Blessed Peter Wright
Blessed Peter Wright (born c. 1603 AD at Slipton, Northamptonshire, England; died May 19, 1651 AD at Tyburn, London) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr who, after a youth spent as a lawyer's clerk and briefly as a soldier, was reconciled to the Catholic Church, entered the Society of Jesus, and returned to serve the persecuted Catholics of England during the English Civil War. Chaplain to a royalist regiment and afterward to the household of the Marquess of Winchester, he was seized as he prepared to celebrate Mass and put to death at Tyburn under the Elizabethan law against priests. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929, and his feast is kept on May 19.[1][2]
One of twelve children of a Northamptonshire family, Wright worked for some years in a country solicitor's office at Thrapston before enlisting in the English forces in the Low Countries, a life he quickly abandoned. Seeking out the English Jesuits at Liège, he was received into the Church, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Watten in 1629, and was ordained priest in 1639.[1][3] Returning to England, he ministered through the years of civil war until his arrest on Candlemas Day 1650; tried under the statute of 1585 which made it treason for an English subject ordained priest abroad to remain in the realm, he was hanged at Tyburn before an immense crowd, and — by a rare mercy — was allowed to hang until dead before the sentence of quartering was carried out.[1][3]
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Peter Wright
| Blessed Peter Wright | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | May 19 |
| Profession | Priest; Jesuit; military chaplain; martyr |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Society of Jesus (Jesuits) |
| Attributes | Jesuit cassock; martyr's palm; hangman's rope |
| Birthplace | Slipton, Northamptonshire, England |
| Death Place | Tyburn, London, England |
| Cause of Death | Martyrdom; hanged at Tyburn for being a Catholic priest |
| Liturgical Class | Not included in the General Roman Calendar; observed by the Society of Jesus and among the English martyrs |
| Historic Class | Not included |
Biography
Birth and early life
Peter Wright was born about the year 1603 at Slipton in Northamptonshire, one of twelve children of a family left fatherless while he was still young.[1][3] As a young man he was employed for some ten years as a clerk in a country solicitor's office at Thrapston, not far from his home.[1] About 1627–1628 he enlisted in the English army serving in the Low Countries, but, disillusioned after a single month, deserted and made his way into Brabant.[1]
Conversion and entry into the Society of Jesus
In the Spanish Netherlands Wright sought out the English Jesuits at Liège, asking to be reconciled to the Catholic Church.[1][3] After a period of study at the Jesuit college in Ghent, he entered the Society's novitiate at Watten in 1629.[1] He pursued his philosophical and theological studies at Liège and was ordained to the priesthood there in 1639.[1][3]
Chaplain and missionary
Wright first served as chaplain to the English regiment of Sir Henry Gage in Flanders, sharing the hardships of the soldiers' camp.[1][2] In 1644 he crossed to England, at great personal risk, to labour among the Catholics of the realm during the upheavals of the English Civil War.[2][3] He became chaplain to John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, one of the leading Catholic noblemen of the day, whose household he served in London.[1][3]
Arrest, trial, and martyrdom
On Candlemas Day, February 2, 1650, pursuivants broke into the Marquess of Winchester's London house and seized Wright as he was vesting to celebrate Mass.[1][3] Held for more than a year, he was brought before the Lord Chief Justice at the Old Bailey in May 1651 and arraigned under the Elizabethan statute which made it high treason for an Englishman ordained priest overseas to return and remain in England. He was convicted on the evidence that he was a priest and sentenced to death.[1][3]
On Whit Monday, May 19, 1651, Wright was drawn to Tyburn and hanged before a vast concourse said to have numbered some twenty thousand, among whom were fellow Jesuits in disguise come to give him absolution.[1][2] By the leniency of the crowd and of the sheriff he was permitted to hang until he was dead, and so was spared the further torments of being disembowelled and quartered while still living.[1][3]
Significant events
- Born at Slipton, Northamptonshire, about 1603.
- Worked as a solicitor's clerk at Thrapston and briefly served as a soldier in the Low Countries.
- Reconciled to the Catholic Church and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Watten in 1629.
- Ordained priest at Liège in 1639.
- Served as chaplain to Sir Henry Gage's regiment, then returned to the English mission in 1644.
- Became chaplain to the Marquess of Winchester.
- Arrested while preparing to say Mass on February 2, 1650.
- Hanged at Tyburn on May 19, 1651.
- Beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Slipton, Northamptonshire, England
Death location: Tyburn, London, England
Notable location: Birthplace (Slipton, Northamptonshire, England)
Notable location: Where he worked as a young man in a solicitor's office (Thrapston, Northamptonshire, England)
Notable location: Where he entered the Society of Jesus in 1629 (Jesuit novitiate, Watten, France)
Notable location: Where he was reconciled to the Church, studied, and was ordained priest in 1639 (Liège, Belgium)
Notable location: Place of his martyrdom, May 19, 1651 (Tyburn, London, England)
Dynamic content
Parishes
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Shrines
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Canonization
Beatification
Pope Pius XI issued the decree of martyrdom and beatified Peter Wright on December 15, 1929, among a large group of martyrs of England and Wales.[1][2] He has not been canonized, and continues to be venerated as one of the beatified English martyrs of the penal age.
Feast day
May 19
Veneration
Blessed Peter Wright is honoured especially by the Society of Jesus, which counts him among its English martyrs, and by the Catholic community of his native Northamptonshire. He is remembered for the courage with which he returned to a hostile land to serve his fellow Catholics and for the composure of his death. In art he is represented in Jesuit dress bearing the martyr's palm.[2][1]
Prayers
Authored
There are prayers authored by this saint in prayers list yet.
Intercessory
There are no prayers asking for this saint's intercession in prayers list yet.
External links
- Wikipedia – Peter Wright (martyr)
- The Society of Jesus – Blessed Peter Wright
- Encyclopedia.com – Wright, Peter, Bl. (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 "Peter Wright (martyr)," Wikipedia.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Blessed Peter Wright," The Society of Jesus (jesuits.global).
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 "Wright, Peter, Bl.," New Catholic Encyclopedia, via Encyclopedia.com.