ST RICHARD REYNOLDS, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 4 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 4th of May

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SAINT RICHARD REYNOLDS, PRIEST AND MARTYR

Saint Richard Reynolds, an English Bridgettine priest, born in Devon c.1487, went to Cambridge at the age of 16, where, receiving his A.B. (1506) and his M.A. (1509), he became a fellow of Corpus Christi College. In 1513, when he was appointed University Preacher, he also became a Bridgettine monk at Syon Abbey, Isleworth, the last of the large medieval monastic foundations and the only house of the order in England. Little is known of his next 20 years beyond his reputation as a preacher and spiritual counselor. 

When Henry VIII began his divorce proceedings, Reynolds was consulted by many who were perplexed about the "King's great matter," as well as about the prophecies of Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of Kent. Barton was executed in April 1534, but before her arrest she had visited Syon several times; according to the depositions of St Thomas More, Reynolds had distrusted her. Anxious to secure the backing of Syon, the King sought its submission, but agents of Cromwell failed.

Sometime before April 20, 1535, Reynolds was arrested and with three Carthusian priors, John Houghton, Robert Lawrence and Augustine Webster, was imprisoned in the Tower, where, when visited by Cromwell, he spoke fearlessly against the king's supremacy over the Church. 

On April 28 he was indicted on the charge of high treason at Westminster, and found guilty by a jury that had been intimidated by Cromwell and the king's secretary. On May 4, 1535, all four were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. From the window of his cell Thomas More watched them passing to their execution, and remarked to his daughter, "Lo, dost thou not see, Meg, that these blessed fathers be now as cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms to their marriage."

Richard Reynolds was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on December 29, 1886, and canonized by Paul VI on October 25, 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/reynolds-richard-st

⬅️ The Holy Martyrs of England and Wales

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who know how courageously your holy martyr Richard  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.