Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Poets
Saint Henry Walpole
Priest and martyr († 1595)Feast: April 7
“We cannot fear a mortal torment, we,/ This martyr’s blood hath moistened all our hearts,/ Whose parted quarters when we chance to see/ We learn to play the constant Christian’s parts.” Henry Walpole was a 23-year-old law student when he witnessed the martyrdom of Saint Edmund Campion. Campion’s brutal death, meant to be a deterrent, proved to be an inspiration for Walpole. Campion’s blood splashed on him, and he was inspired to write a poem in his praise.
“Why do I use my paper, ink, and pen?/ And call my wits to counsel what to say?/ Such memories were made for mortal men;/ I speak of saints whose names cannot decay.” Thirty stanzas long, the poem was immensely popular with English Catholics, and conversely unpopular with Protestant authorities. But though its first printer was punished severely for his work, the composer William Byrd chose to set the less pointed stanzas to music.
Walpole left England and became a Jesuit priest. At first, he served in the Netherlands as a chaplain for English Catholics who had joined the Spanish army. He was captured by Calvinists and spent a year in prison. Upon his release he was sent to England. There he was betrayed to the authorities within two days, and spent sixteen months being interrogated. He died a martyr’s death on April 7, 1595.
Almighty Father, through the intercession of Saint Henry Walpole, take away our fears and let us behold the sufferings of the martyrs as their truest glory.
