St. Margaret Clitherow

St. Margaret Clitherow (born 1556, York, Yorkshire, England—died March 25, 1586, York; canonized 1970; feast days March 25 and October 25) was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, who were executed for harboring Roman Catholic priests during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. In 1970 she and the other martyrs were canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, the day designated as their collective feast day. She is venerated as a patron saint of martyrs, Roman Catholic converts, and people facing persecution, among other patronages.

Born Margaret Middleton, she married (1571) a widower, John Clitherow, a butcher twice her age. Brought up in Protestant England, she converted to Roman Catholicism in 1574. She refused to attend the Anglican church and was repeatedly fined for refusing. Thus, on June 6, 1576, she was designated a recusant (i.e., one who fails to attend Anglican services). Because she was pregnant, she was excused from having to report to a council the following November, but she was later imprisoned for nearly a year.

Clitherow allowed secret masses to be celebrated in her home, where she also hid Roman Catholic missionary priests. After further imprisonments and releases, she was seized on March 10, 1586, during a raid on her home. Her fate was sealed, for a law of 1583 made aiding Jesuits and seminary priests punishable by death. She refused to plead guilty or innocent, stating that only God could judge her, and was executed by being slowly crushed to death with an 800-pound weight.