Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?12_July_=E2=80=93_Saint_John_Jones_OFM?= To : All From : rich Date : Sun Jul 11 2021 10:20:02 From: rich 12 July =E2=80=93 Saint John Jones OFM =C2 Priest and Martyr, Franciscan Friar, Missionary =E2=80=93 Born as Gri= ffith Jones c 1574 in Clynog-Fawr, Carnarvonshire, Wales and died by being hanged, drawn and quartered in the early morning of 12 July 1598 at London, England. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales who are celebrated on 25 October. His real name was Griffith Jones but he was variously known as John Jones, John Buckley, John Griffith or Godfrey Maurice Jones. He was born in the ancient parish of Clynnog into a staunch and recusant Welsh Catholic family who stayed true to their faith after the Protestant Reformation. He entered the Observant Franciscan Convent at Greenwich as a youth. On the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, Catholicism was banned so he went to the Continent and was Ordained at the Franciscan Monastery at Pontoise, France. He studied at the English College at Douai. After his Ordination at Rheims in 1585 he returned to the English mission but was captured and imprisoned in Wisbech Castle. He either escaped or was released and about 1592 made his profession as a Franciscan at the Convent of Ara Coeli in Rome, taking the name Godfrey. His =E2=80=98Mission to England' was approved by Pope Clement VIII = and he returned in 1592, fully aware of the gruesome punishments inflicted on Catholic priests. After two years he was arrested in Staffordshire. In 1596 the priest-catcher Topcliffe had been informed by a spy that John Jones had visited two Catholics and said Mass in their house but it was afterwards shown that these people were in prison when the alleged offence took place. However, he was promptly arrested and severely tortured. He was also cruelly scourged and Topcliffe took him to his house and practised unspeakable barbarities upon him, all of which he endured with great fortitude. He was then imprisoned for nearly two years in the Marshalsea Prison and on 3 July 1598, was tried on the charge of =E2=80=9Cgoing over the seas in the first year of Her Majesty=E2= =80=99s reign (1558) and there being made a priest by the authority from Rome and then returning to England contrary to statute=E2=80=9D (27 Eliz. c. 2) = and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. He was executed on 12 July 1598, some two miles outside of London.=C2 By this time, the people had grown tired of these hateful spectacles and as the authorities were keen to avoid a riot, the execution was arranged for the early morning. Despite this, a large crowd gathered. The executioner, called untimely from his bed, forgot his ropes. During the delay while he went for them, the condemned man preached to the crowd and explained he was being martyred for his faith, not for disloyalty to his country. The place was St Thomas's Watering, in w= hat is now the Old Kent Road, at the site of the junction of the old Roman road to London with the main line of Watling Street. The usual atrocities were carried out;=C2 his dismembered remains were fixed on the poles on the roads to Newington and Lambeth (now represented by Tabard Street and Lambeth Road respectively);=C2 some were removed by young Catholics, one of whom suffered long imprisonment for this. One of these relics eventually reached the Monastery of Pontoise, where the Martyr had been ordained. He was declared Venerable by Pope Leo XIII, Beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI and Canonised on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI. https://anastpaul.com/2020/07/11/ Saint Quote: A great help to you always be a great love for, and unlimited confidence in, Our Blessed Lady, Help of Christians, Mother of God, and your Mother also. She says to you: "Whoever is little, let him come to me." If you will love her, she will shower on you many graces in this life, and be an assurance to you of Heaven --St. John Bosco Bible Quote: =E2=80=9CIt was his loving design, centered in Christ, to give history its fulfilment by resuming everything in him, all that is in heaven, all that is on earth, summed up in him=E2=80=9D=C2 (Eph. 1, 9-10) <><><><> [T]hose who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness that comes from the good example of a praiseworthy and blameless life. They must completely remove from their lives the filth and uncleanness of vice. Their upright lives must make them like the salt of the earth for themselves and for the rest of mankind. The brightness of their wisdom must make them like the light of the world that brings light to others. They must learn from their eminent teacher, Jesus Christ, what he declared not only to his apostles and disciples, but also to all the priests and clerics who were to succeed them, when he said, "You are the salt of the earth. But what is salt goes flat? How can you restore its flavor? Then it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Jesus also said: "You are the light of the world." Now a light does not illumine itself, but instead it diffuses its rays and shines all around upon everything that comes into its view. So it must be with the glowing lives of upright and holy clerics. By the brightness of their holiness they must bring light and serenity to all who gaze upon them. They have been placed here to care for others. Their own lives should be an example to others, showing how they must live in the house of the Lord. --Excerpt from a sermon of Saint John of Capistrano --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .