Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of St Edmund Arrowsmith. One of the Lancaster Martyrs. Below St Edmund is seen in his vestments carrying a cross and a martyr's palm (a sign of victory over death). Behind him is Lancaster Castle, where he was imprisoned up to the day of his execution in August 1628.
Edmund Arrowsmith was born at Haydock to parents who also suffered for their faith. His father was also imprisoned at Lancaster Castle at the same time. He entered seminary at Douai when he was 20 and was ordained a Jesuit priest.
In 1628, he was betrayed by a Catholic man named Holden, the son of the landlord of the Blue Anchor Inn at Brindle. At his trial he had the misfortune to come before the Puritan Judge, Sir Henry Yelverton, who accursed him outright of being a priest and tried to trap him into admitting it. This was important as there was very little other evidence against him. Eventually Edmund was found guilty and the judge ordered him held in irons in the worst cell in Lancaster Castle until his execution. No one could be found to carry out the execution until, finally, a deserter, himself under sentence of death, volunteered in return for his liberty and 40 shillings. Edmund suffered the full rigour of the law. After the execution, his body was quartered and displayed on the walls of Lancaster Castle, but one of his hands was rescued and can be seen at the church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith at Ashton-in-Makerfield, where miracles of healing are said to occur at its touch.
To learn more about the Lancaster Martyrs see video In honour of the Lancaster Martyrs
To see images from the recent Lancaster Cathedral exhibition about the English Martyrs visit the slideshow
Almighty Father, may Saint Edmund Arrowsmith who died on the hill above Lancaster, grieving for England which he prayed God soon to convert, be our patron now in heaven that our lives may bear witness to the faith he professed. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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| Stained glass window - St Edmund Arrowsmith |
In 1628, he was betrayed by a Catholic man named Holden, the son of the landlord of the Blue Anchor Inn at Brindle. At his trial he had the misfortune to come before the Puritan Judge, Sir Henry Yelverton, who accursed him outright of being a priest and tried to trap him into admitting it. This was important as there was very little other evidence against him. Eventually Edmund was found guilty and the judge ordered him held in irons in the worst cell in Lancaster Castle until his execution. No one could be found to carry out the execution until, finally, a deserter, himself under sentence of death, volunteered in return for his liberty and 40 shillings. Edmund suffered the full rigour of the law. After the execution, his body was quartered and displayed on the walls of Lancaster Castle, but one of his hands was rescued and can be seen at the church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith at Ashton-in-Makerfield, where miracles of healing are said to occur at its touch.
(Newsletter, 25th August and 1st September 2013)
Lancaster MartyrsTo learn more about the Lancaster Martyrs see video In honour of the Lancaster Martyrs
To see images from the recent Lancaster Cathedral exhibition about the English Martyrs visit the slideshow
