The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were priests, religious and lay people who gave their lives in the persecutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, staying faithful to the Catholic faith and the Pope. They were canonized together in 1970.
Life
In sixteenth-century England, after the king was declared head of the Church, those who would not accept this or who held to the Catholic faith faced long years of persecution. A priest saying Mass, or a layperson hiding a priest, could be punished for treason.
The Forty Martyrs were chosen as representatives of the many executed between 1535 and 1679. They include Carthusian monks, the Jesuit priests Edmund Campion and Robert Southwell, Brother Nicholas Owen who built hiding places for priests, and lay women such as Margaret Clitherow.
Most were branded traitors and cruelly executed, yet they sought to remain loyal both to their country and to their faith. Pope Paul VI canonized them in 1970.
Spirituality
The spirituality of the Forty Martyrs is unwavering fidelity to conscience and faith. They risked their lives to keep the Mass and the sacraments, and protected their community of faith by hiding one another. Many met death without hatred, praying for their persecutors.
Reflection
The Forty Martyrs risked their lives to keep the Mass. Today, when we are free to attend Mass, why not ask how much I truly treasure Sunday Mass?