Subj : July 1st - Bl. Thomas Maxfield, Martyr To : All From : rich Date : Wed Jun 30 2021 10:30:04 From: rich July 1st - Bl. Thomas Maxfield, Martyr (A.D. 1616) THOMAS MAXFIELD (or Macclesfield) was born at The Mere, Enville, in the county of Stafford, about the year 1590. His father William was a confessor of the faith, and at the time of Thomas's birth was actually under sentence of death for harbouring priests. Thomas himself was eventually ordained and sent on the mission in 1615. Within three months he was arrested in London, and lodged in the Gatehouse at Westminster. After the usual interrogations he was left there for eight months, when, with the help of another prisoner, a Jesuit, he attempted to escape by means of a rope let down from a high window. But he landed right in the arms of a passer-by, who raised the alarm. The turnkeys seized him and =E2=80=9Cthrust him under a table, girdi= ng about his neck a massive collar of iron; to this again they fasten a ponderous chain of a hundredweight ... and in this painful posture they keep him for some hours till the morning". Then he was removed to a filthy and verminous underground dungeon, and fastened in wooden stocks, in such fashion that he could neither stand nor lie down properly; and so he was left from before daybreak on Friday until Monday night. Some of his fellow prisoners managed to get a blanket for him, and his Jesuit confessor spoke words of encouragement through a hole in the roof-and found the sufferer in very good heart. At his trial Mr Maxfield refused to take the oath of allegiance to King James in the form it was tendered, while protesting that he was loyal to him as his true and lawful sovereign; and the next day he was condemned for his priesthood to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The Spanish ambassador, the Duke of Gondomar, made a personal intervention at court to obtain Mr Maxfield's pardon or at least a reprieve; but without avail. Unusual crowds of people watched Bl. Thomas dragged to Tyburn the next day, July I, many following him to the scaffold, including a number of Spaniards. To the great vexation of the authorities it was found that someone had decked the gibbet with garlands of flowers, and covered the ground about it with leaves and sweet-smelling herbs. Bl. Thomas addressed the crowd from the cart, declaring that he had had no other object =E2=80=9Cbut only to be serviceable to the souls of my dear countrym= en" by preaching the faith that St Augustine had preached to their ancestors. In spite of the sheriff's peremptory order to the hangman to cut him down quickly, the bystanders insisted that he should be allowed to hang till he was dead, and so be spared the horrors of disembowelling. Special precautions were taken to prevent any relics of Bl. Thomas Maxfield being preserved. Nevertheless the Spanish ambassador was able to recover the body, part of which is still at Gondomar and the other part at Downside. In the year of his death a life of Bl. Thomas, by Dr Kellison, was published at Douay, and in the following year an eye-witness account of his execution: see Catholic Record Society publications, vol. iii. See also MMP., pp. 344-353; DNB., vol. xxxvii; and the Downside Review, vol. Xxxiv. Saint Quote: Obedience is a short cut to perfection. They who are living under obedience, if they really wish to advance in the ways of God, must give themselves up always and in all things into the hands of their superiors; and they who are not living under obedience must subject themselves to some learned and discreet confessor, whom they may obey in the place of God, disclosing to him, with perfect candor and simplicity, the affairs of their soul; and they should never come to any resolution without his advice. Nothing gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person's will, rather than our own, in doing good. --St. Philip Bible Quote: But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received; or another gospel, which you have not received: you might well bear with him.=C2 [2 Corinthians 11:3-4] DRB <><><><> Healing Prayer at Bedtime Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go back into my memory as I sleep. Every hurt that has been done to me, heal that hurt. Every hurt I have caused to someone, heal that hurt. But Jesus, if there is anything I need to do, if a person is still suffering from my wickedness, bring to my awareness that which I have hurt and need to remedy. I choose to forgive others and I ask to be forgiven. Remove whatever bitterness that remains in my heart, and fill it with Your everlasting love. Amen --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .