May the Fourth Be With You: The Feast of the ALL the Martyrs of England and Wales

Today, in the dioceses of England and in the Anglican Ordinariates, the Church celebrates the Martyrs of England and Wales on the anniversary of the Protomartyrs, the three Carthusian Priors (Saint John Houghton, Saint Robert Lawrence, and Saint Augustine Webster), Blessed John Haile, the parish vicar from Isleworth, and Saint Richard Reynolds, from the Brigittine House of Syon, brutally executed on May 4, 1535 by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn Tree. This feast was celebrated on October 25 after Pope St. Paul VI canonized the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales on that date in 1970, but it was moved to May 4 on the Vatican approved the revised Liturgical Calendar for England and Wales in 2010. In the dioceses of Wales, the feast of the Welsh Martyrs and Companions (the English martyrs) is celebrated on October 25.

According to a previously available article from the UK Catholic Herald cited here, today's feast includes all the martyrs:

The feast of the English Martyrs is celebrated on May 4. The 40 martyrs canonised under Paul VI in 1973 (sic: 1970), previously celebrated on October 25, are celebrated with the 85 beatified Martyrs of the Reformation and the other martyrs of the 16th and 17th century. The feast coincides with the Church of England celebration of English saints and martyrs of the Reformation. . . .

The "other martyrs of the 16th and 17th centuries" include those beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and 1895 and by Pope Pius XI in 1929 who have not been canonized and also those declared venerable by Pope  Leo XIII in 1886:

• In 1886, Pope Leo XIII beatified 54 martyrs, including Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher and 11 others who were canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI;
• In 1886, Pope Leo also declared 29 English Catholic martyrs to be Venerable (several of these martyrs had died in chains, that is, is prison or because of their treatment in prison);
• In 1895, Pope Leo XIII beatified nine more martyrs;
• In 1929, Pope Pius XI beatified 136 additional martyrs, 29 of whom were later canonized.

Just to complete the sequence of dates:

• In 1935, Pope Pius XI canonized John Cardinal Fisher and Thomas
• In 1970, Pope Paul VI canonized the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales
• In 1987, Pope John Paul II beatified the 85 Martyrs of England and Wales (which did not include any of those declared Venerable in 1886)

These martyrs suffered for different reasons:

The Supremacy martyrs died because they would not swear Henry VIII's Oath of Supremacy and Oath of Succession, which both denied the spiritual, moral, and ecclesiastical authority of the Pope. The Recusant martyrs died during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I because they continued to practice their Catholic faith in England as missionary priests and/or laity in spite of the recusancy and penal laws against them. Some of the early Recusant martyrs (like Saint Edmund Campion and companions) were tried for fictitious plots, anticipating the next group. Finally, the Popish Plot martyrs were executed in the miscarriage of justice called the Popish Plot. Accused of conspiring in a non-existent plot, their Catholicism condemned them: the priests were sometimes found guilty of their priestly presence in England under Elizabethan statutes when no involvement in the Plot could be found.

This blog is replete with the stories of the martyrs! I've discussed their lives and deaths on the Son Rise Morning show for years too!

The Catholic Culture website also has an excellent gathering of resources for today's feast, including the Collect:

God, all-powerful Father, you strengthen our faith and take away our weakness. Let the prayers and example of the Blessed Martyrs of England and Wales help us to share in the passion and resurrection of Christ and bring us to eternal joy with all your saints. Amen.

Holy Martyrs of England and Wales, pray for us!