Saint of the Day – 5 September – Blessed William Browne (Died 1605) Martyr, Layman. Born in the 16th Century in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England and died by the butcherous method of being hanged, drawn and quartered on 5 September 1605 at Ripon, North Yorkshire, then under the rule of James I.
The history of anti-Catholic persecution in England, Scotland and Wales, begins in 1535 and ends in 1681; the first to unleash it was, as is well known, King Henry VIII, who began the English schism by seceding the Church from Rome, in order to declare himself as the Supreme Head of the Church, thus creating a new protestant church.
Its more or less bloody perpetrators were, beyond Henry VIII, his successors Edward VI (1547-1553), the terrible Elizabeth I, the ‘Virgin Queen’ but also called the Whore Queen (Died 1603), James I (Died 1625) Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and Charles II.
The first to die as glorious Martyrs, on 4 May and J15 une 1535, were 19 Carthusian Monks, hanged at the infamous Tyburn Tree in London. The last victim was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, Oliver Plunkett, executed in London on 11 July 1681.
William Browne was born in Northamptonshire. Little is known about his life, except that he was one of the many Catholics who chose to die a Martyr, rather than betray their Holy Faith.
He was a servant in the household of the nobleman Thomas Darcy and was known for his zeal in refusing and causing others to refuse, the oath of the King’s spiritual supremacy, for not attending Protestant rites and for inciting fidelity to the Catholic Church.
For these reas ons, Wiilliam Browne was arrested and tried during the reign of James I (1566-1625) and sentenced to capital punishment for high treason.
On 5 September 1605, he was hanged, drawn and quartered in Ripon. The Martyr was Beatified on 5 December 1929, by Pope Pius XI, along with 106 other victims of those ferocious persecutions of the Enlish. Today, it begins again in these end times.
AnaStpaul 