RELICS OF ST DAVID LEWIS

The word “relic” comes from the Latin “reliquiae” and it means “remains”.

Saint Jerome said, “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.”

In August 1679, at the execution of the Welsh Jesuit Martyr, Fr David Lewis, many Catholics were busy dipping cloths in the martyr’s blood. Within a short time of the martyrdom, cures were reported in Monmouthshire. These cures were attributed to the effectiveness of relics of the martyred priest.

There are many known relics of St David Lewis still in existence. At Stonyhurst, there are several small unidentified relics of David Lewis. A small travelling chalice owned by St David Lewis is kept at the Catholic Church in Abergavenny, the saint’s birthplace.

Pieces of the rope with which Fr David Lewis was hanged are in the possession of several churches in this country. The Jesuit house in Farm Street, London, is said to have two pieces, a church at Roehampton has a piece and the Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier, Usk, also has a piece.

The most numerous relics of St David Lewis seem to be cloths stained with his blood. Erdington Abbey has large pieces of linen soaked in his blood. The Church at Usk, as well as its fragment of rope, has a piece of linen stained with his blood. The Carmelite Convent at Lanherne, Cornwall, has a piece of blood stained linen. The Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy at Llantarnam Abbey also treasure a piece of linen stained with the blood of the martyr.

At one time, when Llantarnam Abbey was a private house, it was owned by Lady Frances Morgan, an aunt of Fr David Lewis. For a time, the priest lived with his relatives and regularly said Mass in the chapel there. The spot where he was arrested is opposite the Abbey. The Catholic Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier, Usk, is either on or directly opposite the site of the martyrdom of St David Lewis. It seems appropriate then that relics of St David Lewis are in the safe keeping of the Catholic Church in Usk and Llantarnam Abbey in Cwmbran.

THE SYMBOLS

Several people have asked me what is the significance of the photograph in this Blog Heading. That made me think that there might be others who do not understand it either. Therefore, I thought I had better do a little explaining!

The picture, a close up of a carved detail on the shrine of St David Lewis, shows a rope, a dagger, and the letter 'M' topped with a crown. This symbolises the crown of martyrdom. The noose (rope) and the dagger are symbolic of the method of execution of St David Lewis. The noose signifies that the saint was hanged. The dagger symbolises the drawing or disemboweling that was carried out on the priest. In the time of St David Lewis, it was considered High Treason to be a Catholic Priest and to celebrate Holy Mass. The sentence for Treason was to be hanged, drawn (disemboweled) and quartered. The hanging was really a farce because the victim was cut down while still conscious. While still alive, he would be cut open, his heart and entrails ripped out and thrown on the fire before his very eyes. The body was then beheaded and quartered. Usually, the quarters were sent to be displayed in prominent positions around the town.

Those present at the martyrdom of St David Lewis were so deeply moved that a Protestant man held the priest's hand and would not permit the hangman to cut him down until he was dead. Nor would the crowd allow his body to be quartered. Fr Lewis was decapitated and dismembered but his body was given a reverent burial in the Churchyard of the Priory Church, Usk.

The shrine where the photo was taken is in the Catholic Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier, Usk. The Church, on Porth-y-Carne Street, is opposite the site of the martyrdom of St David Lewis.