Who were the Douai Martyrs? The blog http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.co.uk tells us more:-
The Martyrs of Douai, 1577-1680
In
the Archdiocese of Westminster in London, today is the feast of the Martyrs of Douai College which was
transplanted from the Spanish Netherlands to London:
The
English College at Douai was established by William Allen, later Cardinal, on
Michaelmas Day, 29th September, 1568. It offered an opportunity to form clergy
for England in accordance with the system laid down by the Council of
Trent.
Originally
it was intended as a college home for exiles from England, a place where they
could continue their studies in a way no longer possible for Catholics at the
English Universities. In time Allen recognised its potential as a place for
training clergy ready for the return to England when 'the new religion' had run
its course. The new priests, however, proved unwilling to wait for that event
and quickly Douai College found itself dedicated very largely to the training of
missionary priests.
Between
1577, the date of the martyrdom of St Cuthbert Mayne, the college's
protomartyr, and 1680, the date of the execution of Thomas Thwing, the
college's last martyr, one hundred and fifty eight college members, priests and
layman, secular and religious, met with a martyr's death.
The
College was suppressed in 1793, and the collegians imprisoned for thirteen
months at Doullens, Picardy. They were released in November 1794, returning to
Douai for only a few months before obtaining permission to return to England.
They found their first refuge at Old Hall Green, Ware, and dedicated the new
work of the college to St Edmund of Canterbury on his feast day, November 16th,
1794.
The webpage lists the
martyrs by year--the class of 1588 was the largest: Nicholas Garlick, Robert
Ludlam, Richard Sympson, William Dean, William Gunter, Robert Morton, Hugh
More, Thomas Holford, James Claxton, Thomas Felton, Robert Wilcox, Edward
Campion, Christopher Buxton, Ralph Crocket, Edward James, John Robinson,
William Hartley, John Hewett, and Robert Leigh.
The bookends (just to
switch metaphors) are St. Cuthbert Mayne and St. Thomas Thwing:
St. Cuthbert Mayne
was the first Englishman prepared for the priesthood at Douai and he is the
protomartyr of the English seminaries established on the Continent. Born in
Devonshire, he was ordained an Anglican minister but became Catholic in the
early 1570's while at Oxford. He returned to England in 1575, serving in
Cornwall, and was arrested a year later. One of the charges against him was
that he had an Agnus Dei, an image of Jesus as the Lamb of God, blessed by the
pope. He was hung, drawn and quartered in Cornwall on November 29, 1577.
St. Thomas Thwing suffered
during the Popish Plot hysteria in 1680. From 1664 to 1679 he served as a
missionary priest in England. He and other members of Sir Thomas Gasciogne's
household, including the master, were accused of a conspiracy to kill King
Charles II and brought to London for trial. The others were acquited but he was
found guilty and condemned; the King pardoned him but the House of Commons
demanded his execution. Of course he was innocent of any charges of conspiracy;
he was guilty of being a Catholic priest.
One could research
each of the names on that list and read a common, yet individual pattern of
vocation, service, suffering, and martyrdom. At the bottom of the list of
names, there is a quote from William Allen, founder of Douai College--
"Joy in the Lord because the victory won by
Christ's confessors predominates over earthly sorrow
at the grievousness of their suffering."
Post a Comment