Today we celebrate another great Englishman

[Rob2]

St John Southworth
Celebrated on June 27th

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Priest and martyr , St John was born in 1592 in my own county of Lancashire. He went overseas to study and was ordained in Douai in 1618.

St John returned to England in 1627 and was soon arrested. He spent three years in prison - the first of several imprisonments.

Most of his priestly work was carried out in Westminster. He was much loved for his ministry to the sick and dying, especially during the plague years. He continued his work until 1654, when he was arrested for the last time, tried and finally condemned to death.

On this day, at the age of 62, he was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, close to where Marble Arch now stands. St John was the last secular priest to suffer in this way. His body was taken to Douai, embalmed and buried. But when the seminary was demolished, during the French Revolution, his coffin was lost. It was accidentally discovered in 1927 and taken to St Edmund’s College in Ware. Three years later St John’s body was placed in a shrine at Westminster Cathedral, in the parish where he spent so much of his life.

St John was canonised with the Forty Martyrs in 1970. He is a patron saint of priests.

The body of St John Southworth in Westminster Cathedral - - - - - - - - - - -

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[po18guy]

Saint John Southworth, pray for us! Coincidentally enough, we have a town named Southworth here in Washington State.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Is his body always on display or only for his feast day?
I was at Westminster Cathedral a couple years ago but I do not remember seeing him.

 

[Rob2]

Is his body always on display or only for his feast day?
I was at Westminster Cathedral a couple years ago but I do not remember seeing him.

Yes , the body of St John Southworth is always open to view in the cathedral .

In the photo you have seen the body has been moved into the centre of the cathedral .

Usually it is next to the left hand aisle as you look to the altar . There’s a photo below of its usual position - - - - - - - - -

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I may have seen it there. I will check my photographs from the trip.

 

[HolySpirit]

As an aside, your post made me think… Are their any martyrs whose deaths were not horrible? There had to be some who died quickly and rather painlessly. There must be, but none come to mind.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The martyrs who were shot without being tortured first, such as Blessed Miguel Pro and Blessed Stanley Rother, would seem to me to have had the least painful deaths. It was over quickly for them both.

 

[Saxum]

Thanks for sharing. As an Englishman, I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know about St. John. I’m going to start reading about our native saints. I wish my priests would do more to promote them…

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I always get St. John Southworth and St. Robert Southwell mixed up. Both of them English priests and martyrs, but St. Robert Southwell is the one who also wrote poems.

 

[Rob2]

As an aside, your post made me think… Are their any martyrs whose deaths were not horrible? There had to be some who died quickly and rather painlessly. There must be, but none come to mind.

St Thomas More was decapitated .

 

[friardchips]

Hi. If priests were to promote as many Saints as there are, Masses would surely be extended time-wise, as I would guess that there are many! There is the Dark Ages period to be taken into consideration - dates for the English Mission, as put forward by St. Gregory, with St. Augustine of Canterbury venturing forth, occur a century or two before those years - and so, presumably, there would be many that are not necessarily accounted for in history, from that time of civilisation (if we could call it that); maybe it is, in fact, that the Church does have a record of these, held somewhere. Then there are all the martyrs who were killed during the Reformation period (there were probably many townsfolk included in that number, also).

 

[HolySpirit]

I have always liked St. Thomas More. I have a picture of him with a quote near my ever-growing shrine at home.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

As was St. Paul.

 

[po18guy]

Saint Thomas More receives the bulk of the attention, and rightly so. However, I am drawn to Saint John Fisher, Bishop and martyr. Examples of courage for each of us.

 

[Cruciferi]

Another Great Englishman is Nicholas Nickleby

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Shame on you for derailing the thread (but I love this play and watch it often)

 

[Saxum]

Hi. If priests were to promote as many Saints as there are, Masses would surely be extended time-wise, as I would guess that there are many!

I’d be happy if we venerated our domestic Catholic culture. I think a lot of heritage was lost as a result of the Protestant revolt and it hasn’t been revived. I rarely hear about the northern Celtic saints such as Ss Cuthbert, Columba and Aidan. The English Martyrs are rarely mentioned or prayed to in a liturgical ceremony. I know we’re a universal Church but I think the English should be proud of their national saints.

 

[Rob2]

I may have seen it there. I will check my photographs from the trip.

There is a video here , @Tis_Bearself , of a tour of Westminster Cathedral . It may jog your memory .

If you forward the video to 50.48 you will see the part of the cathedral where the remains of St John Southworth are kept .