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by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Author)
Fr. Henry Sebastian Bowden wrote this powerful book so we will never forget the sacrifices of those martyrs who preserved and bequeathed to us our Catholic Faith.
The heroic witness of the English martyrs you meet in this superb volume of daily meditations will instill a greater piety and zeal in your heart. Each day features a captivating short story from the life of a martyr or an excerpt from his or her writings. Their testimonies, sometimes prophetic, always profound, impart urgent reminders to us about Catholic persecution as it has occurred through time.
The period of the English martyrs opened with Henry VIII's "Oath of Supremacy" and the suppression of monasteries and then continued into forced Protestantism by blood under Elizabeth, and from there to the age in which Puritans killed Catholics solely for their Faith. In these gripping pages -- increasingly relatable in our time -- you will encounter extraordinary examples of valor in the face of shocking danger and cruelty, including the consequences laypeople faced for harboring priests.
Stirred by the selection of stories included, you will discover:
- Why the boy orator St. Edmund Campion was called "golden-mouthed"
- Which Jesuit priest martyr was also a renowned poet
- The courageous faith of four lay women named Margaret
- The number of brave souls who converted (it's more than you think!)
- How priests such as Ven. William Davies fortified their fellow prisoners
- The sublime work of especially gifted English martyr poets
Author Biography
Fr. Henry Sebastian Bowden (1836-1920) was a priest of the London Oratory in the later years of the Oxford Movement and an outstanding pupil of St. John Henry Newman and Fr. Ronald Knox. A convert from Anglicanism, he was indebted to the English martyrs for their witness and supernatural merits. He received the famous poet Oscar Wilde into the Catholic Church; Wilde was converted, in part, by Fr. Bowden's pastoral example and scholarly influence. This prolific spiritual writer's works include Miniature Lives of the Saints for Every Day of the Year and Miniature Life of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
