By the Way...Inspire and Strengthen Us

Tertullian in the 2nd century recognised the brave witness of the martyrs to Christ and His Church as the reason for the remarkable spread of the Church by declaring that ‘the Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church’.

Each year we celebrate on May 4th the Feast of our English Martyrs, in whose honour our Parish at the High Cross, Poulton was named. Etched on our side windows are two great English martyrs, Bishop John Fisher, & Thomas More, a former Chancellor of England. We celebrate their feast day on June 22nd. We marvel at St Thomas’ forgiving spirit when he declared to the judges who had condemned him “May we all meet merrily
in heaven”.

Another Martyr’s feast day this June is that of John Southworth, who was condemned to death under Oliver Cromwell, and cruelly martyred at Tyburn. He declared on the scaffold “I am a Lancashire man and my only crime is being a Priest and professing the Roman Catholic Faith and I willingly die for my Catholic Faith. My faith is my crime”. In the church of St John Southworth in Cleveleys there is a striking stained glass window which simply states ‘My faith is my crime’ alongside the Southworth coat of arms.

A female English martyr is Anne Line who after her husband’s death in 1594 was appointed manager of the House for Priests in London. Like Margaret Clitherow, she was condemned for harbouring priests. When reproached on the scaffold for being a ‘receiver of priests’ she declared “where I have received one , I would
to God that I had been able to have received a thousand”.

Our Catholic faith may not need today that ultimate sacrifice of our life but it does expect us to be a true witness to Christ in the way we live and in the way we challenge the evils and ignorance around us. May our English martyrs inspire and strengthen us.

Fr John Collins, Poulton