Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time – October 25, 2024 – Liturgical Calendar

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Today is the day in Wales Feast of the Six Welsh Martyrs and their Companions. The Welsh martyrs are priests Philip Evans and John Lloyd, John Jones, David Lewis, John Roberts and teacher Richard Gwyn, as well as 34 English companions who were executed for their faith during the Catholic persecution in England and Wales from 1535 to 1679. The former feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of England and Wales is now celebrated on May 4th, along with all 284 canonized or beatified martyrs of the English Reformation, as the Feast of the English Martyrs.

The Roman martyrology remembered Saints Chrysanthus and Daria (d. 283)a husband and wife who practiced an active apostolate among the noble families of Rome in the third century. They endured various tortures with great perseverance and were buried alive in a sand pit in 283 during the persecutions of Numerian and Carinus.

The martyrs Saints Crispin and Crispinian (d. 286) are also celebrated today. They were brothers, possibly twins, and cobblers. They missionized Gaul in the middle of the 3rd century. They preached on the streets during the day and made shoes at night. Her charity, piety and disregard for material things impressed the locals and many converted during the years of her service. Under the persecution of Emperor Maximian Herculeus, they were denounced as Christians and died by the sword. Saint Crispin’s Day was immortalized by Shakespeare Henry V Speech before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Six Welsh Martyrs and Companions

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were chosen from hundreds of Catholics who gave their lives for the faith during the dark days of Catholic persecution in England. The Forty were founded on October 25, 1970 by Pope Paul VI. canonized. Six of the forty were Welsh and celebrate this day as a festival in Wales. These six consisted of a married man, a Franciscan, a Benedictine, two Jesuits and a diocesan priest. The remainder of the forty were English martyrs and were celebrated on May 4th (listed here).

	St Richard Gwyn was born about 1537 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire. He was a teacher and married. He and his wife Catherine had six children. He was executed in Wrexham on October 15, 1584. St. Richard Gwyn is the Protomartyr of Wales.
	St. John Jones, OFM was born around 1530 in Clynog Fawr, Caernarvonshire. He entered the Franciscan monastery in Greenwich and, after its dissolution in 1559, went to the Continent and made his profession in Pontoise, France. He died for the faith in Southwark on July 12, 1598. He had to wait an hour for his execution because the executioner forgot to bring the rope!
	St. John Roberts, OSB, born in Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, was the first prior of St Gregory’s, Douai. He was sent on the English mission in December 1602 and arrived in England in April 1603. He was probably the first monk to come to England since the Reformation. He was executed at Tyburn on December 10, 1610.
	St Philip Evans, SJ was born in Monmouth in 1645. He entered the Society of Jesus on September 7, 1665. He was ordained a priest in Liège and sent to the English mission in 1675. He served the South Wales area diligently and joyfully for four years before being arrested at the house of Christopher Turberville in Sker, Glamorganshire on 4 December 1678. He died a martyr in Cardiff on 22 July 1679. He was 34 years old.
	St John Lloyd was born in Brecon and studied in Ghent and Valladolid. He was ordained a priest in Valladolid in 1653. He returned to Wales and worked in Brecon and Monmouthshire for 24 years. In November 1678 he was captured at a house in Penllyn, Glamorganshire. He and St. Philip Evans shared a cell in Cardiff Castle until their martyrdom on 22 July 1679 in Cardiff.
	St David Lewis was born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in 1616. He attended the local high school, of which his father, Morgan Lewis, was the principal. David was ordained a priest in 1642 and entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1645. He returned to Wales and served the region’s Catholics at the Cwm for 34 years. He was arrested at Llantarnam on 17 November 1678 and was martyred at Usk on 27 August 1679. St David Lewis was the last Welsh martyr.

– Excerpt from Last Welsh Martyr

Highlights and activities:

• If you would like to learn more about the Forty Martyrs, you can purchase a booklet, “A Book of Martyrs,” by Fr. John S. Hogan, published by the Catholic Truth Society.
• A list of the forty martyrs and a little more information about some of them can be found on this website.
• Read more about the martyrs:

Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria

According to legend, these two saints belonged to the nobility. Daria received baptism through the efforts of her husband Chrysanthus. In Rome they were instrumental in bringing many people to faith, for which they suffered a cruel martyr’s death. Chrysanthus was sewn into the hide of an ox and placed where the sun shone hottest. Daria was taken to a notorious house and protected by a lion while she spent the time in prayer. Finally, both were buried alive in a sand pit and thus achieved the martyr’s crown together (283). They were buried in the Jordan Cemetery on Via Saleria in Rome; In the same place were buried 62 soldiers who died as martyrs, as well as a group of believers who had gathered for the holy sacrifice on the day of the saint’s death, but were massacred by the enemies of Christ.

– Excerpt from The Church’s year of gracePius Parsch

Patronage: Eissel, Germany; Salzburg, Austria.

Symbols and representation: oxhide; sandbox.

Highlights and Activities:

• Read more about these martyrs:

Sts. Crispin and Crispinian

The Roman martyrology includes these twin brothers martyrs for this day. St. Crispin was a Roman nobleman and brother of Saint Crispinian, with whom he evangelized Gaul in the mid-3rd century. They worked from Soissons, preaching on the streets during the day and making shoes at night. The group’s charity, piety and disregard for material things impressed locals and many converted during the years of their service. They were martyred by torture and beheading in Rome in 286 under Emperor Maximian Herculeus and were put on trial by Rictus Varus, governor of Belgian Gaul and enemy of Christianity. A large church was built in Soissons in the 6th century in her honor; Saint Eligius decorated her shrine.

This festival was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Henry V(Act 4, Scene 3). On the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, fought on this day in 1415, the king gave a rousing speech (“Saint Crispin’s Day”). (Read a summary of the battle.) The English, despite being outnumbered, soundly defeated the French. In England, this was a religious holiday where commoners and serfs had a day of rest.

Patronage: cobbler; glove maker; lace makers; top workers; leather workers; saddler; tanner; Weber.

Symbols and representation: Cobbler’s Groins; Shoe; shoemaker tools; awl and knife saltire; millstones; skinning knife; Frame.

Highlights and Activities:

• Read more about Sts. Crispin and Crispinian:
• See St. Crispin’s Day for Catechists.
• Shakespeare’s Henry V St. Crispin’s Day Speech: Read the text and view the excerpt.
• Because of the name “Crisp” and their work as a cobbler, fruit crisps or cobblers are perfect to prepare on this holiday, especially for apples as harvest season is near. Try some of the recipes from Catholic culture or Catholic cuisine.