HONOURED AT LAST

Thanks to the devotion and perseverance of Sr Celsus, a Sister of St Joseph of Annecy, of Llantarnam Abbey, a public tribute was at last paid locally to Jesuit Martyr, St David Lewis. On Saturday, 17th November 2007, the Vicar General of Cardiff Archdiocese, Very Rev Canon Robert Reardon, himself a Cwmbran boy, unveiled a plaque at the Old Post Office, Llantarnam, the home of Mr and Mrs John O'Neill. Fr John Meredith, then Parish Priest of Cwmbran, blessed the plaque. Mr Stephen Brooks, K S S, was Master of Ceremonies. The plaque marks the site of the arrest of St David Lewis in 1678. In a corner of their front garden, John O'Neill and his wife, Wendy, have built a lovely Garden of Remembrance. Its focal point is the metal ring that once marked the site of the old smithy and the place of the martyr's arrest. The long overdue event was well attended by people from Cwmbran and surrounding area and Sister David Lewis S S J A, came from Devizes, Wiltshire, to be present at this service in honour of her Patron Saint.

THE METAL RING (A TYRING RING) WHICH ORIGINALLY MARKED THE SITE OF THE OLD SMITHY

330TH ANNIVERSARY (CONCLUSION)

2009 marks the 330th Anniversary of the martyrdom of four priests who were executed for “High Treason”. Philip Evans, John Lloyd, John Kemble and David Lewis were Catholic priests and to be a Catholic priest was considered treason. At the trial of Fr David Lewis, the judge, Sir Robert Atkins, made that abundantly clear when he said;

“It is enough that you have exercised the functions of a priest in copes and vestments used in your Church, and that you shall have read Mass and taken Confessions. He that uses to read Mass commits treason.”

Now, in the dying days of 2009, it is fitting to remember these four holy martyrs, two Jesuit priests and two secular priests.

FR JOHN KEMBLE
John Kemble, alias Holland, was born at Rhydicar Farm, St Weonards, Herefordshire in 1599. He was the son of John Kemble and Anne Morgan. He was ordained a priest at Douai on 23rd February 1625 and, on 4th June, was sent upon the English Mission. For 54 years Fr Kemble worked for the Catholics of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. He was greatly loved by his own people and respected throughout the area because, it was said, he gave offence to none.

In 1678, Fr John Kemble became another innocent victim of the non-existent Popish Plot. A lapsed Catholic, Captain John Scudamore of Kentchurch, was sent to arrest Fr Kemble at Pembridge Castle, where the aged priest was staying with his relatives. When urged to flee, the 80 year old priest calmly said, “According to the course of nature I have but a few years to live. It will be an advantage to suffer for my religion and therefore I will not abscond.” After three months in Hereford Gaol, John Kemble endured an agonising journey to London where he and his kinsman, Fr David Lewis, were lodged in Newgate Prison. He was interrogated by Titus Oates and his fellow perjurers but, since no evidence of involvement in any plot could be found, Fr Kemble was sent back to Hereford Gaol. In accordance with Statute 27 of Elizabeth I, he was tried for treason, i.e. for being a Catholic priest and for saying Mass. He was found guilty, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

On 22nd August 1679, the morning of his execution, Fr Kemble made his devotions as usual. Before his execution on Widemarsh Common, the kindly old priest forgave all who had played a part in bringing him to such a situation and asked forgiveness of any whom he may have offended. Taking the hand of the distraught hangman, Fr Kemble said “Honest Anthony, my friend Anthony, be not afraid; do thy office. I forgive thee with all my heart. Thou wilt do me a greater kindness than discourtesy.” He prayed silently for a few minutes then commended himself to God. The cart was drawn away and he was hanged. Such was the affection for Fr Kemble that he was allowed to die upon the gallows before being beheaded. He was also spared the grisly ritual of drawing and quartering. It was said, even by his persecutors, that “they never saw one die so like a gentleman and so like a Christian”.

The martyr’s nephew, Captain Richard Kemble, took the body to the church at Welsh Newton and buried it beside the churchyard cross. The gravestone is inscribed “J K Dyed the 22 of August Anno Do 1679. Every year, on the Sunday nearest to 22nd August, there is a pilgrimage to the Saint’s grave.

FR DAVID LEWIS S J
David Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616 to Margaret Pritchard, a devout Catholic, and Morgan Lewis, who followed the Established Church. Morgan brought David up as a Protestant but, at about aged 19, David converted to Catholicism. Subsequently, he went to study in Rome where, in 1642, he was ordained as a Catholic priest. Three years later he became a Jesuit.

Fr David Lewis returned to his native Wales and, with the exception of a brief period in Rome, he spent his priestly life among the people of Monmouthshire and area. He was greatly loved and, for his kindness to all, he was known as “Tad y Tlodion”, “Father of the Poor”. Father Lewis, too, became a victim of the evil Titus Oates. He was arrested at Llantarnam on Sunday 17th November 1678, as he prepared to celebrate Mass. He was brought for trial at the Lenten Assizes in Monmouth on 16th March 1679 and brought to the bar on a charge of High Treason, that is, for having become a Catholic priest and remaining in the country. He was found guilty of being a priest and the judge, Sir Robert Atkins, pronounced the usual sentence for treason – to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

The condemned priest was brought to London with his cousin, Fr John Kemble, and questioned about the “Plot”. Titus Oates and his three henchmen, Bedloe, Dugdale and Price, questioned him about the “Plot” but they were unable to prove anything against him. Lord Shaftsbury offered him his life and rich rewards if he would give evidence about the “Plot” or renounce his Catholic Faith. The steadfast priest would do neither for as he declared in his dying discourse, “discover the plot I could not, as I knew of none; and conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”.

Fr David Lewis was brought back to Usk Gaol to await his execution. Fr Lewis was martyred at Usk on 27th August 1679. A Protestant man held his hand until he was dead, thereby preventing him being cut down and disembowelled while still alive. His body was permitted to be carried in procession to the churchyard of the Priory Church, Usk, and there it was buried. The Saint’s grave is the grave closest to the main door of the church. Annually, on the Sunday nearest to 27th August, there is a pilgrimage to this holy site.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Among them were the Welsh priests, St Philip Evans S J, St John Lloyd, St John Kemble and St David Lewis S J.

(The photo of St John Kemble is from a stained glass window at Harvington Hall and St David Lewis is from a stained glass window in the Catholic Church, Tenby.)

ST THOMAS BECKET

St Thomas Becket, whose feast is kept today, 29th December, was the son of a wealthy Norman merchant. Thomas was born in London in 1118. He became acquainted with the young King, Henry II, and the two became close friends.

Henry appointed Thomas Chancellor. Upon the death of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, the King, against Becket’s wishes, appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury. If the King’s plan was to have a “yes man” in Canterbury, he was sadly mistaken. Thomas was genuinely devout and, knowing the King’s mind, warned him; “I know your plans for the Church and that you will put forth claims which I, as Archbishop of Canterbury, must necessarily oppose”.

To be free of all civil ties, Thomas displeased the King by insisting on resigning his Chancellorship. This led to open hostility between the former friends, King Henry and Thomas. Because of the Archbishop’s continued resistance to the “Constitutions of Clarendon”, the King set in motion a policy of financial persecution, imposing upon the See of Canterbury huge monetary fines. Knowing he was in grave danger, the Archbishop fled to France. The King confiscated all of Thomas’ property and persecuted and exiled his family and friends.

After four years, reconciliation between Monarch and Ecclesiastic seemed to have been achieved and, in 1170, Thomas returned to Canterbury. It wasn’t very long before Thomas realised that he was in mortal danger. The exact words of an exasperated King Henry are not really known but, Shakespeare has made popular the line “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” Whatever the wording, four of Henry’s knights, probably to gain favour with the King, immediately rushed off to England to kill Becket. They found him in the Cathedral and being unable to drag him outside, struck him at the foot of the altar steps. When they had murdered him, they rode away. The four knights who slew Thomas Becket were Reginald FitzUrs, William de Tracy, Richard le Breton and Hugh de Moreville.

Shock and outrage was the immediate and almost universal reaction to the atrocity. Within two years Thomas Becket was canonised by Pope Alexander III. The martyr’s shrine became a place of popular pilgrimage. In 1538, on the orders of King Henry VIII, the shrine was destroyed and the Saint’s relics scattered. Today, a simple candle marks the place where it once stood. A modern memorial, two jagged swords and a broken sword, at the place where Thomas Becket was slain marks his martyrdom. And the pilgrims still come in droves!

"For the name of Jesus and the defence of the Church I am willing to die." (St Thomas Becket)

(This is a picture of Christchurch Gate, the main entrance to the Cathedral Precincts.)

330TH ANNIVERSARY (PART 1)

2009 marks the 330th Anniversary of the martyrdom of four priests who were executed for “High Treason”. Philip Evans, John Lloyd, John Kemble and David Lewis were Catholic priests and to be a Catholic priest was considered treason. At the trial of Fr David Lewis, the judge, Sir Robert Atkins, made that abundantly clear when he said;

“It is enough that you have exercised the functions of a priest in copes and vestments used in your Church, and that you shall have read Mass and taken Confessions.
He that uses to read Mass commits treason.”

Now, in the dying days of 2009, it is fitting to remember these four holy martyrs, two Jesuit priests and two secular priests.

FR PHILIP EVANS S J
Philip Evans, the son of William Evans and Winifred Morgan, was born at Monmouth in 1645. He was educated at St Omer and entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Watten on 7th September 1665. Having completed his training, he was ordained at Liege in 1675 and sent upon the English Mission. Back in Wales, he worked diligently for four years, saying Mass, administering the Sacraments and preaching in Welsh and English. It is recorded that he ministered to large congregations at the home of Thomas Gunter in Abergavenny, at the home of Charles Prodger at Wernddu, and at Sker House, the home of Christopher Turberville.

During the wave of persecution generated by the Popish Plot, friends advised Fr Evans to go into hiding. However, he refused and bravely continued his work. On 4th December 1678, the priest was arrested at Sker House, betrayed by the owner’s younger brother, Edward Turberville, a lapsed Catholic. He was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle Gaol and kept in solitary confinement in the dungeon. After about three weeks, the governor was persuaded to allow Fr Evans and Fr John Lloyd, who had been arrested in late November, to share a cell.

The following May, Fr Evans was tried at Cardiff Assizes, found guilty of the treason of priesthood, and sentenced to death. The execution was delayed for some time and Fr Evans and Fr Lloyd were even allowed out of prison for recreation! Eventually, on 21st July, orders arrived that the execution was to take place the following day. At that time, the priest was playing tennis on the court near St John’s Church. (Lest we become self-righteous, this was near the spot where, a century earlier, Rawlins White, a Protestant, was burnt at the stake for his beliefs under Catholic Queen Mary.) When the gaoler went to the tennis court to tell the priest the news and to return him to prison, Fr Evans remarked, “What haste is there? Let me first play out my game.”

Philip was a skilled harpist and when the officials came the next morning to lead him to his execution, they found him joyfully playing the harp. On 22nd July 1679, the Jesuit priest, Fr Philip Evans, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Gallows Field, Cardiff. He was 34 years old. His friend and cellmate, Fr John Lloyd, looked on, knowing he would be next.

FR JOHN LLOYD
John Lloyd, the son of Walter Lloyd, was born in Brecon around 1630. In 1649, John Lloyd entered the English College at Valladolid and was ordained there on 7th June 1653. In April 1654, he left for his homeland where he spent the next 24 years labouring among the Catholics of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.

On 20th November 1678, Fr John Lloyd was arrested at the home of John Turberville at Penllyn. Fr Lloyd was taken to Cardiff castle Gaol where he was imprisoned, probably in the Black Tower. For a time, he was kept in solitary confinement until the Jesuit, Fr Philip Evans, who had been arrested in early December, joined him.

On 9th May 1679, the Assizes opened in the Shire Hall, within the grounds of the Castle. Fr Lloyd was indicted as a Catholic priest and therefore a traitor. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. On 22nd July 1679, the gruesome sentence was carried out. Fr Lloyd had to watch as the younger priest, Fr Philip Evans was executed. Then he too was subjected to the same brutal martyrdom. Fr John Lloyd was 49 years old.

Fr John Lloyd was not the only member of his family to suffer because of the Popish Plot. His brother, Fr William Lloyd, who had been head of the secular clergy in South Wales, was arrested at the height of the Plot and imprisoned in Brecon Gaol. Sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, he died in prison just days before his scheduled execution.
(TO BE CONTINUED)

(The pictures of St Philip Evans and St John Lloyd are taken from a stained glass window in the Catholic Church in Tenby, South Wales.)

ST STEPHEN’S DAY 1642

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it was the Government’s objective that the Catholic Faith should die out in England. To this end, new laws were introduced forbidding the training and ordination of Catholic priests. According to their plan, once the Marian priests (those ordained under Catholic Queen Mary) died, there would be no priests to take their place and, of course, no priests would mean the end of Catholicism in the country. They reckoned without the tenacity of the Catholics!

Cardinal William Allen conceived of a plan to alleviate the situation. In 1568, Cardinal Allen opened a seminary in Douai, Flanders, for the training of boys and young men from Britain. Then in 1576, he converted the English Hospice in Rome into a seminary. Its first students arrived in 1577. Many of its students, upon ordination, were destined for the “English Mission”, having to steal back into their homeland in disguise. Being a time of great persecution, the College quickly gained a reputation as a training ground for martyrs. Its protomartyr, St Ralph Sherwin, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1st December 1581.

In 1638, David Lewis, a 21 year old Welshman, entered the English College in Rome. Because of the persecution at home, it was necessary for the British students to assume an alias. David Lewis assumed the name of Charles Baker. On 20th July 1642, David Lewis was ordained priest at the English College.

Owing to the number of its martyred students, the custom arose of a student of the English College preaching on the theme of martyrdom before the Pope on St Stephen’s Day. On St Stephen’s Day 1642, that honour fell to the recently ordained Fr David Lewis. Fr Lewis preached eloquently 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 first Christian Martyr.

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 since 1818 as “The Venerable English College”.

(The photograph of the two Martyrs is taken from a stained glass window in the Catholic Church, Tenby, South Wales)

AN UNDERGROUND CATECHISM?

Most of us are familiar with the Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. In spite of its nonsense sounding lyrics, it is believed by many to have been written for a serious purpose at the time when Catholic priests like St David Lewis were being martyred for their faith. It is said to be one of the “catechism songs” written as an aid to teaching Catholics the tenets of their faith during the days of persecution in England when the Catholic religion was proscribed. For various reasons, I have my doubts about the veracity of that account but it is an interesting concept and I will pass on the story as it was told to me.

The “true love” mentioned in the song refers to God Himself.
The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptised person.
The “partridge in a pear tree” is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem; “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so....”

1 Partridge in a pear tree = Jesus Christ
2 Turtle Doves = the Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = the Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity
4 Colley Birds = the Four Gospels /the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament
6 Geese-a-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans-a-swimming = the seven Sacraments or the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 Maids-a-Milking = the eight Beatitudes
9 Ladies dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords-a-leaping = the Ten Commandments
11 Pipers piping = the eleven faithful Apostles
12 Drummers drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed

There you have it! As I said, I have my doubts as to this being the origin of the song. However, be the account fact or fiction, it will have done some good if, upon hearing again “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, the remembrance of this story causes us to have even a brief holy thought. Now, as the twelve days of Christmas begin, let’s remember to pray for Christ’s peace in our hearts, in our homes and in our world.

VENI VENI EMMANUEL

I wasn't going to post any more videos for awhile because I felt I had done too many of late. However, I came across this one and it fits so perfectly with my previous post, I just had to post it. Besides, I think it is really beautiful! Enjoy.

JESSE

It is hard to believe that the Fourth Sunday of Advent has come and gone already! Yesterday at Mass we sang that old favourite, taken from the Great O Antiphons, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. In the fourth verse we sang:

“O come thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them vict’ry o’er the grave.”

This particular verse turned my thoughts to St David Lewis, the last Welsh Martyr. I know! You are wondering how my mind jumped from Jesse, the father of King David, to St David Lewis, a leap of several thousand years! Well let me explain.

St David Lewis was born in the pretty market town of Abergavenny in 1616. His mother was a devout Catholic but his father, Morgan Lewis, was a Protestant and he had David brought up as a Protestant. It is almost certain that David would have been baptised in the Protestant parish church, St Mary’s Priory Church. Also, he would have attended services there. This ancient and beautiful church still serves Abergavenny today and it is one of the loveliest churches in Wales. It possesses many, many historic treasures and if ever the opportunity to visit the church should arise, I strongly urge you to take it. You will be delighted with what you see there.

Among the many treasures of St Mary’s Priory Church, and my personal favourite, is its famous "Jesse". So who is this Jesse? “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-3) “That day, the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples. It will be sought out by the nations and its home will be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10) These lines from the Old Testament foretell the coming of Jesus. Since medieval times Jesse has been placed at the base of Christ’s Family Tree. In the Genealogy of Jesus Christ as related in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-28, we see that Jesus descended from King David and therefore, from Jesse.

From the eleventh century the Tree of Jesse has been portrayed in religious iconography. In the representation of the Tree, it is usual for Jesse to be portrayed recumbent with a tree rising from his body and the ancestors of Christ portrayed in its branches, with Christ at the summit. The Abergavenny Jesse is a 15th century figure carved from a single piece of oak. This recumbent Jesse was the base of the Jesse Tree and the Virgin & Child were at the top. The tree was probably around 30 feet high and it is thought to have been a reredos. Originally, the Abergavenny Jesse Tree was vividly coloured and it is still possible to see traces of colour in the details. This magnificent work is one of the finest medieval sculptures in the world. It is amazing, and our good fortune, that this beautiful piece of artwork survived Henry VIII’s vandals and later, Oliver Cromwell’s thugs.

Isn’t it wonderful to think that St David Lewis, as well as generations and generations before him, would have looked upon this same Jesse, carved by the hand of an unknown artist, that we are privileged to enjoy today. And this all brings me back to:

“O come thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them vict’ry o’er the grave.”

(This photograph is of the beautiful, 15th century Jesse in St Mary's Priory Church, Abergavenny.)

CHRISTMAS 1678

St David Lewis was a Welsh Jesuit priest who was born in Abergavenny in 1616 to a Catholic mother and a Protestant father. David, the youngest of nine children, was brought up as a Protestant although his eight siblings were brought up as Catholics. That could well have been for political and economic reasons. David’s father, Morgan Lewis, was headmaster of King Henry VIII Grammar School in Abergavenny and his Protestantism may have been genuine or it may have been for convenience. In his position, he would have been expected to conform to the new Religion. His son, David, attended the Grammar School and bringing him up as a Protestant would have added validity to Morgan’s claim to Protestantism. Whatever the reasoning behind it, David was indeed brought up as a Protestant. However, at about the age of nineteen, while on a visit to Paris, he converted to Catholicism. In 1638, David Lewis entered the English College in Rome and began studies for the Catholic priesthood. In July 1642, David was ordained and three years later he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Sant’ Andrea, which had been founded by St Francis Borgia in 1565. Father David Lewis S J, was sent to Wales in 1647 but was soon recalled to Rome. In 1648, Fr Lewis returned to Wales and here he spent the remainder of his life working for the persecuted Catholics in Monmouthshire and the surrounding area.

Christmas of 1678 wasn’t exactly a joyful one for Fr David Lewis. Details of that Christmas are scant but we do know for certain that it was Fr Lewis’s last Christmas on earth. As he prepared to celebrate Mass on Sunday morning, 17th November, Fr Lewis was arrested at Llantarnam. He was incarcerated in Monmouth Gaol. The Justice of the Peace, John Arnold, who had feigned friendship with the priest, promised him that he would not allow him to be treated with “any incivility or severity”. The promise proved to be as false as the friendship! That very same day, the perfidious Arnold had ordered that a strict watch should be kept over the prisoner, who was guilty of “high treason”, i.e., he was a Catholic priest!

Christmas found Fr Lewis in Monmouth Gaol, where a friend of the Jesuit had paid 14/ a week to provide him with a good lower room, a bed, linen, fire and a candle. Officially, Fr Lewis was in Solitary Confinement but the Underkeeper of the Gaol allowed friends to visit him in his cell by day.

Early in December, the Lords ordered an investigation of the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm, where Fr Lewis had been Superior. Just before Christmas, the Bishop of Hereford, Herbert Croft, led a raid on the Cwm. He had the enthusiastic help of John Arnold, John Scudamore and Charles Price. The buildings were ransacked and all books, papers and property confiscated. Some of the books stolen from the Cwm are today in the library of Hereford Cathedral. Croft reported that he had found “two horse- loads of books in an adjoining Pig Cot covered with straw, also a great store of divinity books (but they are not yet brought to me, it being Christmas holy days, but they remain in a safe hand) many whereof are written by the principal learned Jesuits,”

In the first week of December, Fr Philip Evans, the youngest of the Jesuit missioners in South Wales, was arrested. He was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle where he was kept in Solitary Confinement for three weeks. After this time, the Governor was persuaded to allow Fr Evans and a secular priest, Fr John Lloyd, who had been arrested in November, to share a cell. Other priests had been arrested and some had died of hardship and exposure. All these things Fr David Lewis would have learned from the friends who visited him in Monmouth Gaol.

On the Sunday morning of Christmas week, Fr Lewis was visited in his cell by several magistrates who questioned him about William Bedloe’s allegation that he had supplied information about the Marquis of Worcester’s Agent’s complicity in the Popish Plot. Father Lewis deposed that he had neither spoken to nor corresponded with the informer. He further deposed that he had never even heard of the Plot until it became common knowledge throughout the land. His deposition was sent to London, but no more was heard of it.

So passed what was to be the last Christmas of Fr David Lewis. Early in 1679, the new High Sheriff, James Herbert, decided to move the County Gaol from Monmouth to Usk. On 13th January, a bitterly cold and miserable day, Fr Lewis was transferred to Usk Gaol to await his fate. Later that year, in the lovely month of August, Fr David Lewis was martyred at Usk. He was canonised in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

NATIVITY SCENE IN ST PETER'S SQUARE

HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN THE NATIVITY SCENE IN ST PETER'S SQUARE? IT MUST BE QUITE SOMETHING TO SEE.

CHRISTMAS BEGINS WITH CHRIST!

The purpose of this Blog is to spread devotion to and knowledge of the Last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis. For that reason, the posts, so far, have all been about St David Lewis and people and events to do with him. However, this post is about CHRISTMAS CARDS! “What” you may well ask, “do Christmas Cards have to do with a Welsh Jesuit priest who was martyred in 1679?” St David Lewis spent Christmas 1678, his last Christmas on earth, imprisoned in Monmouth Gaol. Christmas Cards would not have been the Saint’s concern. However, Fr Lewis was executed for his religion, so Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, was a major concern of his. Christ should be a major concern of ours, too. Hence this post on Christmas Cards! (I apologise in advance for all the old clichés I am about to bring out.)

By now, you have probably sent out most of your cards to family and friends. You probably have received some, too. How many of them are real Christmas Cards? Do they have pictures of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, or any biblical scene associated with the Birth of Christ? Or are they the ‘drunken Robin’ or ‘surfboarding Santa’ type?

Do your cards express wishes for a ‘Merry CHRISTMAS’ or for ‘Season’s Greetings’? Remember ‘JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON’ so why not say so? Perhaps your cards say ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Happy CHRISTMAS. Why leave Christ out of Christmas? After all, CHRISTMAS BEGINS WITH CHRIST!

I know that it is difficult to find cards that convey, in words or pictures, the true meaning of Christmas. To that I say, if you can’t find a Christmas card that calls to mind the ONE whose Birth we are actually celebrating, then DON’T BUY ANY! If enough people left on the shelves those Godless affairs foisted on us by the ‘Politically Correct Brigade’ (modern-day Pursuivants), the card manufacturers would soon get the message. Their goal is to make money so if their product isn’t selling, they will produce what will sell. Meanwhile, the money we save, by not buying those non-Christmas cards, could be given to the Salvation Army or some charity. We, the consumer, wield an awful lot of power.

What else can we do? As well as our Christmas Tree, we can put up a Crib in our home. That humble, holy Saint, Francis of Assisi, was the first to make a Crèche representing the Holy Family at Bethlehem. Why not follow his example? We can greet our friends, family, and neighbours with ‘Happy Christmas’ instead of ‘Happy Holidays’. It is as easy to say ‘Merry Christmas’ as it is to say ‘Season’s Greetings’. Always remember ‘CHRISTMAS begins with CHRIST and it is up to us to ‘Keep CHRIST in CHRISTMAS’!

ST DAVID LEWIS HAD THE COURAGE TO DIE FOR CHRIST!

DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS?

AT THE NAME OF JESUS

THIS IS A THOUGHT PROVOKING VIDEO. FR CASEY PULLS NO PUNCHES. IT IS WORTH WATCHING AND HEEDING!

THE BEGINNING OF OUR SALVATION

Many of us grew up answering the call to pray the Angelus. Have we forgotten it? If we have, now is a good time for us to rediscover it.

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.

IMPRISONED AT USK

On Monday, 18th November 1678, Fr David Lewis, a Jesuit priest, was incarcerated in Monmouth Gaol. His false friend, John Arnold, a Justice of the Peace, had promised that he would not allow him to be treated with “any incivility or severity”, but had secretly ordered that a strict watch be kept on the prisoner. Fr Lewis was kept a close prisoner and not allowed to leave his cell. However, the underkeeper allowed friends to visit the priest during the day. Through these visits, the prisoner learned of the fate of his friends and fellow priests and also, of events at the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier, at a place called the Cwm. Fr Lewis had been Superior of the College and he must have been greatly distressed to hear of its devastation.

For Fr Lewis, Christmas 1678 would have been a bleak one indeed. Sunday morning in Christmas week, two magistrates visited him in his cell. They told him of Charles Price, a servant of the Marquis of Worcester of Raglan Castle. Price was accused by William Bedloe of conspiring to kill the King. The Magistrates questioned Fr Lewis as to what he knew about the affair. Under oath, Fr Lewis replied; “Upon oath, and under my hand I gave it, that to my knowledge I never saw Bedloe, I never spoke to him, I never had any correspondence with him directly or indirectly, I further deposed that I never heard, I know nothing of the Plot, till common fame had spread it over the country,” The deposition was sent to London but Fr Lewis heard no more about the matter.

In the New Year, the new High Sheriff, James Herbert, decided to move the County Gaol from Monmouth to Usk. So it was that, on 13th January 1679, the Deputy Sheriff and the Head Gaoler rode with Fr David Lewis to Usk. It was a bitterly cold day and snowing heavily. The group stopped at an inn in Raglan to warm themselves and, while there, a messenger arrived with sad news for Fr Lewis. A friend and colleague from the Cwm, Fr Ignatius Price, lay dying in a barn about half a mile away and wished to see Fr Lewis. Being in the custody of the Deputy Sheriff and the Head Gaoler, Fr Lewis was unable to comply with this poignant request. Three days later, Fr Lewis learned of the death of his friend.

Usk Gaol was situated on the north side of Bridge Street, where 28 Bridge Street is today. This Old Bridewell, or House of Correction, had originally been a Friary, a house of the Grey Friars. In January 1679, The Gaol was crowded with Catholics who had refused the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy. One was a widow, Jane Harris, who had given refuge to a priest but was betrayed by her butcher. Father Lewis would have known most, if not all, of these people. He had spent his priestly life toiling among the persecuted Catholics of the area, travelling on foot to bring them what help and comfort he could.

On 28th March 1679, Fr David Lewis was taken back to Monmouth to be tried at the Assizes. The charge against him was “David Lewis pro Sacred Roman” i.e. “David Lewis for being a Roman Priest”. He was indicted under Statute 27 Elizabeth which made it High Treason for a Catholic to be ordained abroad and return to England for more than forty days. The Clerk of Assizes read the charge against Fr Lewis. “Here thou standest indicted of High Treason by the name of David Lewis, for thou being a natural subject of the King of England, hast passed beyond the seas and taken Orders from the Church and See of Rome.” The jury, made up of Arnold’s toadies, returned the expected verdict, "Guilty", and Fr Lewis was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Father David Lewis S J, was returned to Usk Gaol. The sentence would not be carried out, just yet.

THE HISTORIC MONNOW BRIDGE AT MONMOUTH

THE NEXT DAY (MONDAY, 18TH NOVEMBER 1678)

Having been arrested at Llantarnam on Sunday, 17th November 1678, Fr David Lewis S J, had been taken to the home of the fanatical anti-Catholic Justice of the Peace, John Arnold. The priest spent the night at Arnold’s home, Llanvihangel Court, in a room guarded by two “strong men”.

The next morning, Monday, 18th November 1678, Fr Lewis arose at 7 o’clock. Arnold paid him a short visit in his room where the two exchanged a few civil words. When Fr Lewis had his breakfast, he came downstairs and found the Magistrate and several constables loading guns in the Great Hall. It would seem that Arnold was almost as puerile as he was bigoted for he possessed a repulsive effigy of the Pope. Arnold referred to this parody as “his baby” and, before leaving the house, he invited the priest to view it. Fr Lewis diplomatically declined.

The party now set out on the final leg of their journey to Monmouth Gaol. When Fr Lewis realised that an armed soldier was to lead his horse all the way to Monmouth, he asked to be spared this humiliation. The Magistrate agreed and it was promised that instead, a constable would ride behind him while the remainder of the armed guard walked on either side of him. Once again, John Arnold showed his duplicity. As soon as the party had set off, Arnold sent a message to the Chief Constable that the lead was to be replaced on the horse’s head and that the prisoner was to be closely watched! The Chief Constable turned out to be an unexpectedly sympathetic man who ignored the order.

At last, Monmouth was reached and Fr Lewis was incarcerated at the town’s gaol. A friend paid 14/ a week for Fr Lewis to have a good room with a fire, candle, bed and linen. That morning, Monday 18th November, John Arnold had assured Fr Lewis that he would not allow the gaoler to subject him to “any incivility or severity”. It must have been a sad moment and the shattering of all illusion regarding Arnold’s friendship for him, when the gaoler showed the priest a letter written that very day by Arnold. The letter, dated 18th November, ordered that a strict watch be kept on the prisoner who was guilty of high treason! Fr David Lewis was kept a close prisoner and his confinement was so strict that he never left his cell. However, the underkeeper allowed friends to visit him during the day. For almost two months Fr Lewis was a prisoner in Monmouth Gaol.

In January 1679, the new High Sheriff, James Herbert of Coldbrook, decided to move the County Gaol from Monmouth to Usk. On a cold and snowy 13th January 1679, our saintly priest, Fr David Lewis S J, was transferred to Usk Gaol on Bridge Street. Here, he would await his fate.

SUNDAY, 17th NOVEMBER 1678

In November of 1678, Fr David Lewis S J was living in a cottage adjoining the Blacksmith’s at Llantarnam. He had been living at Llantarnam Abbey with his Aunt, Lady Frances Morgan, but, with the turmoil fomented by the Oates’ Plot, he had moved out in an attempt to protect his relatives.

Fr Lewis continued to minister to the Catholics of the area. On Sunday, 17th November, early in the morning, he was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass when a party of six armed dragoons arrested him. William James, a lapsed Catholic and former servant of Fr Lewis, joined Roger Seys and William Bedloe in leading the dragoons to apprehend the Jesuit. For this despicable act of betrayal, James was paid the sum of £220 – the Government reward of £20 for the apprehension of a priest and the additional £200 offered by the arch priest hunter, John Arnold. The priest was to be taken to Monmouth Gaol but first the group stopped at the house of Charles Price at Llanfoist. Here, three Justices of the Peace, Charles Price, John Arnold and Thomas Lewis, awaited them.

At about 2 o’clock that afternoon, Fr David Lewis, mounted on horseback, was led away from Llanfoist by Arnold and his henchmen. Guarded by twelve armed men, the priest was then taken to his hometown, Abergavenny. It being Sunday, the streets of Abergavenny were swarming with people. The contingent entered the Golden Lion on Frogmore Street where, in a guarded upper room, Fr Lewis was examined by the Recorder of Abergavenny, William Jones. The avaricious and vengeful William James swore that he had seen Fr Lewis say Mass at least twenty times. Fr Lewis was asked if he had played any part in the Titus Oates Plot and the priest swore on oath that he had no knowledge of or part in any plot. Arnold, showing his contempt for all things Catholic, sarcastically remarked that with Catholics, it was no oath to swear on the Bible. Arnold and Price had previously appeared to be friends of Fr Lewis and, curiously, now treated him with a certain degree of courtesy, although Arnold was not above making course remarks to the priest, at one point calling him the “pretended bishop of Llandaff”. The four now adjourned to the dining room, a large room where they had supper together. Fr Lewis, committed on a charge of Treason, was given the choice of spending the night at the Golden Lion, in a guarded room, or of being the guest of John Arnold at his home in Llanvihangel. Arnold assured the priest that he would be “most civilly entertained”. David Lewis left the decision to the others and it was decided that he should spend the night at Llanvihangel Court.

Fr David Lewis and his captors left the Golden Lion at about 10 o’clock that night. It was a moonlit night and a large crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit prisoner as the party rode off into the night. Many in the crowd would have known Fr Lewis for he had grown up in the town and, as a priest, had ministered to the Catholics there. It would have been between 11 o’clock and midnight when the men reached Llanvihangel Court. Llanvihangel Court was a fine Elizabethan mansion that had been home to several generations of Arnolds. The defenceless priest spent the night here in a room guarded by two “strong men”.

(This recent photograph of Llanvihangel Court shows the main door of the house. This is not the original entrance. To the left of the window and at about the same height as the top of the window, one can clearly see in the brickwork where the original doorway was. On the night of his arrest, St David Lewis would have been brought in through this original doorway.)

COURAGEOUS FAMILY OF MARTYRS

On this Feast of Christ the King, I think this is an appropriate video to post. I hope it will be an inspiration to all of us to "Keep the Faith".

CATHOLICISM AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF ST DAVID LEWIS

St David Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616. He spent all but one year of his priestly life ministering to the people of Abergavenny and area where, despite persecution, fines and imprisonment, many Catholics held firm to the Old Faith. These Catholics were cared for by the Jesuits who had established a seminary and college at a place called the Cwm, near Welsh Newton. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Catholics worshipped in a barn and, later, in the secret attic chapel in the home of Thomas Gunter on Cross Street.

In 1687, Franciscan Friars took over the care of the Catholics in the Abergavenny area. In 1690, with a Catholic King, James II, on the throne, a new Catholic chapel was built in Abergavenny. Unfortunately, with the coming of William III and Mary, things again became difficult for Catholics. However, Abergavenny Catholics kept the Old Faith. By 1740, approximately half the Catholics in the country lived in the district of Abergavenny and it was necessary for the Franciscans to build a new church.

In 1857, Benedictine Monks took over from the Franciscans. The Benedictines sold the old property and built a new church in Pen-y-Pound. This church was opened on 15th May 1860. The Catholic Church of Our Ladye and St Michael, in Abergavenny, is still served by Benedictines.

The church is in possession of some exceptional treasures, including a medieval Holy Water Stoup, a collection of pre-reformation chasubles and copes, and chalice veils from the time of the Stuarts. A red velvet chasuble dates from the time of King Henry VII. Its beauty and craftsmanship suggest it would have been made by ladies of the Royal Court and it is believed to have been given by Queen Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII, when she visited Abergavenny near the end of the 15th century. Other vestments are gifts of Queen Katherine of Aragon. From time to time, these vestments are worn for important occasions and are exhibited occasionally.

Were any of these pre-reformation vestments worn by St David Lewis? I doubt if anyone can say for certain but, given the number of years the saint laboured in the area, it is more than likely that they were.

THE ARREST OF FR DAVID LEWIS S J

For a time, Fr David Lewis had lived with his relatives, the Morgans, at Llantarnam Abbey. However, with the danger precipitated by Titus Oates and his fiendish plot, the priest did not want to bring trouble to the family so he decided to live elsewhere. He moved into a cottage adjoining the blacksmith’s shop, opposite the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels, Llantarnam.

On Sunday morning, 17th November 1678, Fr Lewis was preparing for Mass. On the orders of John Arnold and Charles Price, a party of six dragoons descended on the priest. They were led by the motley crew of Seys, Bedloe and James! Roger Seys of Penrhos, was a petty constable of Arnold’s parish of Llantilio Crossenny. William Bedloe was a nephew by marriage of Charles Price, another rabid anti-Catholic Justice of the Peace. William James, motivated by revenge and greed, received a reward of £220 for leading the group to the priest.

Of his arrest, the 63 year old Jesuit wrote;
“After my full thirty years poor missionary labours in South Wales, on Sunday morning, a little before day, being the 17th November 1678, I was taken by six armed men sent by Mr John Arnold and Mr Charles Price, until then my two very good friends and acquaintances. I was taken in a little house in the parish of St Michael-Llantarnam in the County of Monmouth. From thence by the soldiers, together with such church stuff of mine they there found, carried I was to the house of Mr Charles Price in Llanfoist”

The “church stuff” to which Fr Lewis referred consisted of one large silver gilt chalice and patten, one pair of small silver flower pots, one silver thurible and cover, one small silver plate for crewetts, one silver crewett, one silver bell for the altar, one pair of silver candlesticks, several pieces of silver originally from a crucifix and one picture of the Virgin Mary with silver gilt frame.

After months of incarceration and a rigged trial, Fr David Lewis S J, was martyred at Usk on 27th August 1679.

On Saturday, 17th November 2007, exactly 329 years after the arrest of St David Lewis, a plaque marking the site of his arrest was blessed and unveiled at the Old Post Office, Llantarnam.

ST JOHN WALL O F M

THE AIM
The aim of this blog is to spread knowledge of and devotion to the Last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis. However, St David Lewis did not live in a vacuum or in a bubble! He had family, friends and colleagues. He went places and did things. Events took place and life went on. To convey a sense of his life and times, we have included in previous posts people and places that have touched the life of the martyr. In this post and in future posts, we will continue to do the same.

ST JOHN WALL O F M
St John Wall was born into a wealthy Catholic family in Lancashire in 1620 and, at a young age, was sent to the English College at Douai. Interestingly, he was baptised by the future Jesuit Martyr, Edmund Arrowsmith. He enrolled at the English College in Rome on 5th November 1641 under the alias John Marsh. Later, on the English Mission, he used the names of Francis Johnson, Francis Webb and Francis Dromore. Already studying at the English College was a young Welshman, David Lewis, alias Charles Baker. The two became friends and it is thought that John Wall was present in the Lateran Basilica when, on St Stephen’s Day 1642, the recently ordained Fr Lewis preached a short Latin discourse in the presence of Pope Urban VIII.

On 3rd December 1645 John Wall was ordained to the sacred priesthood. On 1st January 1651, he received the Franciscan habit at St Bonaventure's Friary, Douai. A year later he was professed and took the name Fr Joachim of St Anne. He soon became vicar of the monastery and then novice master before being sent upon the English Mission in 1656. For twenty-two years he laboured zealously, chiefly in Worcestershire, and won many converts through his preaching and example. For twelve of the twenty-two years, he used Harvington Hall as his base and went under the alias of Webb. It was during the Titus Oates Plot that Fr John Wall was apprehended quite by accident. In December 1678, the Sheriff’s Deputy was searching for a debtor at Rushock Court when he came upon the unfortunate priest, who was immediately taken before the Justice of the Peace. Refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, the priest was committed to Worcester Gaol. On 25th April 1679, The Franciscan was finally brought to trial before Judge Atkins at Worcester. He was indicted for high treason for being a priest and remaining in the country. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. John bowed low and said “Thanks be to God; God save the King; and I beseech God to bless your lordship, and all this honourable bench.” The prisoner was returned to his cell.

Later that month, Fr Wall was summoned to London for questioning about the alleged Popish Plot. He was lodged in the notorious Newgate Prison where his friend, Fr David Lewis S J, the aged Fr John Kemble, and Fr Roger Handslip, were also incarcerated. In an attempt to implicate them in the fabricated Plot, the four priests had been brought from their respective prisons to be questioned by Titus Oates, William Bedloe, Stephen Dugdale and Myles Prance. Fr Wall spent a month in London and was strictly examined several times by all four. No evidence could be found against him and he was declared innocent of involvement in any plot. Bedloe was the last to examine Fr Wall and he offered the priest his life if he would embrace the Protestant religion. The saintly priest wrote, “But I told them I would not buy my life at so dear a rate as to wrong my conscience”.

In June, Fr Wall was returned to prison in Worcester and there he remained until his execution in August. Two days before his execution, Fr William Levison visited Fr Wall and found him “a cheerful sufferer of his present imprisonment, and ravished, as it were, with joy, with the future hopes of dying for so good a cause”. Fr Levison heard the condemned man’s confession and gave him communion. On the day of execution, 22nd August 1679, Fr Levison stood near the gallows and, as the priest was turned off the ladder, gave him the last absolution. The Sheriff had offered John Wall the opportunity of dying the following day so as to spare him the further humiliation of dying with two common criminals. John thanked the Sheriff for his consideration but told him that if it was good enough for Jesus, then it was good enough for him. Although, as the sentence demanded, Fr John Wall was quartered and his head cut off, his body was permitted to be buried. The Catholics of the town accompanied his body to St Oswald’s Churchyard where it was buried. Less than a week later, on 27th August 1679, Fr Wall’s friend, Fr David Lewis S J, was martyred at Usk.

Fr Levison had taken possession of the Franciscan martyr’s head and, at the first opportunity, conveyed it to Douai. It was kept in the cloisters of the English Franciscans of Douai until the dissolution of that house during the French Revolution. The Fanciscan Nuns at Taunton possess a tooth and a bone of the martyr.

Fr John Wall was beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI. On 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Among the forty were the two fellow students and friends, St John Wall and St David Lewis.

*(The photographs, which were taken at Harvington Hall, show a stained glass window depicting St John Wall and the secret chapel that would have been used by St John Wall and other priests in the times of persecution.)

FROM USK TO LONDON AND BACK AGAIN

Fr David Lewis was taken to Usk Gaol on a cold and snowy January day in 1679. He was committed to the Monmouth Assizes in March. Although the Titus Oates Plot had been the catalyst in the Jesuit’s arrest, the official Calendar of Assizes listed the charge against him as “David Lewis pro Sacred Roman”, in other words, “David Lewis for being a Roman priest”. Also, at Fr Lewis’s trial the Judge, Sir Robert Atkins, explicitly stated, “It is enough that you have exercised the functions of a priest in copes and vestments used in your Church, and that you have read Mass and taken Confession. He that uses to read Mass commits treason.” In any case, the accused was found guilty and sentenced to the usual punishment for treason – to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, he was not to die just yet.

In May, along with his cousin and fellow priest, eighty year old Fr John Kemble, Fr Lewis was taken to London. Here he was examined by Titus Oates and other anti-Catholics including Lord Shaftesbury. Lord Shaftesbury offered the priest his life and rich rewards if he would tell them about the plot or conform to the Protestant religion. The good priest said he was unable to tell anything about the plot because he knew of no plot. Neither would he conform because, he said, it was against his conscience. He was sent back to Usk to await execution.

Three months later, on 27th August 1679, the condemned priest was taken from the Gaol on Bridge Street. He was tied to a hurdle, feet foremost, and drawn along the river path to the place of execution. This was in the grounds of what is now Porth-y-Carne House. (Less than a week earlier, on 22nd August, the aged Fr John Kemble had been martyred at Hereford.) In the 1800s, a Catholic Church, dedicated to St Francis Xavier, was built opposite the site of the martyrdom of St David Lewis. Fr David Lewis was canonised by Pope Paul VI on 25th October 1970. In 1974, the Church of St Francis Xavier was rededicated and, in honour of the martyred priest, it is now known as the Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier.

IRENA SENDLER - SLEEPING WITH THE ANGELS

THIS IS AN INSPIRING VIDEO ABOUT AN INCREDIBLE WOMAN. GOD GRANT US THE GRACE TO LEARN FROM THE EXAMPLE OF SUCH PEOPLE AS IRENA SENDLER.

LLANTARNAM ABBEY AND ST DAVID LEWIS

Llantarnam Abbey, the Cistercian Abbey of the Blessed Virgin, was founded as a daughter house of Strata Florida Abbey about 1179. The Abbey was dissolved in 1536, after Henry VIII’s break with Rome. Llantarnam Abbey had four bells, weighing, in total, more than 38 cwt. The four bells were acquired by a William Jones of Caerleon, who paid the sum of £15 to have them taken down, the lead removed and melted down. It was reported that the lead weighed over 4 fothers. (1 fother = 2,000 lbs.)

In 1561, William Morgan acquired the dissolved Abbey from the Earl of Pembroke, to whom it had been granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1559. A new mansion was built from the stones of the Abbey and Morgan, a staunch Catholic, maintained in the house a Catholic Chapel. Lady Frances Morgan, an Aunt of The Jesuit Martyr, St David Lewis, married a descendent of William Morgan and lived at Llantarnam until her death in 1676. The property passed to her son, Sir Edward who, although a Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace, held fast to the Old Faith. He also kept a Catholic Chapel which was frequently crowded with Catholics of the surrounding area. In 1670, the priest hunter, John Arnold, informed the House of Lords, that “At Llantarnam, an eminent papist’s house in Monmouthshire, there is a room fitted up chapel wise for saying of Mass where Fr David Lewis, a popish priest, hath said Mass for many years past”. Indeed, for several years Fr Lewis had lived at Llantarnam Abbey with his relatives and ministered to the Catholics in the area. Later, to avoid endangering his relatives, the priest moved to a nearby cottage adjoining the blacksmith's opposite the church of St Michael Llantarnam. However, Fr Lewis continued to say Mass in the Morgans’ Chapel. According to a helpful young lady at the Rights of Way Office, the present Public Footpath, which runs beside St Michael’s Church, has been legally registered since 1967 but has probably been there as long as the church itself . What route did the faithful priest take to the Abbey? Did he walk parts of this path across the fields on his way to celebrate Holy Mass?

In the 1830s, Reginald Blewitt, a relation of the Morgans, restored Llantarnam Abbey. Later, Sir Clifford Corey bought the Abbey and, later still, it became the property of the Government. During the Second World War, it was used as a storage depot by the R A F. In 1946 it was purchased by the Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy. That year, on 26th October, the Feast of Christ the King, Holy Mass was joyfully celebrated there for the first time in two hundred and sixty-eight years. The celebrant was Fr John Cahalane, Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Angels, Cwmbran.

A large metal ring in the pavement, originally a tyring platform used by the wheelwright, marked the site of the blacksmith’s in Llantarnam. That was providential because it also marked the site of Fr Lewis’s cottage and, later, the old Post Office. Today, the old Post Office is a private house. The owners have preserved the metal ring in a beautiful garden of remembrance, which they have lovingly created in honour of the last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis.

TEN WERE JESUITS (CONCLUDED)

Of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised on 25th October 1970 by Pope Paul VI, ten were Jesuits. The first of the ten to die was St Edmund Campion in 1581. Almost 100 years later, in 1679, the last of the ten, and the Last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis, was executed. (SEE PREVIOUS POSTS FOR PARTS 1-4)


9) ST PHILIP EVANS, the son of William Evans and Winifred Morgan, was born at Monmouth in 1645. He was educated at St Omer and entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Watten on 7th September 1665. Having completed his training, he was ordained at Liege in 1675 and sent upon the English Mission. Back in Wales, he worked diligently for four years, saying Mass, administering the Sacraments and preaching in Welsh and English. It is known that he ministered to large congregations at the home of Thomas Gunter in Abergavenny, at the home of Charles Prodger at Wernddu, and at Sker House, the home of Christopher Turberville. During the wave of persecution generated by the Popish Plot, friends advised Fr Evans to go into hiding. However, he refused and bravely continued his work. On 4th December 1678, the priest was arrested at Sker House, betrayed by the owner’s younger brother, Edward Turberville, a lapsed Catholic. He was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle Gaol and kept in solitary confinement in the dungeon. After several weeks, he and another Welsh priest, Fr John Lloyd, who had been arrested in November, were permitted to share a cell. The following May, Fr Philip Evans was tried at Cardiff Assizes, found guilty of the treason of priesthood, and sentenced to death. The execution was delayed for some time and Fr Evans was even allowed out of prison for recreation! Eventually, on 21st July, orders arrived that his execution was to take place the following day. At that time, he was playing tennis on the court near St John’s Church. When the gaoler went to the tennis court to tell the priest the news and to return him to prison, Fr Evans remarked, “What haste is there? Let me first play out my game.” This he did! Sister Barbara Catherine, the sister of Fr Philip Evans, was a Blue Nun in Paris. The day before his execution Philip wrote to her. He told her of his situation and urged her to be joyful instead of mourning for him. Promising to pray for her, he asked that she pray for him. Philip was a skilled harpist and when the officials came next morning to lead him to his execution, they found the priest joyfully playing the harp. Philip’s legs had been bound with heavy chains. They were so tight that the struggle to remove them lasted more than an hour and caused the poor priest indescribable agony. Taken to the place of execution, Fr Evans addressed the crowd in both Welsh and English. To Fr Lloyd, who had to watch his friend’s martyrdom, he said, “Adieu, Mr Lloyd! Though only for a little time, for we shall soon meet again”. On 22nd July 1679, 34 year old Fr Philip Evans S J, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Gallows Field (the northern end of Richmond Road) Cardiff.

10) ST DAVID LEWIS, (alias Charles Baker) was born in Abergavenny in 1616, the son of Margaret Pritchard and Morgan Lewis. His father was headmaster of Abergavenny Grammar School. It is not certain if Morgan Lewis was a Protestant or a Church Papist, but, to all appearances, he was a Protestant. Margaret was a staunch Catholic and eight of their nine children were brought up as Catholics. However, Morgan raised David in the Protestant religion. As a young man David spent some time in Paris and while there he converted to Catholicism. He went to study at the English College in Rome where, in 1642, he was ordained as a Catholic priest. Following the example of his uncle, Fr John Pritchard, Fr Lewis decided to join the Society of Jesus and entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Sant’ Andrea. Upon completion of his novitiate, Father David Lewis returned to his native Wales but after about a year, he was recalled to Rome. A year later he was sent back to Wales where he spent his remaining 31 years labouring for the people of Monmouthshire and area. He was greatly loved and, for his kindness to all, he was known as ‘Tad y Tlodion’, ‘Father of the Poor’. Father Lewis became a victim of the evil Titus Oates and the fictitious Popish Plot. On 17th November 1678, as he prepared to celebrate Mass, he was arrested at Llantarnam, Cwmbran. The Jesuit was brought for trial at the Lenten Assizes in Monmouth on 16th March 1679. He was brought to the bar on a charge of High Treason, that is, for having become a Catholic priest and remaining in the country. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of being an accessory to the Popish Plot but several witnesses claimed they had seen him say Mass. For this he was found guilty and the judge, Sir Robert Atkins, sentenced him to death. The condemned priest was brought to London and lodged in Newgate Prison. Oates, William Bedloe, Dugdale and Price questioned Fr Lewis about the “plot” but were unable to prove anything against him. Lord Shaftsbury tried to bribe him, telling him that if he gave evidence about the “plot” or renounced his Catholic faith, his life would be spared and he would be handsomely rewarded. The heroic priest could not be swayed. David Lewis said in his dying discourse, “discover the plot I could not, as I knew of none; and conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”. He was brought back to Usk Gaol to await his execution, which came on 27th August 1679. He was taken from his cell in Usk Gaol and carried on a hurdle along the river path to a place known as the Coniger. After addressing the gathering and praying, the condemned man was hanged. A Protestant man held the priest’s hand, ensuring that he was dead before the rest of the barbaric sentence could be carried out. Although the greatly loved priest was drawn and decapitated, he was not quartered. His body was taken in procession to the churchyard of the Priory Church and there it was reverently buried near the main door of the church. St David Lewis was the last Welsh Martyr to suffer for the Catholic faith. He was also one of the ten Jesuit martyrs to be canonised among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

TEN WERE JESUITS (PART4)

On 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised forty martyrs from England and Wales. The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were a diverse group - men and women, priests and lay people – but, between the years of 1535 and 1679, they all shed their blood for their Catholic faith. Saint David Lewis was the last of the forty to die. Ten of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, including Saint David Lewis, were Jesuits. Our intention is to tell, briefly, the story of each of the Jesuits. (SEE PREVIOUS POSTS FOR PARTS 1, 2 & 3)

7) ST EDMUND ARROWSMITH was born in Lancashire in 1585. His parents were devout Catholics who had been fined and even imprisoned for recusancy. In December 1605, Edmund travelled to Flanders and entered the English College at Douai. Having survived several bouts of ill health, Edmund was finally ordained in Arras on 9th December 1612 and sent upon the English Mission on 17th June 1613. In 1622, he was arrested and imprisoned but he was pardoned and released. In 1624, Fr Arrowsmith joined the Society of Jesus. In August 1628, a Justice of the Peace, Captain Rawsthorn, issued a warrant for Edmund’s arrest and he was captured on Brindle Moor and taken to the Boar’s Head Inn and thence to Lancaster Castle and thrown into prison for refusing to take the oath and on suspicion of being a Jesuit priest. On 26th August, Edmund was brought before Judge Yelverton, who asked him if he was a priest. Making the sign of the Cross, Edmund replied, “I would to God I were worthy". The priest then spent some time in isolation in a dungeon while Yelverton drew up an indictment against him. He was charged with being a priest and a Jesuit and with seducing the people to Popery. Fr Arrowsmith was duly found guilty of high treason and sentenced to die in the usual way of hanging, drawing and quartering. The condemned priest was bound in heavy irons and placed in a dark hole so small that he could not even lie down. From Tuesday to Thursday, without a change of clothes, he endured the misery of having to sit in the ghastly hole. Just before noon on 28th August, Edmund Arrowsmith was taken to the place of execution. Near the gallows, a Mr Lee, pointing to a huge fire and a cauldron of boiling water, taunted Edmund: “Look what is provided for your death; will you conform yourself yet and enjoy the mercy of the king?” Edmund replied, “Good sir, tempt me no more. The mercy which I look for is in heaven, through the death and Passion of my Saviour Jesus and I most humbly beseech Him to make me worthy of this death.” Edmund climbed the ladder and, stopping several times to pray, finally reached the top where he pulled his hat over his eyes and prayed loudly. He was pushed off the ladder and the last words uttered by Fr Arrowsmith were “Bone Jesu” (O good Jesus). He was left to hang until he was dead then his body was cut down, disembowelled and quartered. His head was placed atop Lancaster castle and his four quarters were prominently displayed in various places around the castle. St Edmund Arrowsmith S J, was 43 years old when he was martyred on 28th August 1628. His hand is preserved in St Oswald’s Church in Ashton-in-Makerfield.

8) ST HENRY MORSE (alias Cuthbert Claxton) was born in Suffolk in 1595. He was the sixth of nine sons of a Protestant family. Henry went to London to study law but began to question his religion. He finally went to Douai in Flanders and, on 5th June 1614, he was received into the Catholic Church. He began preparations to train for the priesthood. On a short trip to England, he landed at Dover and was immediately ordered to take the Oath of Supremacy. He refused and was therefore imprisoned in New Prison, Southwark, for four years. Henry was released in an amnesty by King James and he went straight back to Douai and trained there until September 1620. On 15th September of that year, he entered the English College in Rome and completed his priestly studies, being ordained in 1623. Fr Morse joined the Jesuits in 1626. (His older brother, William, also became a Jesuit.) He was sent upon the English Mission in June 1624 and was immediately taken before a magistrate on suspicion of being a priest. He was incarcerated in York Prison for three years, after which time he was released and banished from England. Fr Morse returned to England in 1633 and worked among the poor of London. In 1636 he tended the victims of the plague, giving comfort and assistance to Catholic and Protestant alike. Many referred to him with admiration as the “Priest of the Plague”. Three times the priest himself fell victim to the plague but somehow managed to survive. On 27th February 1638, Fr Henry Morse was arrested by special warrant and committed to Newgate. At the next assizes he was brought to trial and accused of being a priest and of attempting to seduce His Majesty’s subjects to Catholicism. He was found guilty of being a priest but, on the personal intervention of the King’s Catholic wife, Fr Morse was bailed. Again, he was banished. In 1643, Fr Henry Morse was back in England and after about 18 months, he was apprehended by a band of Roundhead soldiers. With the help of a constable’s wife, the priest managed to escape. Six weeks later, the tenacious priest was again apprehended. This time he was thrown into Durham Gaol where he was held for several weeks before being sent to London’s Newgate Prison. He arrived in London on 24th January and on 30th January 1645 the prisoner was found guilty of being the same priest who had already been banished. At 9 o’clock on the morning of 1st February 1645, Henry was taken to Tyburn, the place of execution. After addressing the crowd and praying, he forgave his enemies and persecutors and hoped that God would so the same. He prayed for all Christian Kingdoms, especially England, and finished with the words of Jesus, “Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”. The cart was drawn away and he hanged until dead. The martyr’s head was placed on London Bridge and his quarters on the four city gates for all to see and be warned. St Henry Morse S J, was 50 years old when he died for the faith at Tyburn.