BL. WILLIAM HARTLEY, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 5 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 5th of October

 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. WILLIAM HARTLEY, PRIEST AND MARTYR 

⬅️ Martyrs of England and Wales

A Martyr; he was born at Wyn, in Derbyshire, England, of a yeoman family about 1557; died October 5, 1588. 

[Raised a Protestant,] he matriculated at St John's, Oxford, where he became a chaplain. Being ejected by the vice-chancellor, Tobie Mathew, in 1579, he went to Reims in August, was ordained at Chalons, and returned to England in June, 1580. 

He was of great service to Fathers Persons and Campion in printing and distributing their books, but was eventually arrested, August 13,1581, and sent to Marshalsea Prison, London. 

Here he was detected saying Mass in a cell before Lord Vaux, and for this he was laid in irons (December 5, 1583). He was indicted for high treason, February 7, 1584, but for some unknown reason, not tried. In January, 1585, he was sent into exile. 

He then spent some little time at Reims, recovering his health, and made a pilgrimage to Rome (April 15, 1586), before returning to his perilous mission. 

In September, 1588, he was arrested in Holborn, London, and, as his friend Father Warford said, "being beset by the deceits of the heretics, incurred the suspicion of having apostatised. But the event showed how unjust the suspicion was; when he suffered at Tyburn he won the greatest credit for constancy. He was a man of the meekest disposition and naturally virtuous, modest, and grave, with a sober and peaceful look. His beard was blackish and his height moderate". 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 - The execution site in London)