|
|
| St.Thomas Garnet |  |
Son of an Oxford don.
Because Catholic colleges had been turned over to aggressive Protestants,
young Thomas went
to the continent in 1593 to attend the newly opened Jesuit college
at Saint Omer.
A storm in the English Channel caused Thomas and his companion to be
captured by the English
Navy who tried to force them to accept Elizabeth's religion. After
months of abuse, they escaped. Later Thomas returned to England as a Jesuit.
His uncle, Fr.Henry Garnet, was superior of all Jesuits in England,
and in charge of the entire network of priests working secretly among the
Catholics who had refused to take the oath of
Supremacy. Thomas Garnet worked near Warwickshire for six years, but
his ministry ended
with the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. The Jesuit martyrs of this
time were known for their
intelligence, joy, humor, and for their deep understanding of martyrdom
as apostolic, believing
The gallows is the best pulpit anyone could ever preach from. A plot
was hatched to break
Thomas out of jail, but he wrote his superior asking that the plotters
not try.
Died martyred on 23 June 1608 in Tyburn, England by hanging
Beatification in 1929
Canonized in 1970 with 39 other Martyrs
of England and Wales