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BL. JOHN WOODCOCK, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 7 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 7th of August

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 WOODCOCK, PRIEST AND MARTYR

Blessed John Woodcock was an English Franciscan martyr. He was born at Leyland, Lancashire, in 1603; he suffered at Lancaster, August 7, 1646. 

His parents, Thomas and Dorothy Woodcock, the latter a Catholic, were of the middle class. He was converted about 1622, and after studying at Saint-Omer for a year was admitted to the English College, Rome, October 20, 1629. On May 16, 1630, he joined the Capuchins in Paris, but soon afterwards transferred himself to the English Franciscans at Douai. 

HE RECEIVED THE FRANCISCAN HABIT

He received the habit from the Venerable Henry Heath in 1631 and was professed by the Venerable Arthur Bell a year later. For some years he lived at Arras as chaplain to Mr Sheldon. 

HE WAS ARRESTED ON THE FIRST NIGHT HE SPENT IN LANCASHIRE

Late in 1643 he landed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was arrested on the first night he spent in Lancashire. After two years’ imprisonment in Lancaster Castle, he was condemned, on his own confession, for being a priest, together with Edward Bamber and Thomas Whittaker, August 6, 1646. 

HE WAS HUNG TWICE

When he was flung off the ladder the rope broke. Having been hanged a second time, he was cut down and disembowelled alive. The Franciscan nuns at Taunton possess an arm-bone of the martyr. 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)

Blessed Fr Woodcock, pray for us.

➡️ 85 Martyrs of England and Wales

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