October 15
Forty martyrs of England and Wales
Martyrs
(16th and 17th centuries) These English and Welsh Catholics were canonized for having persevered in their faith until martyrdom during the persecutions decreed by several monarchs, especially Queen Elizabeth I, since Henry VIII separated himself from the obedience of Rome.
Biography
Among them are mothers like Margaret Clitherow, widows like Ann Line, nobles like Philip Howard, Earl of Surrey, obscure laymen like the Welsh maester Richard Gwyn, and priests like Cuthbert Mayne, John Payne and John Almond. Then there is a long list of Carthusian, Augustinian, Benedictine, Franciscan and Jesuit religious, among whom are: Robert Southwell, Henry Walpole, Nicolas Owen, Thomas Garnet, Henry Morse and the most famous of all, Edmund Campion, whose life Evelyn Waugh wrote.
Practical advice
With simplicity and joy, respond to evil with a concrete work of good, doing everything for the love of God.