St. James was a fisherman like his father Zebedee and his brother John. He was on his father’s boat mending his nets when the Lord passed by. Jesus called James and John to become fishers of people, to join him in spreading the Good News. Zebedee watched as his two sons left the boat to follow Jesus.

With St. Peter and St. John, James was a special companion of Jesus. With them James was permitted to witness what the other apostles did not see. With them he watched as Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus to life. With them he was taken up the mountain to see Jesus shining like the sun, with his robes as white as snow. This event is called Jesus’ Transfiguration. On Holy Thursday, the night before he died, Jesus led the apostles into the garden of Gethsemane. Matthew’s Gospel tells us he invited Peter, James, and John to accompany him to a secluded area to pray. They watched as the Master’s face became saddened with grief. It was a very difficult time for the Lord, but the apostles were exhausted. They fell asleep. Then St. James ran in fear when the enemies of Jesus took him away. James was not near the foot of the cross on Good Friday. But the Lord met up with him on Easter Sunday evening in the upper room. The resurrected Jesus came through the locked door and said, “Peace be to you.” St. James and the other apostles would find that peace after the Holy Spirit’s coming on Pentecost.

St. James began his ministry as an impulsive, outspoken man. He asked Jesus bluntly for a seat of honor in his kingdom. He demanded that Jesus send fire down on the villages that did not receive the Lord. But he had great faith in Jesus. Eventually, James learned to become humble and gentle. And he did become “first” in a way he could never have imagined. He was given the honor of being the first apostle to die for Jesus. Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that King Herod Agrippa had St. James put to death by the sword. As a martyr James gave the greatest witness of all.

Today we remember ten martyrs who were born in the present county of Cumbria and who were all martyred elsewhere except Blessed Christopher Robinson who was born, worked, and was martyred in Carlisle. They include St. John Boste, along with Blessed John Mason, layman, Thomas Somers, James Duckett, layman, Thomas Tunstall OSB, William Ward, John Duckett, Thomas Pickering OSB, and Thomas Sprott. Today we give thanks for the witness of the martyrs which always calls us to a life of strong and generous faith.

Blessed Christopher Robinson, the Carlisle Martyr

Blessed Christopher Robinson was executed at Carlisle on August 19, 1598. The model above reflects the circumstances of his martyrdom, as the rope on which he was to be hung kept breaking!  Christopher Robinson is on all the ancient lists of those martyred during the Reformation, but his life is still little known. Nevertheless, his memory has never been effaced in Cumberland, of which he is the only Catholic martyr. His death evidently made a deep impression especially in his native Carlisle.

Christopher Robinson was probably born at Woodside, near Carlisle, between 1565 and 1570. He was admitted as a student with six others on 17 August 1590 at Douai as a student. This college had been founded on 29 September 1568 by William Allen, a former Oxford Professor and later Cardinal. The first four priests were sent to England in 1574, and in the next ten years just over a hundred left the College ordained for the English Mission. From 1568 to 1594 the College was re-settled beside the university of Rheims and it was during this period that Christopher Robinson was a student of the College.

He was at once entered for theological studies and was given the tonsure and first Minor Orders on 18 August 1590. Such was the urgent need for priests that the College had been granted a general dispensation to shorten the usual six-year course of preparation for the priesthood. Christopher Robinson was given the remaining Minor Orders, together with the subdiaconate and diaconate, on the last three days of March 1591. On 24 February he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Philip Sega in his private chapel at Rheims. He departed for England on 1 September 1592.

Cumberland and probably part of Westmorland was to be his field of labour. In a list of 1596 he is described by name as ‘dwelling for the most part at Woodside nigh Carlisle in Cumberland’. The only house known with certainty to have been visited and used by him was Johnby Hall, the home of the Musgrave family, about six miles from Penrith, near Greystoke Castle.
He would surely have known John Boste, a native of Dufton, near Appleby, who was the most hunted priest in the northern counties. He was eventually captured near Brancepeth, County Durham, on 13 September 1593. Christopher Robinson heard of his capture and, feeling sure no one would recognise him, rode over to attend his trial. Afterwards he wrote a detailed account of the trial and death of John Boste. This is a unique, first hand evidence of a martyrdom, hardly paralleled elsewhere.

He himself was arrested three and a half years later on 4 March 1597. A letter by Fr. Henry Garnett SJ dated 7 April 1597 states:
‘One Robinson, a seminary priest, was lately in a purchased gaol-delivery hanged at Carlisle. The rope broke twice and the third time he rebuked the sheriff for cruelty saying that, although he meant no way to yield but was glad of the combat, yet flesh and blood were weak, and therefore he showed little humanity to torment a man for so long. And when they took order to put two ropes, then, said he, by this means I shall be longer a-dying, but it is no matter, I am willing to suffer all.’
Although the indictment upon which Christopher Robinson suffered is no longer to be found, there is abundant evidence that the cause of his death was his priesthood.
There is also much evidence that his memory as a martyr has been persistently held in honour in Carlisle, where Christopher Robinson’s name is not only remembered but also invoked as a true martyr.
He was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

St John Boste (c.1544-1594)

John Boste was born in Westmorland around 1544. He studied at Queen’s College, Oxford where he became a Fellow. He converted to Catholicism in 1576. He left England and was ordained a priest at Reims in 1581. He returned as an active missionary priest to Northern England. He was betrayed to the authorities near Durham in 1593. Following his arrest he was taken to the Tower of London for interrogation. Returned to Durham he was condemned by the Assizes and hanged, drawn and quartered at nearby Dryburn on 24 July 1594. He denied that he was a traitor saying: “My function is to invade souls, not to meddle in temporal invasions”.

Bridget was born in Sweden in 1303. From the time she was a child, she was greatly devoted to the sufferings of Jesus. When she was only ten, she seemed to see Jesus on the cross and hear him say, “Look at me, my daughter.” “Who has treated you like this?” cried little Bridget. “They who despise me and refuse my love for them,” answered Jesus. From then on, Bridget tried to stop people from offending Jesus.

When she was fourteen, she married eighteen-year-old Ulf. Like Bridget, Ulf had set his heart on serving God, and they both joined the Franciscan Third Order. They had eight children, one of whom was St. Catherine of Sweden. Bridget and Ulf served the Swedish court. Bridget was the queen’s lady-in-waiting. Bridget tried to help King Magnus and Queen Blanche lead better lives. For the most part, they did not listen to her.

All her life, Bridget had marvelous visions and received special messages from God. In obedience to them, she visited many rulers and important people in the Church. She explained humbly what God expected of them. After her husband died, Bridget put away her rich clothes. She lived as a poor nun. Later, she started the Order of the Most Holy Savior, also known as Bridgettines. She still kept up her own busy life, traveling about doing good everywhere. And through all this activity, Jesus continued to reveal many secrets to her. These she received without the least bit of pride.

Shortly before she died, the saint went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At the shrines there, she had visions of what Jesus had said and done in that place. All St. Bridget’s revelations on the sufferings of Jesus were published after her death. St. Bridget died in Rome on July 23, 1373. She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Boniface IX in 1391.

More information on the prayers attributed to Saint Bridget : A prayer to Christ our saviour, please click here.

Mary Magdalene was from Magdala near the Sea of Galilee. She had been possessed by seven devils until Jesus cast them out of her. After that she became his follower and was one of the holy women who helped Jesus and the apostles.

When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of his cross. She stayed with the Blessed Mother and St. John, unafraid for her own safety. All she could think about was that her Lord was suffering.

After Jesus’ body had been buried, Mary went to the tomb early Easter Sunday morning. She was shocked when she saw that the large stone was rolled away and the tomb empty. She ran to tell Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord, but I don’t know where!” Peter and John ran to the tomb and found everything just as Mary had said. Mary stayed at the tomb after Peter and John went back home. She began to weep. Suddenly she saw someone she thought was the gardener. She asked him if he knew where the body of her beloved Master had been taken. Then the man spoke: “Mary!” It was Jesus, standing right there in front of her! He was risen from the dead! Mary fell at his feet and cried, “Teacher!”

The Gospels show Mary as being sent by the Lord himself to announce the Good News of the resurrection to Peter and the apostles, and we should do the same to the people we meet.

St. Bonaventure was born in 1221 in Tuscany, Italy, and was baptized John. Bonaventure joined the Franciscan Order, which was still new. In fact, St. Francis of Assisi, who started the Franciscans, was still alive when Bonaventure was born. As a young Franciscan, Bonaventure left his own country to study at the University of Paris in France. He became a wonderful writer about the things of God. He loved God so much that people began to call him the “Seraphic Doctor.” Seraphic means angelic.

One of Bonaventure’s famous friends was St. Thomas Aquinas. His feast day is January 28. Thomas asked Bonaventure where he got the ideas for all the beautiful things he wrote. St. Bonaventure took his friend and led him to his desk. He pointed to the large crucifix that always stood on his desk. “It is he who tells me everything. He is my only Teacher.” Another time, when he was writing the life of St. Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure was so full of fervor that St. Thomas exclaimed: “Let us leave a saint to write about a saint.” Bonaventure always kept himself humble even though his books made him famous.

In 1265, Pope Clement IV wanted Bonaventure to become an archbishop. He begged the pope to accept his refusal. The pope respected his decision. However, Bonaventure did agree to be minister general of his Order. He fulfilled this difficult task for seventeen years. In 1273, Blessed Pope Gregory X made Bonaventure a cardinal. The pope sent two papal messengers, who found Bonaventure working at the large washtubs. He was taking his turn scrubbing the pots and pans. The papal messengers waited patiently until Bonaventure finished the last pot. He rinsed and dried his hands. Then they solemnly presented him the large red hat that symbolized his new office.

Cardinal Bonaventure was a great help to this pope, who called the Council of Lyons in 1274. Thomas Aquinas died on his way to the Council, but Bonaventure made it. He was very influential at the assembly. Yet he, too, died rather suddenly on July 14, 1274, at the age of fifty-three. The pope was at his bedside when he died. Bonaventure was proclaimed a saint in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V declared him a Doctor of the Church.

He was born in Italy of a noble family. He became a soldier but his taste for gambling and riotous living eventually lost him everything. At the age of 25 he converted as the result of hearing a sermon. He twice tried to join the Capuchin friars but was rejected because of his poor health. Having had experience of hospitals from the inside, he determined to improve them, and he devoted the rest of his life to the care of the sick. He offered himself to the hospital of San Giacomo in Rome and eventually became its bursar. Hospitals were filthy, and staff were brutal and inadequate. He introduced many reforms and founded a congregation of priests and lay brothers, the Servants of the Sick (later known as the Camillians) to serve the sick both spiritually and physically. He was ordained priest in 1584. He resigned as head of his congregation in 1607 but continued to look after and visit the sick almost until the day of his death.

From a Life of St Camillus – Serving the Lord in his brethren

Let me start with holy charity, the root of all the virtues and the gift most characteristic of Camillus. He was so fired by this virtue, both towards God and towards his neighbours, especially the sick, that just to see them was enough to melt his tender heart and to make him forget every pleasure, every earthly delight and attachment. Indeed, even when ministering to just one sick man, he seemed to burn himself up and wear himself out with the utmost devotion and compassion. Gladly would he have taken upon himself all their sickness and sufferings to alleviate their pain or take away their weakness.
    So vividly did he picture and honour the person of Christ in them that often when distributing food to them he thought of them as his ‘Christs’, and would beg of them grace and the remission of sins. Hence he was as reverent before them as if he were really and truly in the presence of his Lord. Of nothing would he speak more frequently or fervently than of holy charity. He longed that it should take root in the heart of every man.
    To fire his brethren in religion with this fundamental virtue, he would impress on them these sweet words of Jesus Christ: ‘I was sick and you visited me.’ Indeed, so often did he repeat these words, he seemed to have them engraved on his heart.
    Camillus’ charity was so great and wide-ranging that he took to his kind and loving heart not only the sick and the dying but also all other poor and wretched people. His heart was so full of devotion for the needy that he used to say: ‘If ever there were no poor to be found on the face of the earth, people would have to search them out and even pluck them from below the earth in order to do good to them and show them mercy!’

St. Benedict was born in Nursia, Italy, in 480. He was from a rich family. His life was full of adventure and wonderful deeds. As a boy, he went to Rome to study in the public schools. As a young man, he became disgusted with the corrupt lifestyle of pagan Rome. Benedict left the city and went looking for a place where he could be alone with God. He found it in a cave in the mountain of Subiaco. A monk named Romanus taught Benedict about the life of a hermit and gave him a habit. He also brought Benedict some of his own food each day.

Benedict spent three years there alone. The devil often tempted him to go back to his rich home and easy life. However, Benedict overcame these temptations by prayer and penance. One day, the devil kept making him think of a beautiful woman he had once seen in Rome. The devil tried to make him go back to look for her. Benedict almost gave in to the temptation. But instead, he devoted himself even more to prayer and penance. From then on, his life was calm. He did not feel powerful temptations like that again.

After three years, people learned that Benedict was living in the mountain cave and started coming to him. They wanted to learn how to become holy. Some monks, whose abbot had died, asked him to be their new spiritual leader. But when he tried to make them do penance, they grew angry. It is said that they even tried to poison Benedict. He made the Sign of the Cross over the poisoned wine and the glass shattered to pieces.

Benedict left those monks and returned to his cave. From there he started twelve monasteries. Then he went to Monte Cassino where he built his best-known monastery. It was here that Benedict wrote the wonderful Rule for the Benedictine Order. He taught his monks to pray and work hard. He taught them especially to be humble always. Benedict and his monks greatly helped the people of their times. They taught them how to read and write, how to farm, and how to work at different trades. St. Benedict was able to do good because he prayed all the time. He died on March 21, 547. In 1966, Pope Paul VI proclaimed him the patron of Europe.

On this day, the Church celebrates the many people throughout Chinese history who have been heroic examples of Christian faith. St. Augustine Zhao Rong is one of the 122 Catholics who died for their faith as martyrs between 1648 and 1930.

In 1815, a bishop named John Gabriel Dufresse was arrested. It was against the law to practice Christianity. One of the Chinese soldiers who was guarding him was deeply impressed by the bishop’s calmness and patience under persecution. After Bishop Dufresse was put to death, the soldier asked to become a member of the Catholic Church. He was baptized, taking the name Augustine. Augustine then entered the seminary and studied to become a priest.

Soon after he was ordained, he was arrested for being a Christian. He was tortured in an attempt to try to make him give up his faith in Christ. But his sufferings only made him stronger and surer of his beliefs. He was put to death, and his name was added to the list of brave Chinese men, women, and children who sacrificed their lives in testimony to their faith.

This list of heroes includes seventy-six lay people, some of them children as young as seven years old, eight seminarians, twenty-four priests, and six bishops. Of these people, eighty-eight were Chinese and thirty-four were missionaries from other countries, who had made China their home.

They were proclaimed saints by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000.

Maria was born in 1890 in Italy. Her father died of malaria ten years later. By the time she was twelve, Maria helped her mother on the farm, in the house, and with the care of the other children. She never complained because they were so poor. In fact, she cheered up her mother and was a great comfort to her. She went to Mass regularly even though it meant a two-hour walk. Maria also received the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as she could.

A young neighbor, Alexander, tried a few times to make Maria sin against purity. She absolutely refused. She did her best to avoid him. July 5, 1902 was a hot summer day. Maria was alone in the cottage mending clothes. Alexander came again to try to make her sin. Maria refused once more. He attacked her and dragged her into an inner room. Maria managed to keep saying, “No, no! What you are doing is a mortal sin. God doesn’t want it. If you do this, you will go to hell.” And she struggled as much as she could. Alexander panicked. He stabbed her furiously with a dagger he had made. Then he ran away.

Maria was taken to a hospital, where she died about twenty-four hours later. During her last hours, she forgave her attacker. Her only worry was for her mother. With great joy, the girl received Jesus in Holy Communion. Then she went to heaven. Alexander was sent to prison. For eight years he refused to repent of his horrible crime. Then one night he had a dream or a vision of Maria offering him flowers. From that moment on, he was a changed man. When he was freed from prison after twenty years, his first visit was to the Goretti home. He asked Maria’s mother for forgiveness. Then Alexander spent the rest of his life as the gardener in a nearby monastery.

Maria was declared a blessed by Pope Pius XII on April 27, 1947. The pope appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s with Maria’s eighty-two-year-old mother, Assunta. Three years later, on July 25, 1950, the same pope declared Maria a saint. He called her “a martyr of holy purity.”