Margaret Clitherow
Born in York, England, . 1556;
Died in York, England 1586;
Beatified in 1929;
Canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales;
feast day formerly April 2.
Margaret was the daughter of a prosperous candlemaker, Thomas Middleton, who later became sheriff, but who died when she was about nine. Her mother remarried. In 1571, Margaret married John Clitherow, a prosperous grazier and butcher, who held various civic offices. He was an honorable, kind, easy-going, and generous man. Contemporaries described Margaret as well-liked, attractive, merry, and witty. "Everyone loved her and would run to her for help, comfort, and counsel in distress."
The couple, who lived in the Little Shambles of York, had three children. The eldest, Henry, was predestined to carry on the family trade. Next came Anne, then another little boy.
Margaret had been reared a Protestant but three years after her marriage to another Protestant, who never converted, she became a Catholic. From her earliest childhood, Margaret spent much time in prayer and had thought upon God with profound love and great reverence. Honestly and without any consideration of worldly advantage of peace she had prayed for light, that she might be able to distinguish which faith was the true one. When she felt sure that she knew this, she acted without fear or wavering.
Her husband, now the chamberlain of York, was fined repeatedly because Margaret did not attend Protestant services, yet he stood by her. That was how the state attempted to keep Catholics from the Mass--break them down to penury. When they could no longer pay the fines, they were thrown into prison. But this was not Margaret's problem.
She was religiously vocal and active and was imprisoned for two years for not attending the parish church. She was confined in a filthy, cold, dark hole, fed on the poorest prison fare, separated from her loved ones, yet she herself refers to this time as 'a happy and profitable school.' Here no one could be inconvenienced by her fasting and austerities.
While in prison she learned to read; after she was released, she organized in her house a small school for her children and her neighbors' children. Nevertheless, her husband stood by her for she was "a good wife, a tender mother, a kind mistress, loving God above all things and her neighbor as herself." By the sweetness of her nature, she bore witness to the charm of piety.
In a specially built room she hid priests who sought refuge from penal laws, and her home became one of the most important hiding places of the time. Masses were said by the guests, and Margaret would station herself behind the others, nearest the door, possibly to give the alarm in case of discovery.
In 1584, she was confined to her home for a year and a half, apparently for sending her eldest son to Douai in France to be educated. She made barefoot pilgrimages to the execution places of martyred priests, doing so at night to evade spies. These pilgrimages to the spot soaked with the blood of martyrs gave her courage to face the troubles and dangers of daily life.
Her husband remained silent about her activities, but he was summoned before the court in 1586 to give an account of why his son, who was attending a Catholic college, was abroad. While he was thus occupied, his house was raided, but no trace of priests or sacred vessels could be found.
His children were interrogated and gave nothing away, but a Flemish student broke down under threats and revealed the secret room. Vessels and books for celebrating Mass were discovered, and Margaret was accused of hiding priests, a capital offense, and taken to prison. She was joined two days later by her friend, Mrs. Ann Tesh (or Agnes Leech according to another account), whom the boy had also betrayed. She and her friend joked to keep up their spirits.
Her children, the servants, and poor John Clitherow himself were divided among various prisons, and little Anne Clitherow, a child of 10, was ill-treated for refusing to disclose anything of her mother's affairs, or to cease praying as her mother had taught her.
When called before the judge in the Guildhall of York, Margaret said, "I know of no offense whereof I should confess myself guilty." She was urged by Judge Clinch to choose a trial by jury, but she resisted because she did not want her children, servants, and friends to have to testify, and thus have to perjure themselves and offend God or testify against her--and know that they had caused her death, which she knew was inevitable. "Having made no offense, I need no trial. If you say I have offended, I will be tried by none but by God and your own conscience."
Her replies under examination show that this self-taught woman was able to support her faith by purely intellectual arguments and to correct the various Protestant clergymen's erroneous assertions regarding Catholic dogmas and practice.
One Puritan who had argued with her in prison courageously declared in court that to condemn someone on the charge of a child was contrary to the law of God and man. The judge wished to save her but was overruled by the council, and so he sentenced her to the penalty for refusing to plead, the peine forte et dure, which is to be pressed to death.
She was not allowed to see her children, and she was still visited by people who tried to change her mind, including her stepfather, who was mayor of York that year. She saw her husband once. One clergyman spoke kindly to her. Margaret begged him to say no more:
"I ground my faith upon Jesus Christ, and by Him I steadfastly believe to be saved, as is taught in the Catholic Church through all Christendom, and promised to remain with Her unto the world's end, and hell gates shall not prevail against it: and by God's assistance I mean to live and die in the same faith; for if an angel come from heaven, and preach any other doctrine than we have received, the Apostle biddeth us not to believe him. Therefore, if I should follow your doctrine, I should disobey the Apostle's commandment."
On the eve of her death, March 25, 1586, Margaret requested companionship, and a Protestant woman in jail for debt was provided. She did not know what to say, so she watched as Margaret knelt for hours in prayer gaining a radiant calm as she did so.
Thus, at the age of 30, Margaret went to her death smiling, carrying over her arm a long white robe; her shroud, which she had made in prison. On reaching the vaulted cellar where she was to die, she prayed for the Catholic clergy, and for Queen Elizabeth, that God would change her faith and save her soul. She refused to pray with Protestants in attendance.
Margaret was executed in the Toolboothe at York, the first woman to suffer the ultimate penalty of the new penal code. She was made to strip and lie flat on the ground, with a sharp stone under her back, and her hands were bound to posts. A large oak door was laid over her and weights totalling seven or eight hundred pounds were placed upon it until she burst though she had suffocated first. It took about 15 minutes for her to die, and her last words were: "Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, have mercy upon me!"
She had sent her hat to her husband "in sign of her loving duty to him as to her head," and her shoes and stockings to her daughter, that she should follow in her steps. The child became a nun at Saint Ursula's Convent in Louvain, and both of Margaret's sons became priests.
Margaret's body was buried in a rubbish heap outside the city wall. Six weeks later some Catholics disinterred it and carried it away but no one knows where. But one hand had been severed from the body this is the relic of Margaret Clitherow that is venerated today at Saint Mary's Convent in York.
No one had told Margaret's two imprisoned children that their mother was dead. In fact, little Anne was told by some Protestants that if she would not go to their church and hear a Protestant sermon, her mother would be put to death. So the child went, to save her mother's life.
Born in York, England, . 1556;
Died in York, England 1586;
Beatified in 1929;
Canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales;
feast day formerly April 2.
Margaret was the daughter of a prosperous candlemaker, Thomas Middleton, who later became sheriff, but who died when she was about nine. Her mother remarried. In 1571, Margaret married John Clitherow, a prosperous grazier and butcher, who held various civic offices. He was an honorable, kind, easy-going, and generous man. Contemporaries described Margaret as well-liked, attractive, merry, and witty. "Everyone loved her and would run to her for help, comfort, and counsel in distress."
The couple, who lived in the Little Shambles of York, had three children. The eldest, Henry, was predestined to carry on the family trade. Next came Anne, then another little boy.
Margaret had been reared a Protestant but three years after her marriage to another Protestant, who never converted, she became a Catholic. From her earliest childhood, Margaret spent much time in prayer and had thought upon God with profound love and great reverence. Honestly and without any consideration of worldly advantage of peace she had prayed for light, that she might be able to distinguish which faith was the true one. When she felt sure that she knew this, she acted without fear or wavering.
Her husband, now the chamberlain of York, was fined repeatedly because Margaret did not attend Protestant services, yet he stood by her. That was how the state attempted to keep Catholics from the Mass--break them down to penury. When they could no longer pay the fines, they were thrown into prison. But this was not Margaret's problem.
She was religiously vocal and active and was imprisoned for two years for not attending the parish church. She was confined in a filthy, cold, dark hole, fed on the poorest prison fare, separated from her loved ones, yet she herself refers to this time as 'a happy and profitable school.' Here no one could be inconvenienced by her fasting and austerities.
While in prison she learned to read; after she was released, she organized in her house a small school for her children and her neighbors' children. Nevertheless, her husband stood by her for she was "a good wife, a tender mother, a kind mistress, loving God above all things and her neighbor as herself." By the sweetness of her nature, she bore witness to the charm of piety.
In a specially built room she hid priests who sought refuge from penal laws, and her home became one of the most important hiding places of the time. Masses were said by the guests, and Margaret would station herself behind the others, nearest the door, possibly to give the alarm in case of discovery.
In 1584, she was confined to her home for a year and a half, apparently for sending her eldest son to Douai in France to be educated. She made barefoot pilgrimages to the execution places of martyred priests, doing so at night to evade spies. These pilgrimages to the spot soaked with the blood of martyrs gave her courage to face the troubles and dangers of daily life.
Her husband remained silent about her activities, but he was summoned before the court in 1586 to give an account of why his son, who was attending a Catholic college, was abroad. While he was thus occupied, his house was raided, but no trace of priests or sacred vessels could be found.
His children were interrogated and gave nothing away, but a Flemish student broke down under threats and revealed the secret room. Vessels and books for celebrating Mass were discovered, and Margaret was accused of hiding priests, a capital offense, and taken to prison. She was joined two days later by her friend, Mrs. Ann Tesh (or Agnes Leech according to another account), whom the boy had also betrayed. She and her friend joked to keep up their spirits.
Her children, the servants, and poor John Clitherow himself were divided among various prisons, and little Anne Clitherow, a child of 10, was ill-treated for refusing to disclose anything of her mother's affairs, or to cease praying as her mother had taught her.
When called before the judge in the Guildhall of York, Margaret said, "I know of no offense whereof I should confess myself guilty." She was urged by Judge Clinch to choose a trial by jury, but she resisted because she did not want her children, servants, and friends to have to testify, and thus have to perjure themselves and offend God or testify against her--and know that they had caused her death, which she knew was inevitable. "Having made no offense, I need no trial. If you say I have offended, I will be tried by none but by God and your own conscience."
Her replies under examination show that this self-taught woman was able to support her faith by purely intellectual arguments and to correct the various Protestant clergymen's erroneous assertions regarding Catholic dogmas and practice.
One Puritan who had argued with her in prison courageously declared in court that to condemn someone on the charge of a child was contrary to the law of God and man. The judge wished to save her but was overruled by the council, and so he sentenced her to the penalty for refusing to plead, the peine forte et dure, which is to be pressed to death.
She was not allowed to see her children, and she was still visited by people who tried to change her mind, including her stepfather, who was mayor of York that year. She saw her husband once. One clergyman spoke kindly to her. Margaret begged him to say no more:
"I ground my faith upon Jesus Christ, and by Him I steadfastly believe to be saved, as is taught in the Catholic Church through all Christendom, and promised to remain with Her unto the world's end, and hell gates shall not prevail against it: and by God's assistance I mean to live and die in the same faith; for if an angel come from heaven, and preach any other doctrine than we have received, the Apostle biddeth us not to believe him. Therefore, if I should follow your doctrine, I should disobey the Apostle's commandment."
On the eve of her death, March 25, 1586, Margaret requested companionship, and a Protestant woman in jail for debt was provided. She did not know what to say, so she watched as Margaret knelt for hours in prayer gaining a radiant calm as she did so.Thus, at the age of 30, Margaret went to her death smiling, carrying over her arm a long white robe; her shroud, which she had made in prison. On reaching the vaulted cellar where she was to die, she prayed for the Catholic clergy, and for Queen Elizabeth, that God would change her faith and save her soul. She refused to pray with Protestants in attendance.
Margaret was executed in the Toolboothe at York, the first woman to suffer the ultimate penalty of the new penal code. She was made to strip and lie flat on the ground, with a sharp stone under her back, and her hands were bound to posts. A large oak door was laid over her and weights totalling seven or eight hundred pounds were placed upon it until she burst though she had suffocated first. It took about 15 minutes for her to die, and her last words were: "Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, have mercy upon me!"
She had sent her hat to her husband "in sign of her loving duty to him as to her head," and her shoes and stockings to her daughter, that she should follow in her steps. The child became a nun at Saint Ursula's Convent in Louvain, and both of Margaret's sons became priests.
Margaret's body was buried in a rubbish heap outside the city wall. Six weeks later some Catholics disinterred it and carried it away but no one knows where. But one hand had been severed from the body this is the relic of Margaret Clitherow that is venerated today at Saint Mary's Convent in York.
No one had told Margaret's two imprisoned children that their mother was dead. In fact, little Anne was told by some Protestants that if she would not go to their church and hear a Protestant sermon, her mother would be put to death. So the child went, to save her mother's life.
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