Jan 21 Thomas Reynolds b. 1562 d. 1642 and Alban Bartholomew Roe b. 1580 d. 1642

Thommy and John

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Thomas Reynolds b. 1562 d. 1642

I don’t know how many times now I’ve sent a missive based on the short blurb in Catholic Online, which is a direct derivative, like so many, from Butler. So I repeat my lament that I wish we had more about his early life and the qualities of the man that supported his becoming a martyr. I also digress into a swipe at the English - an Irish and Catholic thing with me - but this time with info from the Catholic Encyclopedia. And I repeat my exhortation to you to have the strength of our faith to sustain yourself in our beliefs and practices, regardless of the martyrdom-like consequences for the circumstances of your personal zeitgeist….

From Catholic Encyclopedia online. “English Confessors and Martyrs (1534-1729).


Though the resistance of the English as a people to the Reformation compares very badly with the resistance offered by several other nations, the example given by those who did stand firm is remarkably interesting and instructive.

(1) They suffered the extreme penalty for maintaining the unity of the Church and the Supremacy of the Apostolic See, the doctrines most impugned by the reformation in all lands, and at all times.

(2) They maintained their faith almost entirely by the most modern methods, and they were the first to so maintain it, i.e., by education of the clergy in the seminaries, and of Catholic youth in colleges, at the risk, and often at the cost of life.

(3) The tyranny they had to withstand was, as a rule, not the sudden violence of a tyrant, but the continuous oppression of laws sanctioned by the people in Parliament, passed on the specious plea of political and national necessity, and operating for centuries with an almost irresistible force which the law acquires when acting for generations in conservative and law-abiding counties.

(4) The study of their causes and their acts is easy. The number of martyrs are many; their trials are spread over a long time. We have in many cases the papers of the prosecution as well as those of the defense, and the voice of Rome is frequently heard pronouncing on the questions of the debate, and declaring that this or that matter is essential, on which no compromise can be permitted; or by her silence she lets it be understood that some other formula may pass.”

There is a powerful inertia of English ‘reformation’ in our American, southern, Greensboro environment….

Thomas Reynolds was born Thomas Green at Oxford. The early seventeenth century was not a good time to be raised a Catholic: especially after a century and a half of tyrannical anti-Catholicism: more especially, if you had a vocation to the priesthood! Thomas Reynolds had to become an exile to receive the Catholic education and seminary training necessary to pursue his vocation. And you too may need to leave your current circumstance to achieve a similar benefit of Catholic education and training for whatever vocation you hear in God’s call.

[This Sunday we had the great story of Samuel’s call (1Samuel 3). Three times awoken from a dream and trundling off to wake up Eli - what do you want? It took Eli that many tries to realize who it was who was calling Samuel and told him: “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” I must confess to being enamored by our pastor’s preaching, especially on the topic of each of us being called. In this brief story, we learn that it may be necessary for us to have a believer help us cipher the call of God to us. And it may take even believers a couple of tries before figuring out that it is God’s call that we are hearing….]

Thomas Reynolds went to France then Spain, where he was ordained in 1592. Thomas Reynolds returned home to serve his family, his people, with the Truth that would set them free [well, in a few centuries]. In 1606, Thomas Reynolds was exiled because he was a Catholic Priest ordained in a papal seminary. How much have you been exiled because you are baptized and confirmed Catholic? Or, how many times have you denied your faith and church to avoid being “exiled” from your “country”?

Even after being thrown out, Thomas Reynolds returned. Even after you are thrown out or run away, you have the opportunity to return to live your vocation faithfully: to labor for our faith.

Thomas Reynolds was arrested again in 1628. He spent fourteen years in prison. That alone would be torturous. If only he would renounce his ordination, his allegiance to the Pope, his dedication to the Church, the fundamentals of his faith, he probably would have been released. Instead, he served his fellow Catholics and the needy other prisoners.

In addition to the normal hellaciousness of seventeenth century English prisons, Thomas Reynolds underwent tortures that would make the accusations about Guantanamo seem like a Caribbean resort. Not only give up his own faith but also the names of the other priests snuck back into England. Finally, Thomas Reynolds was hung, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on January 21, 1642.

Along with Bl. Thomas Reynolds, Alban Bartholomew Roe received the same fate.


January 21
Alban Bartholomew Roe b. 1580 d. 1642

St. Alban Bartholomew Roe, from the tiny bit we have in Catholic online, might have been a bit more fun for us.

Alban Bartholomew Roe converted to Catholicism. [People convert for a myriad of reasons. It’s tragic when a person converts to the one true religion, ours, and then reneges on that conversion - and in the process pulls other people with him/her from the one true faith. Tragic, of course, is an understatement. The ole, woe to those who lead children to sin, and the sin of rejecting one’s faith, a sin against the Holy Spirit, maybe, is a big Woe.]

Alban Bartholomew Roe went to Douai for seminary training - but was bounced because of an infraction of discipline. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what that was. However, as Paul Harvey might say, stick around for the rest of the story. Conversion. Alban Bartholomew Roe teaches us that we can/should recover from struggles with the discipline of his new faith/religion, especially in the seminary.

Alban Bartholomew Roe was ordained a Benedictine priest in 1612, at 32 years old. His order sent him back to England - in that era, it was customary to volunteer and, thus, be sent. However, it’s possible, Alban Bartholomew Roe would have preferred to stay in the safety of the Benedictine monastery in France. Obedience, harped on as a quality of our religious, is also essential for the fulfillment of any sacramental commitment - love, honor, and obey….

It took only three years before Alban Bartholomew Roe was arrested and banished. Like a yo yo, he returned in 1618 to England. Persistence is at the heart of faith: vice versa, too. For all the good things that Alban Bartholomew Roe did, he apparently wasn’t good at keeping below the radar - he was imprisoned almost immediately. In 1623, the Spanish ambassador [the Catholic proxy in London, as well], obtained his release. Once again, In 1625, Alban Bartholomew Roe returned. Get the picture. Stick with your faith. No matter how many times you are rejected, thrown out, ostracized, keep coming back with your faith and the Good News of faith and Church. Let all of the English priest-martyrs be your inspiration and intermediary. Lots of Johns, Thomases, and Williams for you to call upon more personally….

Alban Bartholomew Roe was arrested in 1625. For the next seventeen years, he was in prison and suffered like so many other of the Catholic priests in seventeenth century England. Seventeen years tortured for his faith in his home. Persistence. An example for you.

Alban Bartholomew Roe was hung, drawn, and quartered along with Thomas Reynolds on January 21, 1642.

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