BL. JOHN GAVAN, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 20 JUNE

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 20th of June

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. JOHN GAVAN, PRIEST AND MARTYR

England’s King Charles II (1660-1685) was well disposed towards the Catholic faith, but anti-Catholic hostility prevailed in the English Parliament. 

A GIFTED PREACHER

The Jesuit priest Father John Gavan (1640-1679) a native of London, had served his fellow English Catholics for eight years as a gifted preacher when he was arrested in 1679. He was one of a dozen Catholics falsely accused of plotting against the king. At Father Gavan’s trial, a false witness named Stephen Dugdale testified against the priest.

FALSE WITNESSES

When Father Gavan asked Dugdale to look him in the face, the witness, unnerved, faltered in his speech. After being sentenced to death, Father Gavan was offered pardon if he would admit to the alleged conspiracy, but he answered that “he would not murder his soul to save his body” by making such a false confession. 

FATHER SAID THAT HE WOULD NOT MURDER HIS SOUL TO SAVE HIS BODY

At his execution on June 20, 1679, Father Gavan prayed aloud, “I have nothing else to do now, my great God, but cast myself into the arms of your mercy… I hope in you above all things, for your infinite fidelity; and I love you above all things, for your infinite beauty and goodness.”