BL. THOMAS TUNSTALL, PRIEST AND MARTYR

BL. THOMAS TUNSTALL, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 13 JULY

BLESSED THOMAS TUNSTALL, PRIEST AND MARTYR

[Blessed Thomas Tunstall was] martyred at Norwich, July 13, 1616. He was descended from the Tunstalls of Thurland, an ancient Lancashire family who afterwards settled in Yorkshire.

In the Douay Diaries he is called by the alias of Helmes and is described as Carleolensis, that is, born within the ancient Diocese of Carlisle. He took the College oath at Douay on May 24, 1607; received minor orders at Arras, June 13, 1609, and the subdiaconate at Douay on June 24 following. The diary does not record his ordination to the diaconate or priesthood, but he left the college as a priest on August 17, 1610.

On reaching England he was almost immediately apprehended and spent four or five years in various prisons till he succeeded in escaping from Wisbech Castle. He made his way to a friend's house near Lynn, where is was recaptured and committed to Norwich Gaol. At the next assizes he was tried and condemned (July 12, 1616). The saintliness of his demeanour on the scaffold produced a profound impression on the people. There is a contemporary portrait of the martyr at Stonyhurst, showing him as a man still young with abundant black hair and dark moustache.

[Fr Tunstall was beatified on December 15, 1929 by Pope Pius XI.]

Source: Edwin Hubert Burton, Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

⬅️ The Holy Martyrs of England and Wales

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who know how courageously your holy martyr Thomas confessed the faith, may experience his goodness as he intercedes for us with you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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