THE ENGLISH COLLEGE ROME (Part 1)

In Penal Times, when Catholicism was outlawed and seminaries closed, it was the intention of the Establishment that Catholicism would die out in this country. They reasoned that if there were no priests to celebrate holy Mass, to preach, and teach the faith, then it would be completely eradicated. Alas, the authorities reckoned without such as Cardinal William Allen!

Cardinal Allen’s solution to the lack of priests in England was to found seminaries on the continent for the education and training of boys and young men from that wounded country. The first of these seminaries was founded at Douai in Flanders in 1568. Then, in 1576, The Cardinal converted the English Hospice in Rome into a seminary and its first students arrived in 1577. Since this was a time of persecution in their homeland, it was expedient that the students assumed an alias. David Lewis entered the English College in 1638, when he was 21 years old, and assumed the alias of Charles Baker. He was ordained there in July 1642.

Many of the students at the English College had volunteered for the ‘English Mission’. After ordination they would return home to minister to their beleaguered Catholic countrymen who, despite Government hopes and penalties, clung resolutely to the Old Faith! The priests undertook this mission in the full knowledge that the rest of their days would be spent in peril, finding shelter where they could and tending to their flocks amid the ever present dangers of betrayal, arrest and execution.

The College produced a long line of priests who, for their faith, suffered imprisonment or exile. More than forty former students were martyred. The first, or protomartyr, was St Ralph Sherwin who was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1st December 1581. The last alumnus to suffer martyrdom was St David Lewis who was executed at Usk on 27th August 1679. Because of its many martyrs, the College has been known as The Venerable English College since 1818.

THE FORTY MARTYRS OF ENGLAND AND WALES

On 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, “to the glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, for the honour of the universal faith and the advancement of Christian life”. The forty were chosen from among the hundreds of Catholics who, in the dark days of persecution, had died for their faith.

LITANY OF THE FORTY MARTYRS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
(A prayer for private use)

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us. Lord have mercy on us. Christ hear us.

Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Mary, Queen of Apostles, Pray for us.
Mary, Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us.
St John Houghton, Pray for us.
St Richard Reynolds, Pray for us.
St Augustine Webster, Pray for us.
St Robert Lawrence, Pray for us.
St John Stone, Pray for us.
St Cuthbert Mayne, Pray for us.
St Edmund Campion, Pray for us.
St Ralph Sherwin, Pray for us.
St Alexander Briant, Pray for us.
St John Payne, Pray for us.
St Luke Kirby, Pray for us.
St Richard Gwyn, Pray for us.
St Margaret Clitherow, Pray for us.
St Margaret Ward, Pray for us.
St Edmund Gennings, Pray for us.
St Swithun Wells, Pray for us.
St Polydore Plasden, Pray for us.
St Eustace White, Pray for us.
St John Boste, Pray for us.
St Robert Southwell, Pray for us.
St Henry Walpole, Pray for us.
St Philip Howard, Pray for us.
St John Jones, Pray for us.
St John Rigby, Pray for us.
St Anne Line, Pray for us.
St Nicholas Owen, Pray for us.
St Thomas Garnet, Pray for us.
St John Roberts, Pray for us.
St John Almond, Pray for us.
St Edmund Arrowsmith, Pray for us.
St Ambrose Barlow, Pray for us.
St Alban Roe, Pray for us.
St Henry Morse, Pray for us.
St John Southworth, Pray for us.
St John Plessington, Pray for us.
St Philip Evans, Pray for us.
St John Lloyd, Pray for us.
St John Wall, Pray for us.
St John Kemble, Pray for us.
St David Lewis, Pray for us.
Let us pray. Oh God, in whom there is no change or shadow of alteration, you gave courage to the Holy Martyrs. Grant unto us, we beseech you, through their intercession, the grace to always value the Holy Mass. May we be strengthened to serve you in imitation of the courage of these Holy Martyrs. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.

THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE

During the long reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it was the Government’s intention that the Catholic faith in the British Isles would die with the Marian priests. No priests, their reasoning ran, no Catholicism! However, many Catholics clung tenaciously to their faith but, as the priests ordained in Mary’s reign died, there were none to replace them. Cardinal William Allen conceived of a plan to remedy this dearth of priests.

Cardinal Allen founded overseas seminaries for the education and training of young men and boys from Britain. The first of these seminaries was founded in 1568 at Douai in Flanders. Then, in 1576, the Cardinal converted the English Hospice in Rome into a seminary and its first students arrived in 1577. Pope Gregory XIII issued the Bull of Foundation in 1579 and gave the new English College property and a yearly grant. David Lewis, alias Charles Baker, entered the English College in November 1638, aged 21, and was ordained there in July 1642. As this was a period of Catholic persecution in Britain and many of the students at the College, upon ordination, were destined for the “English Mission”, the College soon gained a reputation as a training ground for martyrs. Its first, or protomartyr, was St Ralph Sherwin. He was born in Derbyshire about 1550 and within four months of his return to England as a priest, he was captured, imprisoned and tortured. Finally, on 1st December 1581, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. The custom arose of a student preaching before the Pope every St Stephen’s Day on the theme of martyrdom. On Stephen’s Day 1642, Fr David Lewis preached before Pope Urban VIII in the Lateran Basilica. His Latin homily, entitled “Corona Christi pro spinis gemmea”, was on the martyrdom of St Stephen, the very first Christian Martyr.

In 1580, Durante Alberti painted “The Martyrs’ Picture” which hangs in the College Church. This impressive painting depicts the Holy Trinity with St Thomas Becket and St Edmond, two English martyrs, on either side. A map of the British Isles lies below the crucified Christ and blood from his wounds drops onto the map. Fire springs from the droplets of blood. A cherub holds a banner with the College motto, “Ignem veni mittere in terram”, I have come to bring fire to the earth”. So many of the College Alumni were martyred that students began the practice of gathering around the picture to sing a Te Deum upon receiving news of each martyrdom. This practice continues still as on “Martyrs’ Day”, 1st December, students gather to sing a Te Deum in front of the painting. The College produced a long line of priests who, for their faith, suffered imprisonment or exile. More than 40 former students were martyred. The last Alumnus to suffer martyrdom was St David Lewis who was executed at Usk on 27th August 1679. Because of its many martyrs, the College has been known as The Venerable English College since 1818.

On the occasion of the 400th Anniversary of the College in 1979, Pope John Paul II celebrated Holy Mass at the College. In his homily, the Pope said, “A living faith in Jesus Christ has been the bedrock foundation of this College and of all its activities from the time of its establishment by my predecessor Gregory XIII in 1579. The men of faith who were your predecessors here continue to inspire you by the example of their lives. Yours is a great heritage; a whole martyrum candidatus exercitus honours the beginning of your College and spans an entire century from the time of St Ralph Sherwin in 1581 to Saint David Lewis in 1679. As supreme witnesses to the faith, these Martyrs speak to you today from this chapel and from every corner of this house. And the church herself corroborates their witness and exhorts you to “consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith”.