Tomorrow will be the anniversary of St. Philip Howard's birth into eternal life--his dies natalis as a martyr in chains--when he died in the Tower of London on October 19, 1595. I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show this morning at 6:45 Central/7:45 Eastern to discuss this remarkable martyr of the English Reformation. Highlights of his life must include his radical conversion after hearing St. Edmund Campion and companions debate the Anglican divines in St. John Chapel in the Tower of London and his imprisonment in the Tower and the way he developed his devotional practices while in the Tower, praying, fasting, and preparing himself for the possible execution long-delayed, as he remained in the Tower at Her Majesty's pleasure. In his Tower of London cell he inscribed the words: "Quanto plus afflictiones pro Christo in hoc saeculo, tanto plus gloriae cum Christo in futuro".--The greater the afflictions for Christ in this world, the greater the glory with Christ in the next!
Long before Nathan Hale in the American Revolutionary War, he proclaimed such tremendous loyalty that he regretted having only one life to give, for his Faith, not for his country: "Tell Her Majesty if my religion be the cause for which I suffer, sorry I am that I have but one life to lose." (He had asked if he might see his wife and son before he died, being very ill, and "Good Queen Bess" said that he could--if he would renounce his Catholic Faith and attend an Anglican church service--and she would restore his rank, privileges, and freedom besides!)
More tomorrow about his devotional life in the Tower of London for ten years. Listen live today on EWTN radio or Sacred Heart radio, on the air or online.
St. Philip Howard, pray for us!
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