Strangers and Nomads

Martyrs of the Penal Times

Dudley Plunkett

In my recently published book, Strangers and Nomads: Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales (Gracewing, 2021), I recall the history of the penal times, when practice of the Catholic faith was proscribed by law, and so many martyrs bereft of home or sanctuary bore witness to their faith to the point of death. The book includes profiles of the Forty Martyrs canonised by Pope St Paul VI in 1970 and the previously canonised martyrs of the same era, Ss Thomas More, John Fisher, and Oliver Plunkett.

Looking around the Cathedral one sees reminders of the martyrs in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs, the mosaic of St Oliver Plunkett, and the shrine of St John Southworth, who worked for 25 years among the victims of the plague in the Westminster area. His is the only body, though stitched back together after he had been hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1654, is the only one of the penal times that has been preserved in its entirety, a unique and precious relic of those tragic 150 years of persecution.

The inspiration for the book, however, came from a visit to the Martyrs’ Chapel at Tyburn Convent to attend a Mass celebrated by my son, Fr Martin Plunkett (Cathedral Sub-Administrator 2015-2018). I was struck by the strength of the witness of the martyrs presented in the Shrine, an extraordinary group of missionary priests, religious, laymen, and laywomen who had died for the faith in the past, but whose deaths still plead for a restoration of the faith in their country. I sought out the evidence of their lives and wrote the book hoping to encourage turning to the martyrs as intercessors at a time when the faith is once again being severely challenged and even persecuted by an increasingly secular society.

The priest martyrs are remarkable in their commitment and courage in bringing the sacraments, and especially the Mass, to scattered groups of recusants and others trying to hold on to the ancient faith. They were strangers and nomads (Hebrews 11:13) in their own land, constantly hounded by priest-hunters and under the threat of being arrested and tortured in efforts to identify their helpers. They were tried and, though often falsely accused of treason, executed simply for carrying out their God-given duties. The lay martyrs were equally heroic, assisting the priests and maintaining secure places to conceal them or, like St Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, giving up their worldly goods and freedom to endure years of imprisonment until death rather than deny the faith. The women martyrs, too, were unflinching in facing execution, St Margaret Clitherow making the casual remark: ‘This way to heaven is as short as any other’, before being crushed to death under a wooden door piled with rocks.

Window in the Martyrs’ Chapel at Tyburn Convent, showing St John Roberts reconciling the criminal

St John Roberts, a Benedictine monk, finding himself about to be hung at Tyburn Tree in company with eight traitors and criminals, blessed them and spoke: ‘Here we are all going to die, nor have we any hope of escape; but if you die in that religion now professed and established in this country, without any doubt you will be condemned to the eternal fire of Hell. For the love then of our Blessed Saviour, I earnestly pray you to return from the evil path, so that we may all die in one and the same true faith and to show this say with me the following words: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, and I desire to die a member of that Church. I repent and am sorry for having led so wicked a life, and that I have grievously offended my sweet and merciful Saviour.” If you say these words truly and from your hearts, I will absolve you, and then my soul for yours’. At these words one of the poor wretches was so affected that he burst into tears. The Father then exhorted him specially and prayed silently to God for him, then again spoke to him in a low voice. In the end the poor creature publicly confessed that he died a Catholic. Dudley Plunkett is a former Senior Tutor at the Maryvale Institute. His books, including The Noble Martyr: A Spiritual Biography of St Philip Howard (Gracewing, 2019), are available in bookshops and through Amazon