John Houghton (martyr)
Saint John Houghton Roman Catholic Church | |
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Beatified | 29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII |
Canonized | 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI |
Feast | 4 May, 25 October |
Attributes | Carthusian habit, noose in neck, heart in hand, knife, book, martyr's palm |
John Houghton,
Early life
Born around 1487, Houghton was (according to one of his fellow
It is said that he escaped an arranged marriage as soon as he completed his education and took refuge with a devout priest.[5]
Monastic life
He joined the London Charterhouse in 1516, progressed to be sacristan in 1523, and procurator in 1528.[1] In 1531, he became prior of the Beavale in Nottinghamshire. However, in November of that year, he was elected prior of the London house, to which he returned.[6] In addition, the following spring he was named Provincial Visitor, at the head of the English Carthusians.[1]
In April 1534, two royal agents visited the Charterhouse. Houghton advised them that "it pertained not to his vocation and calling nor to that of his subjects to meddle in or discuss the king's business, neither could they or ought they to do so, and that it did not concern him who the king wished to divorce or marry, so long as he was not asked for any opinion."
Arrest and execution
However, in 1535, the community was called upon to make the new
Houghton, along with the other two Carthusians, Reynolds and
The three priors were taken to Tyburn in their religious habits and were not previously laicised from the priesthood and religious state as was the custom of the day. From his prison cell in the Tower, Thomas More saw the three Carthusian priors being dragged to Tyburn on hurdles and exclaimed to his daughter: "Look, Meg! These blessed Fathers be now as cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms to their marriage!" John Houghton was the first to be executed. After he was hanged, he was taken down alive, and the process of quartering him began.
Catholic tradition relates that when Houghton was about to be quartered, as the executioner tore open his chest to remove his heart, he prayed, "O Jesus, what wouldst thou do with my heart?". His companions were butchered next. After his death, his body was chopped to pieces and hung in different parts of London.
Legacy
He was beatified on 29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII and canonized on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
There is a mosaic of Houghton in the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church,
A painting of the Carthusian
In the
There are stained glass windows of Saint John Houghton in the following churches:
- St. Dominic's Priory Church in London[9][10]
- Our Lady and the English Martyrs in Cambridge[11][12]
- Belmont Abbey outside Hereford[13]
- St. Mark's Church in Mansfield[14]
- Shrewsbury Cathedral, he is next to Thomas More in the fifth window.[15]
St John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy is named in his honor.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Hendriks, Lawrence. The London Charterhouse, London, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1889
- ^ a b c Gasquet, Francis Aidan. Henry VIII and the English Monasteries, G. Bell, 1906, p. 60 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "St. John Houghton", FaithND
- ^ "Houghton, John (HTN531J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Camm, Bede (1904). Lives of the English martyrs declared blessed by Pope Leo XIII, in 1886 and 1895. Written by fathers of the oratory, of the secular clergy and of the Society of Jesus. London, Burns and Oates; New York [etc.] Benziger brothers.
- ^ a b Wainewright, John. "Blessed John Houghton." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 2 Feb. 2014
- ^ Cranmer, Thomas (1833). The Remains of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Budby (14 May 2014), [23149] Holy Name (RC), Manchester : Blessed John Houghton, retrieved 2 November 2022
- ^ Lawrence OP (25 June 2008), St John Houghton, retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Lawrence OP (25 June 2008), Martyrdom of St John Houghton & companions, retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Lawrence OP (14 July 2006), St John Houghton and St Gilbert Bourne, retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Lawrence OP (30 March 2009), English Carthusian Martyrs, retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Shaw, Joseph (29 April 2014), IMG_7229', retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ "Mansfield St Mark – Glass". southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ Thomson, Aidan McRae (30 June 2012), English Martyrs, Shrewsbury Cathedral, retrieved 2 November 2022
Sources
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(2006)
- L. Hendriks, The London Charterhouse: its monks and its martyrs (1889)
- "Bl. Humphrey Middlemore". Catholic Encyclopedia.
Media related to John Houghton (martyr) at Wikimedia Commons