Saint Who?
Saints Who Fostered Vocations to the Priesthood
The Martyrs of Douai
(† 1577–1680)October 29
“The day of Douai’s foundation should be indelibly marked in the calendar of every English Catholic” (Monsignor Philip Hughes). Father William Allen, a priest from Lancashire, England, who had taught at both Oxford and Louvain (Belgium), sought to preserve the Catholic faith in England in the days following the Protestant Reformation. He was convinced that most of the English people would be more than happy to return to Catholicism. He hoped for a widespread return, aware that it was necessary to ensure priests were available when that day came. Without holy leaders and men of learning, heretics would win the day, even if a Catholic ruler came to power.
On September 29, 1568, he opened the English College at Douai (France) for the education of priests for the English people. The political situation for the Church in England soon made it clear that these seminarians should expect to face persecution rather than a Catholic restoration.
By 1603, over four hundred missionaries from Douai had been sent to England. By 1680, 158 Douai priests had died as martyrs, including Saint Robert Southwell and Saint Edmund Campion. The stories of the martyrs’ sufferings inspired their fellows. “Our men are more ready,” wrote Allen, “and the harvest increases. With labor and constancy, and God as our leader, we shall conquer.” Eighty of the martyrs of Douai were beatified in 1929.
Omnipotent Father, thank you for the gift of heroic priests.
