedettino. Il 27 febbraio, giorno fissato per
l’esecuzione, la prima che vedeva oggetto dei cattolici dal 1595, i due vennero
legati insieme, attaccati a una gogna e trascinati al Tyburn, dov’era preparato
per loro il patibolo. Lungo la strada, Barkworth intonò in latino il Salmo del
giorno di Pasqua: «Questo è il giorno che ha fatto il Signore: rallegriamoci in
esso ed esultiamo»; padre Filcock lo seguì nel canto.
Arrivarono al Tyburn poco dopo l’esecuzione di Anne Line. Al vedere il suo
corpo che ancora pendeva dal cappio, il gesuita le baciò la mano (altre fonti
dicono l’orlo della sua veste) ed esclamò: «Beata Anne Line, mille volte più
beata di me, mi hai battuto nella gara e nel guadagnare la corona. Ma presto ti seguiremo, se
l’Onnipotente vorrà».
Poco dopo, fu il turno del suo compagno di prigionia. Padre Filcock osservò il
massacro cui il suo cadavere venne sottoposto, ma non desistette dalla sua
volontà di martirio. Quando toccò a lui, lo sceriffo tentò di fargli confessare
il tradimento, ma lui negò coraggiosamente. Citando san Paolo, affermò:
«Desidero essere dissolto ed essere con Cristo» e aggiunse che stava per morire
in quanto «cattolico, sacerdote e membro della Compagnia di Gesù».
Dopo una breve preghiera, gli venne sottratto il carretto da sotto i piedi.
Successivamente, dopo che gli venne tagliata la corda, venne sventrato e
squartato.
Padre Roger Filcock fu inserito in un gruppo di ottantacinque candidati agli
altari inglesi del sedicesimo secolo, la cui causa di beatificazione venne
introdotta il 9 dicembre 1886. Il decreto sul loro martirio arrivò cent’anni
dopo, il 10 novembre 1986, e aprì la via alla beatificazione, avvenuta il 22
novembre 1987.
Autore: Emilia
Flocchini
