A Scot raised Calvinist, he became a Catholic on the Continent and was ordained a Jesuit priest. He returned secretly to minister in his homeland, was arrested, and was hanged in Glasgow for refusing to deny papal authority.
Life
Saint John Ogilvie was born in 1579 into a Calvinist noble family in Scotland. He was sent to the Continent to study at a young age, and after wrestling with the religious debates of the day, he embraced the Catholic faith at about seventeen in Leuven, Belgium. He then entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest in Paris in 1613.
At that time the Catholic faith was outlawed in Scotland. He returned home in disguise, secretly celebrating Mass and caring for the faithful, but in 1614 he was arrested in Glasgow. Though tortured by being kept from sleep, he would not deny the spiritual authority of the pope, and in March 1615 he was hanged in Glasgow as a martyr. He was canonized in 1976.
Spirituality
John Ogilvie's spirituality is an honest search for truth and fidelity to that truth. For the faith he had found through his own searching, he gave up a safe life and returned to a dangerous homeland. Even under torture he did not lose his cheerfulness and courage, bearing witness to the unity of the Church to the end.
Reflection
John Ogilvie returned to a homeland where the faith was forbidden in order to care for the faithful. Now that we can attend Mass freely, how much do you treasure that grace?