Actually her Feast was yesterday, the 29th, along with two other English women martyrs. Below is something I posted about her last October 26th. She was married, with three children. And she must have been awfully tough. She lived in York and was executed there.
Yesterday was the feast of the English martyrs, killed between 1535 and 1679. And none are more attractive then St. Margaret Clitherow, who was a convert and executed for harboring priests in 1586.
When she was put on trial, she refused to plead either guilty or not guilty – that way her family and any other people would not have to give any testimony. The punishment in such a case was to be pressed to death – the procedure was to have a heavy door put on top of you and then weights piled on the door. Because her husband was a prominent citizen, a stone was put behind her neck and she died of a broken neck after 15 minutes – instead of the normal several hours as was the routine with this “method.”
There is a beautiful small chapel in York which Brigid and I always visited when we were with her family.
Leave a Reply