SAINT FEAST DAY 28 NOVEMBER: BL. JAMES THOMPSON

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 28th of November

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. JAMES THOMPSON, MARTYR

⬅️ The Holy Martyrs of England and Wales

Blessed James Thompson (Also known as James Hudson) was a martyr who was born in or near York, England, and, having nearly all his life in that city, died there, November 28, 1582.

Blessed James arrived at Dr Allen's college at Reims September 19, 1580, and in May of the next year, by virtue of a dispensation, was admitted at Soissons, with one Nicholas Fox, to all Sacred orders within twelve days, although at the time he was so ill that he could hardly stand. 

HE WAS SENT ON THE MISSION

He was sent on the mission the following August 10, and was arrested at York on August 11, 1582. 

On being taken before the Council of the North he frankly confessed his priesthood, to the astonishment of his fellow citizens who knew that he had not been away more than a year. 

HE WAS IMPRISONED

He was then loaded with double irons and was imprisoned, first in a private prison, till his money was exhausted, and then in the castle. 

On November 25 he was brought to the bar and condemned to the penalties of high treason. 

HE DIED IN AND FOR THE CATHOLIC FAITH

Three days later he suffered with great joy and tranquillity at the Knavesmire, protesting that he had never plotted against the queen, and that he died in and for Catholic Faith. 

While he was hanging, he first raised his hands to heaven, then beat his breast with his right hand, and finally made a great sign of cross. In spite of his sentence, he was neither disembowelled nor quartered, but was buried under the gallows.

(From: "Catholic Encyclopedia", 1913)