Blessed William Way, was a priest and martyr executed under Elizabeth I. Born in 1560 in Cornwall or Devon, England, William went to France to study for the priesthood since the Protestant revolution in England had closed the seminaries. On 31 March 1584, he received his first tonsure in the Cathedral of Reims from the Cardinal of Guise. On 22 March he was ordained subdeacon, on 5 April deacon, and priest on 18 September 1586, at Laon, probably by Bishop Valentine Douglas, O.S.B
William departed for England on 9 December 1586, and by June 1587, was imprisoned. He was indicted at Newgate in September 1588, for being a Roman Catholic priest. He declined to be tried by a secular judge, whereupon the Bishop of London was sent for. William, refusing to acknowledge him as a bishop or Elizabeth I as head of the church, was immediately condemned as a traitor and to death.
When called to trial at the Sessions in August, “he had so much joy that he seemed past himself”. Way was “hung, drawn and quartered” at Kingston upon Thames on 23rd September 1588.
For nothing else was proper than that he who in the secret recesses of his conscience was rich in the full honour of religion and faith, should moreover be renowned in the publicly diffused report of the Gentiles.
The Life and Passion of St Cyprian (Pontius)
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