Saint John Roberts
Prêtre et martyr en
Angleterre (+ 1610)
Nombreux furent les
martyrs de la fidélité à l'Église catholique romaine, particulièrement en
Angleterre et dans le Pays de Galles au XVIIe siècle, comme ce fut le cas pour
les prêtres réfractaires en France cent ans plus tard.
John Roberts était originaire de Trawfynydd au nord du Pays de Galles. Sa foi
le rendait plus proche de Rome que de la Communion anglicane. C'est pour cela
que l'étudiant en droit à Oxford, profitant d'un séjour à Paris, s'en vint à
Notre-Dame de Paris pour y être reçu dans l'Église catholique en 1598. Il fit
ensuite profession religieuse chez les bénédictins de Compostelle et y fut
ordonné prêtre. Il retourna en Angleterre en 1602, à l'abbaye de Downside et,
durant la peste de Londres en 1603, il fut d'une admirable charité. Il fut
emprisonné plusieurs fois. En 1610, alors qu'il célébrait l'Eucharistie, il fut
arrêté et refusa de reconnaître le roi Jacques I comme chef de l'Église.
Prisonnier dans la Tour de Londres, il fut exécuté comme beaucoup d'autres
martyrs de cette époque à Tyburn.
Il fait partie des Quarante
martyrs d'Angleterre et du Pays de Galles qui ont été canonisés en
1970.
À Tyburn, en 1610, saint Jean Roberts, bénédictin, et le bienheureux Thomas
Somers, prêtres et martyrs. Condamnés à mort à cause de leur sacerdoce sous le
roi Jacques Ier, ils furent pendus au même gibet en compagnie de seize voleurs.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/9578/Saint-John-Roberts.html
25 October as
one of the Forty
Martyrs of England and Wales
1 December as
one of the Martyrs
of Oxford University
Profile
Son of John and Anna Roberts; his ancestors were princes in Wales.
Raised Protestant, John always felt an affinity for Catholicism.
He studied at
Saint John’s College, Oxford from 1595 to 1597,
but left without a degree. He then studied law at
the Inns of Court at age 21. In 1598,
while travelling in France,
he joined the Church of
Rome at Notre Dame in Paris.
Entered the English College at Valladolid, Spain on 18 October 1598.
He left the College in 1599 to
join the Abbey of
Saint Benedict in Valladolid. Benedictine novice at
the Abbey of
Saint Martin in Compostela, Spain in 1600. Ordained there.
Father John
returned to England as
a missioner, leaving on 26 December 1602, and
entering the country in April 1603. Arrested in
May 1603,
and exiled.
Returned to England in 1604,
and worked with plague
victims in London; arrested and banished again.
Returned to England in 1605.
During a search for suspects involved in the Gunpowder
Plot, John was found in the home of Mrs Thomas Percy, and was arrested again.
Though he had no connection to the Plot,
he spent seven months in prison,
and was exiled again
in July 1606.
While in exile he
founded a house in Douai for exiled English Benedictines;
this house became the monastery of
Saint Gregory. Responsible for the conversion of Blessed Maurus
Scott. Returned to England in
October 1607,
was arrested in
December, and sent to Gatehouse prison.
He escaped, and spent a year working in London,
but was again arrested.
His execution was
scheduled for May 1609,
but the intercession of the French ambassador led
to a reduction in sentence; he was exiled yet
again.
Returned to England a
few months later, he was arrested while
celebrating Mass on 2 December 1610.
Convicted on 5 December 1610 of
the crime of priesthood. Martyred with Blessed Thomas
Somers. One of the Forty
Martyrs of England and Wales.
Born
1577 at Trawsfynydd,
Merionethshire, Gwynedd, northern Wales
hanged,
drawn, and quartered on 10 December 1610 at
Tyburn, London, England
body taken to Saint Gregory’s in Douai, France,
but disappeared during the French
Revolution
two fingers are preserved at Downside Abbey and
Erdington Abbey
8 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI (decree
of martyrdom)
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul
VI
Additional Information
Catholic
Encyclopedia: John Roberts
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Downside Abbey
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other sites in english
The Royal English College of St Alban
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA Citation
“Saint John Roberts“. CatholicSaints.Info. 28
June 2023. Web. 10 December 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-roberts/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-roberts/
St. John Roberts
Feastday: October 25
Birth: 1575
Death: 1610
Benedictine member of the Forty Martyrs of
England and Wales. He was born in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales, and studied at
Oxford. John became
a Catholic and
went to Paris in
1598, Studying and becoming a Benedictine priest in
1602. He then returned to England and aided so many victims of the plague of
1603 that he became quite famous. He left England for a time to
establish a seminary but then returned to London. He had many adventures until
his final arrest for being a priest. With Blessed Thomas Somers, he was hanged,
drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4035
St. John Roberts
First Prior of St.
Gregory's, Douai (now
Downside Abbey), b. 1575-6; martyred 10
December, 1610. He was the son of John and Anna Roberts of Trawsfynydd,
Merionethshire, N. Wales.
He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford,
in February, 1595-6, but left after two years without taking a degree and
entered as a law student
at one of the Inns of Court. In 1598 he travelled on the continent and in Paris,
through the influence of a Catholic fellow-
countryman, was converted. By the advice of John Cecil, an English priest who
afterwards became a Government spy, he decided to enter the English College
at Valladolid,
where he was admitted 18 October, 1598. The following year, however, he left
the college for the Abbey of St. Benedict, Valladolid; whence, after some
months, he was sent to make his novitiate in
the great Abbey of St. Martin at Compostella where he made his profession
towards the end of 1600. His studies completed he was ordained,
and set out for England 26
December, 1602. Although observed by a Government spy, Roberts and his
companions succeeded in entering the country in April, 1603; but, his arrival
being known, he was arrested and banished on 13 May following. He reached Douai on
24 May and soon managed to return to England where
he laboured zealously among
the plague-stricken people in London.
In 1604, while embarking for Spain with
four postulants,
he was again arrested, but not being recognized as a priest was
soon released and banished, but returned again at once. On 5 November, 1605,
while Justice Grange was searching the house of Mrs. Percy, first wife of
Thomas Percy, who was involved in the Gunpowder
Plot, he found Roberts there and arrested him. Though acquitted of any
complicity in the plot itself, Roberts was imprisoned in
the Gatehouse at Westminster for
seven months and then exiled anew in July, 1606.
This time he was absent
for some fourteen months, nearly all of which he spent at Douai where
he founded a house for the EnglishBenedictine monks who
had entered various Spanish monasteries.
This was the beginning of the monastery of
St. Gregory at Douaiwhich
still exists as Downside Abbey, near Bath, England.
In October, 1607, Roberts returned to England,
was again arrested in December and placed in the Gatehouse, from which he
contrived to escape after some months. He now lived for about a year inLondon and
was again taken some time before May, 1609, in which month he was taken to
Newgate and would have been executed but for the intercession of de la Broderie,
the French ambassador, whose petition reduced the sentence to banishment.
Roberts again visited Spain and Douai,
but returned to England within
a year, knowing that his death was certain if he were again captured. This
event took place on 2 December, 1610; the pursuivants arriving just as he was
concluding Mass, took him to Newgate in his vestments. On 5 December he was
tried and found guilty under the Act forbidding priests to
minister in England,
and on 10 December was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. The body of
Roberts was recovered and taken to St. Gregory's, Douai,
but disappeared during the French
Revolution. Two fingers are still preserved at Downside and
Erdington Abbeys respectively and a few minor relics exist.
At Erdington also is a unique contemporary engraving of the martyrdom which
has been reproduced in the "Downside Review" (XXIV, 286). The
introduction of the cause of beatification was
approved by Leo
XIII in his Decree of
4 December, 1886.
[Note: In 1970, John
Roberts was canonized by
Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales,
whose joint feastday is kept on 25 October.]
Sources
The earlier accounts
given by CHALLONER, DOD (DODD), PLOWDEN, and FOLEY are misleading, as they
confound John Roberts the Benedictine with an earlier priest of the same name.
This has been shown conclusively by CAMM, whose work is the best on the subject.
YEPES, Coronica general de la Orden de San Benito, IV (Valladolid, 1613),
folios 58-63; POLLEN, Acts of English Martyrs (London, 1891), 143-70;
CAMM, A Benedictine Martyr in England, Being the Life . . . of Dom John
Roberts, O.S.B. (London, 1897); IDEM, The Martyrdom of V. John Roberts
in Downside Review, XXIV, 286; BISHOP, The Beginning of Douai Convent and
The First Prior of St. Gregory's in Downside Review, XVI, 21; XXV, 52;
FULLERTON, Life of Luisa de Carvajal (London, 1873).
Huddleston,
Gilbert. "St. John Roberts." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
13. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912. 9 Dec.
2019 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13098c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. O Saint
John, and all ye holy Martyrs, pray for us.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13098c.htm
Saint John Roberts
Century: 16th &
17th Century
Patronage: -
Feast Day: October
25th
St. John Roberts was born
in northern Wales, to John and Anna Roberts. He studied at St. John’s
College at Oxford. He however, left without earning a degree and entered
as a law student at one of the Inns of Court. He traveled throughout the
continent and more so, Paris, and through the influence of a Catholic fellow
traveler, he was converted to Catholicism. By the advice of John Cecil,
an English Priest, he decided to enter the English College, Douai in 1598.
He left College the
following year for the Abbey of St. Benedict, and was sent to make his
novitiate at San Martin Pinario, Santiago de Compostela. He made his
profession towards the end of 1600. He was ordained and set out for
England in December 1602. Although a Government spy observed him, Roberts
and his companions succeeded in entering the country in April 1603, but he was
arrested and banished in May. He soon managed to return to England, and
worked among the plague victims in London. In 1604 while preparing to
leave for Spain with four postulants, he was arrested again. Not recognized as
a Priest, he was released and again banished but he returned to England, once
again.
In 1605, he was found at
the house of Mr. And Mrs. Thomas Percy, who was involved in the Gunpowder
Plot. Although he was not found guilty of being involved, he again was
imprisoned in the Gatehouse Prison at Westminster for seven months and then
exiled again, in July 1606. This time he was gone for fourteen months,
nearly all of which he spent at Douai where he founded and became the first
Prior of a house for English Benedictine Monks, who had entered through Spanish
Monasteries. This was the beginning of the Monastery of St. Gregory at
Douai.
In October 1607, Roberts
returned to England. In December, he was again arrested and placed in the
Gatehouse at Westminster. After several months, he escaped. He
lived in London for about a year, and in May 1609 he was taken to Newgate
Prison. He would have been executed, but the French Ambassador interceded
on his behalf, and his sentence was reduced to banishment. He visited
Spain and Douai, but returned to England within the year. He was captured
again on December 2nd, 1610, just as he was concluding Mass. They took
him to Newgate in his Vestments. On December 5th, he was tried and found
guilty under the Act forbidding Priests to minister in England. On
December 10th, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered along with Thomas Somers at
Tyburn, London. His body was recovered and taken to St. Gregory’s at
Douai. He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886, and Canonized by Pope
Paul VI as one of the representative “Forty Martyrs of England and Wales”.
Practical Take Away
St. John Roberts was a
Priest that founded the Monastery of St. Gregory at Douai. He spent his
35 years on this earth, serving the Church, and for the promotion of the
faith. He traveled extensively to England, assisting the Catholics with
Sacramental needs, but was arrested many times, and deported. Finally, he
was captured after concluding a Mass for the people of England, and
imprisoned. He was found guilty and martyred for his faith.
England, at the time, did not allow Priests to minister to the people of
England, and he continually provided the Sacraments, always hiding and avoiding
being arrested. His heroic virtue of ministering to God’s people in
England cost him his life. How far are we willing to go to bring our
faith, and the love of God to those in need around us? Are we willing to
risk our lives for it? We venerate him today, seeking his intercession in
bringing the faith to those in need.
SOURCE ` http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/saint-john-roberts
Life of Trawsfynydd
Catholic martyr Saint John Roberts
John Roberts may seem an
unlikely name for a saint, but this farmer's son from Trawsfynydd was one of
the most recent Catholic martyrs in British history.
On 10 December a
bi-annual mass is held in his memory at Gellilydan Catholic Church. The 2009
service will see the start of a year-long calendar of events to celebrate his
life, 400 years after his death.
John Roberts was born in
1577, the eldest son of Robert and Anna of Rhiw Goch Farm, Trawsfynydd.
Despite being raised a
Protestant, it's believed he received his early education from a former monk
who had been forced to leave nearby Cymer Abbey after Henry VIII's dissolution
of the monasteries.
He attended St John's
College, Oxford, in 1595 before leaving to study law at Furnival's Inn, London.
But during his travels in
Europe, he left behind both the law and his former faith as he converted to
Catholicism on a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
He moved on to Spain and
joined St Benedict's monastery, Valladolid, where he became an official member
of their community in 1598 and changed his name to Juan de Mervinia in honour
of his birthplace, Meirionnydd.
After his ordination in
1602, he succeeded in secretly landing back in England, despite the government
spies on his tail.
He worked with sufferers
of the Black Death in London for a while, but was captured several times by the
Protestant authorities and sentenced to prison and repeatedly deported.
He founded an English
priory of Benedictine monks in Douai, northern France, which led to the
establishment of St Gregory's monastery. This community of monks still exists
in Downside Abbey, Bath, the main Benedictine centre in Britain.
But John was intent on
returning home, even though he knew he would almost certainly be killed if he
did so. One day, as he was conducting mass, he was arrested, dragged to Newgate
prison, accused of high treason and sentenced to death.
Execution
He was hung, drawn and
quartered on 10 December, 1610, at 33 years old. It was usual for the
prisoner's innards to be drawn when still alive, but the large crowd which
gathered at his execution would not allow this. He was very popular among the
poor of London because of the kindness he'd shown them during the plague.
After his death, monks
took his body back to Douai. Even though his leg was lost to the enemy, other
parts were taken to St Gregory's. His arm was found in the possession of the
Spanish Royal family before being returned to Santiago de Compostela, where he
served as a novice.
One of his fingers is
kept in the Sacred Cross Church, Gellilydan, while another is at the Tyburn
convent and one more in Taunton.
John Roberts was made a
saint by Pope Paul VI on 25 October, 1970.
His life is commemorated
in Trawsfynydd's heritage centre, Llys Ednowain. There is an information board
about him outside the centre, one of six posted along a walk past significant
locations in his life.
Saint John Roberts
He's believed to be a
descendant of the Welsh princes, including Maelgwn Gwynedd, Hywel Dda and
Llewelyn the Great
He was arrested as part
of the Guy Fawkes plot to bomb Parliament, but was found not guilty and
deported
Downside Abbey
Near Bath,
Somersetshire, England,
was founded at Douai,
Flanders, under the patronage of St. Gregory the Great,
in 1605 by the Venerable
John Roberts, first prior, and some other English monks who had received
the habit and taken vows in
the Spanish Benedictine Congregation.
In 1611 Dom Philip de Caverel, Abbot of Saint
Vaast's at Arras,
built a monastery for
the community in Douai,
and consequently is revered as its founder. For some years the foundation was
embroiled in attacks from without, and also in disputes as to a union with
other English Benedictines, all of
which were settled in 1633 by the Bull "Plantata"
of Urban VIII.
From the first a school or college
for lay pupils, sons of English Catholic gentry,
has been an integral part of the institution. This undertaking, conducted on
traditional English public school lines, has
always absorbed much of the energies of the community, whose other chief
external work has consisted in supplying various missions or parishes in England. When Charles II
established for his queen a Catholic chapel royal at St.
James's palace, the community to serve it was supplied from St. Gregory's
at Douai, and
certain relics and church-plate then presented are still in existence at
Downside. On the outbreak of the French Revolution the school was
disbanded and the monks put
in prison, where
they remained nearly two years. At length in March, 1795, they were allowed to
proceed to England where
an asylum was supplied by Sir Edward Smythe, fifth Baronet, a former pupil, who
lent his Shropshire seat of Acton Burnell to his old masters for use as a monastery and school., In 1814 the
establishment was moved to Mount Pleasant, Downside, a small manor-house with
sixty-six acres of land, bought for £7000, largely the savings of the economy
of the previous nineteen years. In 1823 Dr. Baines, Vicar Apostolic of
the Western District, proposed to the community that they should abandon
the monastic state
and become a kind of diocesan seminary under
himself. This extraordinary suggestion being rejected, the bishop applied to
the Holy See for
the suppression of the monastery on the
ground of some alleged flaw in its canonical erection; after much litigation
the pope decided
in favour of the monks on
every point. Since then the establishment has increased steadily in size and
importance, new buildings being added in 1823, 1853, and almost continually
since 1870. In 1899 Pope
Leo XIII raised the priory to abbatial
rank, the forty-fifth prior, Dom Edmund Ford, being elected first abbot, on whose
resignation in 1906, Dom Cuthbert Butler was chosen to succeed him.
Six monks of St.
Gregory's have died martyrs for
the Catholic Faith and are
already pronounced Venerable, viz. Dom George Gervaise, martyred 1608; Dom John Roberts, the
first prior, 1610; Dom Maurus Scot, 1612; Dom Ambrose Barlow, 1641; Dom Philip Powell, 1646;
and Brother Thomas
Pickering, 1679. Besides these the community has given to the Church three archbishops, Dom Bede Polding and Dom Bede Vaughan, the
first two archbishops of Sydney, New South Wales;
and Dom Bernard
Ullathorne, first bishop of Birmingham and
titular Archbishop of Cabasa, well known as
an ascetical writer.
Also six bishops,
Dom Philip Ellis, Dom Laurence York, and Dom Gregory Sharrock, all three
successively Vicars Apostolic of the Western District; more recently Dom Placid
Morris, Vicar
Apostolic of Maritius and for many years assistant to Cardinal Wiseman; Dom
Joseph Brown, first Bishop of
Newport and Menevia; and Dom Charles Henry Davis, Bishop of Maitland, New South
Wales. From many other notable names may be mentioned Dom Serenus Cressy,
author of the "Church History of Brittany"; Dom John Huddlestone,
who was instrumental in saving Charles II after Worcester and
reconciled him to the Church on
his death-bed; the Abbot Sweeney, the well-known preacher; Dom Jerome Vaughan,
founder of the Abbey of Fort Augustus, N. B.; Dom Aidan Gasquet the historian,
Abbot President of the English Benedictines and
also head of the Pontifical Commission for the revision of the Vulgate. Among the
alumni of St. Gregory's School, though not monks in the
community, were Bishop
Charles Walmesley, who consecrated Dr.
Carroll the first Bishop of Baltimore, U.S.A.; John
Steevens, editor of Dugdale's "Monasticon"; Henry Carey, author of
"God save the King"; Sir John Day, one of the best known English
judges; and Bishop Patrick J. Donahue, of Wheeling, U.S.A.
The abbey buildings now
consist of a monastery for
about fifty monks; school buildings
for 1340 boarders; guest-house, the original building bought in 1814; and
the abbey church,
for exterior view of which see THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, I, 14.
The last-named building consists at present of transepts, choir, and
fifteen side chapels only;
it is 230 feet long, and 70 feet high internally Even in its unfinished state
it ranks as one of the finest modern Gothic buildings in England, and contains
the tomb of
the Irish martyr, Venerable Oliver Plunket, Archbishop of Armagh. The community
numbers eighty-four choir monks; there are
no lay brothers.
About half the monks work
on the twenty-two missions or parishes in various
parts of England,
which are dependent on the abbey. Besides the school attached to
the monastery,
Downside has two other schools at Ealing,
London, W, and at Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland; a house of
studies for its monks at Cambridge University and
another for students in London, near the British
Museum. The "Downside Review", a periodical now in its twenty-eighth
year, devoted chiefly to local, monastic, and liturgical interests,
and in which are many articles of value, is published every four months. The
"Downside Masses" and "Downside Motets" indicate the abbey's interest in
the revival of polyphonic music; a similar interest in Christian art being
shown in the "Downside Prints", a series of small devotional pictures
reproduced from ancient masters. Attached to the abbey are the
titular Abbacies of Glastonbury and St. Alban's, and
the cathedral priories of Canterbury, Bath,
Coventry, and Norwich.
The arms of Downside are: Or a cross moline gules; the abbot's seal bears
an effigy of Bl.
Richard Whiting, martyr,
the last abbot of
the neighbouring Abbey of Glastonbury.
Sources
WELDON, Chronological
Notes on English Congregation O. S. B. (Privately printed, Worcester,
1881); TAUNTON, English Black Monks of St. Benedict (London, 1897),
II; BIRT, Downside (London, 1902); SNOW, Necrology of English
Benedictines (London, 1883); Sketches of Old Downside (London,
1903); HUDLESTON, Guide to Downside Abbey Church (London, 1905);
Illustrated articles in Christian Art, I, 135; Architectural
Review, (XXIII, 40; Downside Review, I-XXVII, many articles
passim.
Huddleston,
Gilbert. "Downside Abbey." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05149a.htm>.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05149a.htm
San Giovanni Roberts Sacerdote
e martire
>>>
Visualizza la Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
Trawsfynedd, Galles, 1577
- Tyburn, Inghilterra, 10 dicembre 1610
Martirologio
Romano: Sempre a Tyburn, diciannove anni dopo, san Giovanni Roberts,
dell’Ordine di San Benedetto, e beato Tommaso Somers, sacerdoti e martiri, che,
condannati sotto il re Giacomo I per il loro sacerdozio, furono appesi allo
stesso patibolo insieme a sedici malfattori.
John Roberts nacque nel
1577 a Trawsfynedd, nel Galles centrale. Le notizie sulla sua famiglia sono
incerte. Intraprese gli studi con l’aiuto di un anziano sacerdote e,
sebbene fu educato come un protestante, era però sempre cattolico nel cuore,
come egli stesso ebbe ad affermare. All’età di diciannove anni entrò nel
collegio di Saint-John in Oxford, ove ancora risiedeva William Laud, e divise
l’alloggio con John Jones di Llanfrynach, in seguito noto come Padre Leandro di
San Martino. Il Roberts era evidentemente alla ricerca della sua vocazione: non
concluse gli studi ad Oxford, probabilmente per non dover pronunziare il
giuramento di supremazia, disconoscendo così l’autorità papale sulla Chiesa
inglese. Trascorse allora qualche settimana a Furnivall’s Inn dove studiò
diritto, poi insegnò in una scuola letteraria, indirizzando gli studenti a
Douai, che anch’egli raggiunse poi nel 1598.
Nel giugno di quell’anno
fu ufficialmente accolto in seno alla Chiesa cattolica nel corso di una
cerimonia officiata dal canonico Luigi Godeberto a Notre-Dame-de-Paris.
S’iscrisse poi al collegio inglese di Valladolid, in Spagna, e sempre in tale
città entrò nel monastero reale di San Benito, ove ricevette l’abito
benedettino assumendo il nome religioso di Fratel Giovanni di Merioneth. Qui
presto lo raggiunse anche il vecchio amico John Jones ed insieme pronunciarono
i voti nel 1560 nel monastero di San Martino a Compostella.
I benedettini spagnoli
erano tenuti alla clausura perpetua e pare perciò improbabile che abbiano preso
parte alla missione in Inghilterra. Tuttavia è un dato di fatto che il 27
febbraio 1601 il Beato Marco Barkworth, fondatore e capo del movimento
benedettino tra gli studenti inglesi di Valladolid, fu martirizzato a Tyburn,
presso Londra. In seguito ad alcune petizioni, nel 1602 papa Clemente VIII
permise ai benedettini di Valladolid e Montecassino di partecipare alla
missione in terra inglese. Agli inizi dell’anno seguente John Roberts partì per
l’isola con Padre Agostino Bradshaw. I due impiegarono tre mesi per raggiungere
Londra e, nonostante i travestimenti con cappelli piumati, giubbetti e spade,
ben presto furono arrestati e deportati.
Si susseguirono nei loro
confronti ripetuti arresti, imprigionamenti, rilasci ed esili. Alcune settimana
dopo fece ritorno a Londra, colpita d auna terribile epidemia, destando in
tutti ammirazione per l’assistenza offerta agli ammalati. Divenne noto come il
“parroco di Londra” e riuscì a convertire parecchie persone. Nella primavera
del 1604 fu arrestato mentre stava per imbarcarsi alla volta del continente, ma
agli occhi dei suoi persecutori parve più giovane e non pensandolo sacerdote lo
rilasciarono. Continuò allora a svolgere il suo ministero sino al 5 novembre
1605, quanto dopo la scoperta della Congiura delle polveri vi fu una retata di
cattolici. Padre John Roberts fu arrestato in casa della moglie del Beato
Thomas Percy, uno dei cospiratori, e questa volta venne rinchiuso nella
prigione di Gatehouse preso Westminster. Fu poi comunque trovato un compromesso
grazie all’ambasciatore francese e Padre Roberts fu liberato ed esiliato.
Questa volta rimase
all’estero per oltre un anno e fondò il convento di Douai per i monaci inglesi
della congregazione di Valladolid, odierna abbazia di San Gregorio a
Downside. Verso la fine del 1607 fece ritorno in Inghilterra, ove per la
quarta volta “cadde nelle mani dei cacciatori di preti” e fu interrogato, ma
rifiutò fermamente di pronunciare il giuramento dell’alleanza. Fuggito dalla
prigione e poi di nuovo arrestato, sepre con l’aiuto dell’ambasciatore francese
fu ancora esiliato. Si recò prima in Spagna e poi a Douai. In occasione di una
seconda epidemia di peste che colpì l’Inghilterra, all’inizio del 1610 John
Roberts tornò per l’ultima volta sull’isola per prestare soccorso.
Il 2 giugno di quell’anno
fu però reso pubblico un proclama parlamentare che obbligava i cattolici a
lasciare l’Inghilterra entro un mese. Su tale periodo non vi è molta certezza
sulla sorte del Roberts, ma comunque nella prima domenica d’Avvento fu
definivamente arrestato mentre stava terminando di celebrare l’Eucaristia in
una abitazione privata con altri cinque sacerdoti. Gli ufficiali irruppero
all’improvviso ed i sacerdoti allora smantellarono l’altare, spensero le luci e
si nascosero in cantina. Furono però scoperti con ancora indisso i paramenti
sacri e così trascinati per strada sino a Newgate.
Nel processo John Roberts
fu imputato con un altro sacerdote, Thomas Somers, ed entrambi rifiutarono di
sottomettersi alla nuova Chiesa inglese scismatica. Padre Roberts affermò di
essere tornato in quel paese “per salvare le anime” e che avrebbe “continuato a
farlo per tutta la vita”. Il vescovo anglicano di Londra lo definì un
disturbatore e sobillatore del popolo, scatenando la reazione del sacerdote
benedettino che replicò che se realmente egli avesse avuto ragione, “allora gli
avi erano stati ingannati da Sant’Agostino, apostolo degli inglesi, inviato in
Inghilterra dal papa di Roma, San Gregorio Magno. [...] Io sono stato inviato
qui dalla stessa Sede apostolica che mandò lui in missione”. Ordinatogli di
tacere, sferrò un attacco contro il clero che aveva accettato di sottoscrivere
le decisioni della regina.
Entrambi furono ritenuti
colpevoli e condannati a morte e la mattina seguente, 10 dicembre 1610, furono
trasportati a Tyburn e qui impiccati. Le loro teste furono poi esposte sul
Ponte di Londra, mentre i corpi furono seppelliti a Tyburn. In seguito però le
sue reliquie andarono purtroppo perse. John Roberts è stato beatificato nel
1929 e poi canonizzato da Papa Paolo VI il 25 ottobre 1970 unitamente ai
Quaranta Martiri d’Inghilterra e Galles.
Autore: Fabio
Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/93229
40 martiri di Inghilterra
e Galles
(†1535-1679)
Canonizzazione:
- 25 ottobre 1970
- Papa Paolo VI
- Basilica Vaticana
Ricorrenza:
- Senza data
(Celebrazioni singole)
Elenco dei martiti con
relativa ricorrenza:
John Houghton, Sacerdote
certosino, 4 maggio
Robert Lawrence,
Sacerdote certosino, 4 maggio
Augustine Webster,
Sacerdote certosino, 4 maggio
Richard Reynolds,
Sacerdote brigidino, 4 maggio
John Stone, Sacerdote
agostiniano, 23 dicembre
Cuthbert Mayne,
Sacerdote, 30 novembre
Edmund Campion, Sacerdote
gesuita, 1 dicembre
Ralph Sherwin, Sacerdote,
1 dicembre
Alexander Briant,
Sacerdote gesuita, 1 dicembre
John Paine, Sacerdote, 2
aprile
Luke Kirby, Sacerdote, 30
maggio
Richard Gwyn, Laico, 17
ottobre
Margaret Clitherow,
Laica, 25 marzo
Margaret Ward, Laica, 30
agosto
Edmund Gennings,
Sacerdote, 10 dicembre
Swithun Wells, Laico, 10
dicembre
Eustace White, Sacerdote,
10 dicembre
Polydore Plasden,
Sacerdote, 10 dicembre
John Boste, Sacerdote, 24
luglio
Robert Southwell,
Sacerdote gesuita, 21 febbraio
Henry Walpole, Sacerdote
gesuita, 7 aprile
Philip Howard, Laico, 19
ottobre
John Jones, Sacerdote dei
Frati Minori, 12 luglio
John Rigby, Laico, 21
giugno
Anne Line, Laica, 27
febbraio
Nicholas Owen, Religioso
gesuita, 2 marzo
Thomas Garnet, Sacerdote
gesuita, 23 giugno
John Roberts, Sacerdote
benedettino, 10 dicembre
John Almond, Sacerdote, 5
dicembre
Edmund Arrowsmith,
Sacerdote gesuita, 28 agosto
Ambrose Edward Barlow,
Sacerdote benedettino, 10 settembre
Alban Bartholomew Roe,
Sacerdote benedettino, 21 gennaio
Henry Morse, Sacerdote
gesuita, 1 febbraio
John Southworth,
Sacerdote, 28 giugno
John Plessington,
Sacerdote, 19 luglio
Philip Evans, Sacerdote
gesuita, 22 luglio
John Lloyd, Sacerdote, 22
luglio
John Wall (Gioacchino di
Sant’Anna), Sacerdote dei Frati Minori, 22 agosto
John Kemble, Sacerdote,
22 agosto
David Lewis, Sacerdote
gesuita, 27 agosto
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/40-martiri-di-inghilterra-e-galles.html
CANONIZZAZIONE DI
QUARANTA MARTIRI DELL’INGHILTERRA E DEL GALLES
OMELIA DEL SANTO PADRE
PAOLO VI
Domenica, 25 ottobre l970
We extend Our greeting first of all to Our venerable brother Cardinal John Carmel Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster, who is present here today. Together with him We greet Our brother bishops of England and Wales and of all the other countries, those who have come here for this great ceremony. We extend Our greeting also to the English priests, religious, students and faithful. We are filled with joy and happiness to have them near Us today; for us-they represent all English Catholics scattered throughout the world. Thanks to them we are celebrating Christ’s glory made manifest in the holy Martyrs, whom We have just canonized, with such keen and brotherly feelings that We are able to experience in a very special spiritual way the mystery of the oneness and love of .the Church. We offer you our greetings, brothers, sons and daughters; We thank you and We bless you.
While We are particularly pleased to note the presence of the official
representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Reverend Doctor Harry
Smythe, We also extend Our respectful and affectionate greeting to all the
members of the Anglican Church who have likewise come to take part in this
ceremony. We indeed feel very close to them. We would like them to read in Our
heart the humility, the gratitude and the hope with which We welcome them. We
wish also to greet the authorities and those personages who have come here to
represent Great Britain, and together with them all the other representatives
of other countries and other religions. With all Our heart We welcome them, as
we celebrate the freedom and the fortitude of men who had, at the same time,
spiritual faith and loyal respect for the sovereignty of civil society.
STORICO EVENTO PER LA
CHIESA UNIVERSALE
La solenne canonizzazione
dei 40 Martiri dell’Inghilterra e del Galles da Noi or ora compiuta, ci offre
la gradita opportunità di parlarvi, seppur brevemente, sul significato della
loro esistenza e sulla importanza the la loro vita e la loro morte hanno avuto
e continuano ad avere non solo per la Chiesa in Inghilterra e nel Galles, ma
anche per la Chiesa Universale, per ciascuno di noi, e per ogni uomo di buona
volontà.
Il nostro tempo ha bisogno di Santi, e in special modo dell’esempio di coloro
che hanno dato il supremo testimonio del loro amore per Cristo e la sua Chiesa:
«nessuno ha un amore più grande di colui che dà la vita per i propri amici» (Io.
l5, l3). Queste parole del Divino Maestro, che si riferiscono in prima istanza
al sacrificio che Egli stesso compì sulla croce offrendosi per la salvezza di
tutta l’umanità, valgono pure per la grande ed eletta schiera dei martiri di
tutti i tempi, dalle prime persecuzioni della Chiesa nascente fino a quelle –
forse più nascoste ma non meno crudeli - dei nostri giorni. La Chiesa di Cristo
è nata dal sacrificio di Cristo sulla Croce ed essa continua a crescere e
svilupparsi in virtù dell’amore eroico dei suoi figli più autentici. «Semen est
sanguis christianorum» (TERTULL., Apologet., 50; PL l, 534). Come l’effusione
del sangue di Cristo, così l’oblazione che i martiri fanno della loro vita
diventa in virtù della loro unione col Sacrificio di Cristo una sorgente di
vita e di fertilità spirituale per la Chiesa e per il mondo intero. «Perciò -
ci ricorda la Costituzione Lumen gentium (Lumen
gentium, 42) – il martirio, col quale il discepolo è reso simile al Maestro
che liberamente accetta la morte per la salute del mondo, e a Lui si conforma
nell’effusione del sangue, è stimato dalla Chiesa dono insigne e suprema prova
di carità».
Molto si è detto e si è scritto su quell’essere misterioso che è l’uomo : sulle
risorse del suo ingegno, capace di penetrare nei segreti dell’universo e di
assoggettare le cose materiali utilizzandole ai suoi scopi; sulla grandezza
dello spirito umano che si manifesta nelle ammirevoli opere della scienza e
dell’arte; sulla sua nobiltà e la sua debolezza; sui suoi trionfi e le sue
miserie. Ma ciò che caratterizza l’uomo, ciò che vi è di più intimo nel suo
essere e nella sua personalità, è la capacità di amare, di amare fino in fondo,
di donarsi con quell’amore che è più forte della morte e che si prolunga nell’eternità.
IL SACRIFICIO NELL’AMORE
PIÙ ALTO
Il martirio dei cristiani è l’espressione ed il segno più sublime di questo amore, non solo perché il martire rimane fedele al suo amore fino all’effusione del proprio sangue, ma anche perché questo sacrificio viene compiuto per l’amore più alto e nobile che possa esistere, ossia per amore di Colui che ci ha creati e redenti, che ci ama come Egli solo sa amare, e attende da noi una risposta di totale e incondizionata donazione, cioè un amore degno del nostro Dio.
Nella sua lunga e gloriosa storia, la Gran Bretagna, isola di santi, ha dato al mondo molti uomini e donne che hanno amato Dio con questo amore schietto e leale: per questo siamo lieti di aver potuto annoverare oggi 40 altri figli di questa nobile terra fra coloro che la Chiesa pubblicamente riconosce come Santi, proponendoli con ciò alla venerazione dei suoi fedeli, e perché questi ritraggano dalle loro esistenze un vivido esempio.
A chi legge commosso ed ammirato gli atti del loro martirio, risulta chiaro, vorremmo dire evidente, che essi sono i degni emuli dei più grandi martiri dei tempi passati, a motivo della grande umiltà, intrepidità, semplicità e serenità, con le quali essi accettarono la loro sentenza e la loro morte, anzi, più ancora con un gaudio spirituale e con una carità ammirevole e radiosa.
È proprio questo atteggiamento profondo e spirituale che accomuna ed unisce questi uomini e donne, i quali d’altronde erano molto diversi fra loro per tutto ciò che può differenziare un gruppo così folto di persone, ossia l’età e il sesso, la cultura e l’educazione, lo stato e condizione sociale di vita, il carattere e il temperamento, le disposizioni naturali e soprannaturali, le esterne circostanze della loro esistenza. Abbiamo infatti fra i 40 Santi Martiri dei sacerdoti secolari e regolari, abbiamo dei religiosi di vari Ordini e di rango diverso, abbiamo dei laici, uomini di nobilissima discendenza come pure di condizione modesta, abbiamo delle donne che erano sposate e madri di famiglia: ciò che li unisce tutti è quell’atteggiamento interiore di fedeltà inconcussa alla chiamata di Dio che chiese a loro, come risposta di amore, il sacrificio della vita stessa.
E la risposta dei martiri fu unanime: «Non posso fare a meno di ripetervi che
muoio per Dio e a motivo della mia religione; - così diceva il Santo Philip
Evans - e mi ritengo così felice che se mai potessi avere molte altre vite,
sarei dispostissimo a sacrificarle tutte per una causa tanto nobile».
LEALTÀ E FEDELTÀ
E, come d’altronde numerosi altri, il Santo Philip Howard conte di Arundel asseriva egli pure: «Mi rincresce di avere soltanto una vita da offrire per questa nobile causa». E la Santa Margaret Clitherow con una commovente semplicità espresse sinteticamente il senso della sua vita e della sua morte: «Muoio per amore del mio Signore Gesù». « Che piccola cosa è questa, se confrontata con la morte ben più crudele che Cristo ha sofferto per me », così esclamava il Santo Alban Roe.
Come molti loro connazionali che morirono in circostanze analoghe, questi quaranta uomini e donne dell’Inghilterra e del Galles volevano essere e furono fino in fondo leali verso la loro patria che essi amavano con tutto il cuore; essi volevano essere e furono di fatto fedeli sudditi del potere reale che tutti - senza eccezione alcuna - riconobbero, fino alla loro morte, come legittimo in tutto ciò che appartiene all’ordine civile e politico. Ma fu proprio questo il dramma dell’esistenza di questi Martiri, e cioè che la loro onesta e sincera lealtà verso l’autorità civile venne a trovarsi in contrasto con la fedeltà verso Dio e con ciò che, secondo i dettami della loro coscienza illuminata dalla fede cattolica, sapevano coinvolgere le verità rivelate, specialmente sulla S. Eucaristia e sulle inalienabili prerogative del successore di Pietro, che, per volere di Dio, è il Pastore universale della Chiesa di Cristo. Posti dinanzi alla scelta di rimanere saldi nella loro fede e quindi di morire per essa, ovvero di aver salva la vita rinnegando la prima, essi, senza un attimo di esitazione, e con una forza veramente soprannaturale, si schierarono dalla parte di Dio e gioiosamente affrontarono il martirio. Ma talmente grande era il loro spirito, talmente nobili erano i loro sentimenti, talmente cristiana era l’ispirazione della loro esistenza, che molti di essi morirono pregando per la loro patria tanto amata, per il Re o per la Regina, e persino per coloro che erano stati i diretti responsabili della loro cattura, dei loro tormenti, e delle circostanze ignominiose della loro morte atroce.
Le ultime parole e l’ultima preghiera del Santo John Plessington furono appunto
queste: «Dio benedica il Re e la sua famiglia e voglia concedere a Sua Maestà
un prospero regno in questa vita e una corona di gloria nell’altra. Dio conceda
pace ai suoi sudditi consentendo loro di vivere e di morire nella vera fede,
nella speranza e nella carità».
«POSSANO TUTTI OTTENERE
LA SALVEZZA»
Così il Santo Alban Roe, poco prima dell’impiccagione, pregò: «Perdona, o mio Dio, le mie innumerevoli offese, come io perdono i miei persecutori», e, come lui, il Santo Thomas Garnet che - dopo aver singolarmente nominato e perdonato coloro che lo avevano tradito, arrestato e condannato - supplicò Dio dicendo: «Possano tutti ottenere la salvezza e con me raggiungere il cielo».
Leggendo gli atti del loro martirio e meditando il ricco materiale raccolto con
tanta cura sulle circostanze storiche della loro vita e del loro martirio,
rimaniamo colpiti soprattutto da ciò che inequivocabilmente e luminosamente
rifulge nella loro esistenza; esso, per la sua stessa natura, è tale da
trascendere i secoli, e quindi da rimanere sempre pienamente attuale e, specie
ai nostri giorni, di importanza capitale. Ci riferiamo al fatto che questi
eroici figli e figlie dell’Inghilterra e del Galles presero la loro fede
veramente sul serio: ciò significa che essi l’accettarono come l’unica norma
della loro vita e di tutta la loro condotta, ritraendone una grande serenità ed
una profonda gioia spirituale. Con una freschezza e spontaneità non priva di quel
prezioso dono che è l’umore tipicamente proprio della loro gente, con un
attaccamento al loro dovere schivo da ogni ostentazione, e con la schiettezza
tipica di coloro che vivono con convinzioni profonde e ben radicate, questi
Santi Martiri sono un esempio raggiante del cristiano che veramente vive la sua
consacrazione battesimale, cresce in quella vita che nel sacramento
dell’iniziazione gli è stata data e che quello della confermazione ha
rinvigorito, in modo tale che la religione non è per lui un fattore marginale,
bensì l’essenza stessa di tutto il suo essere ed agire, facendo sì che la
carità divina diviene la forza ispiratrice, fattiva ed operante di una
esistenza, tutta protesa verso l’unione di amore con Dio e con tutti gli uomini
di buona volontà, che troverà la sua pienezza nell’eternità.
La Chiesa e il mondo di oggi hanno sommamente bisogno di tali uomini e donne, di ogni condizione me stato di vita, sacerdoti, religiosi e laici, perché solo persone di tale statura e di tale santità saranno capaci di cambiare il nostro mondo tormentato e di ridargli, insieme alla pace, quell’orientamento spirituale e veramente cristiano a cui ogni uomo intimamente anela - anche talvolta senza esserne conscio - e di cui tutti abbiamo tanto bisogno.
Salga a Dio la nostra gratitudine per aver voluto, nella sua provvida bontà, suscitare questi Santi Martiri, l’operosità e il sacrificio dei quali hanno contribuito alla conservazione della fede cattolica nell’Inghilterra e nel Galles.
Continui il Signore a suscitare nella Chiesa dei laici, religiosi e sacerdoti che siano degni emuli di questi araldi della fede.
Voglia Dio, nel suo amore, che anche oggi fioriscano e si sviluppino dei centri di studio, di formazione e di preghiera, atti, nelle condizioni di oggi, a preparare dei santi sacerdoti e missionari quali furono, in quei tempi, i Venerabili Collegi di Roma e Valladolid e i gloriosi Seminari di St. Omer e Douai, dalle file dei quali uscirono appunto molti dei Quaranta Martiri, perché come uno di essi, una grande personalità, il Santo Edmondo Campion, diceva: «Questa Chiesa non si indebolirà mai fino a quando vi saranno sacerdoti e pastori ad attendere al loro gregge».
Voglia il Signore concederci la grazia che in questi tempi di indifferentismo
religioso e di materialismo teorico e pratico sempre più imperversante,
l’esempio e la intercessione dei Santi Quaranta Martiri ci confortino nella
fede, rinsaldino il nostro autentico amore per Dio, per la sua Chiesa e per gli
uomini tutti.
PER L’UNITA DEI CRISTIANI
May the blood of these Martyrs be able to heal the great wound inflicted upon God’s Church by reason of the separation of the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church. Is it not one-these Martyrs say to us-the Church founded by Christ? Is not this their witness? Their devotion to their nation gives us the assurance that on the day when-God willing-the unity of the faith and of Christian life is restored, no offence will be inflicted on the honour and sovereignty of a great country such as England. There will be no seeking to lessen the legitimate prestige and the worthy patrimony of piety and usage proper to the Anglican Church when the Roman Catholic Church-this humble “Servant of the Servants of God”- is able to embrace her ever beloved Sister in the one authentic communion of the family of Christ: a communion of origin and of faith, a communion of priesthood and of rule, a communion of the Saints in the freedom and love of the Spirit of Jesus.
Perhaps We shall have to go on, waiting and watching in prayer, in order to
deserve that blessed day. But already We are strengthened in this hope by the
heavenly friendship of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales who are canonized
today. Amen.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/40-martiri-di-inghilterra-e-galles.html
