ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER
Saints celebrated on the 1st of October
BLESSED CHRISTOPHER BUXTON, PRIEST AND MARTYR
[Fr Christopher is one of the Oaten Hill Martyrs.]
Priest and martyr, born in Derbyshire; died at Canterbury, October 1, 1588.
He was a scholar of Venerable Nicholas Garlick at the Grammar-School, Tideswell, in the Peak District, studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome, and was ordained in 1586.
He left Rome the next year, and soon after his arrival in England was apprehended and condemned to death for his priesthood.
He suffered at Oaten Hill, Canterbury, together with Venerables Robert Wilcox and Edward Campion.
Being so young, it was thought that his constancy might be shaken by the sight of the barbarous butchery of his companions, and his life was offered him if he would conform to the new religion, but he courageously answered that he would not purchase a corruptible life at such a price, and that if he had a hundred lives he would willingly surrender them all in defence of his faith.
While in the Marshalsea Prison he wrote a "Rituale", the manuscript of which is now preserved as a relic at Olney, Bucks. He sent this manuscript to a priest, as a last token of his friendship, the day before he was taken from the prison to suffer martyrdom.
[Fr Christopher and his companions were executed by hanging, drawing and quartering at Oaten Hill, Canterbury, on October 1, 1588. The gallows had been put up in 1576.]
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913
[Fr Christopher was beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929. With him were beatified Bl. Robert Wilcox, Bl. Gerard Edwards ("Edward Campion"), and Bl. Robert Widmerpool.]
⬅️ The Holy Martyrs of England and Wales
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