Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe
Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe (baptismal name: Bartholomew Roe; monastic name: Alban; born 1583 in Suffolk, England; died January 21, 1642 at Tyburn, London, England) was an English Benedictine monk and priest who was martyred under King Charles I for the crime of exercising his priestly ministry in England in defiance of the recusancy laws. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, a group of canonized martyrs representing the broad range of Catholics who died for their faith during the English Reformation and its aftermath. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970. His feast day is January 21.
Alban Bartholomew Roe represents a striking arc of conversion and commitment: he was a Protestant who encountered a Catholic prisoner in the course of attempting to persuade him to abandon his faith, was converted instead, pursued a long path through difficulties and imprisonment to his priestly ordination, and then spent years in and out of English prisons for his ministry before his final martyrdom. His cheerful spirit, witty tongue, and pastoral zeal made him one of the most beloved of the Elizabethan and Stuart martyrs.
Stored in Cargo: Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe
| Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | January 21 |
| Profession | Benedictine Monk; Priest |
| Rel. Affiliation | Order of Saint Benedict; English Benedictine Congregation |
| Attributes | Benedictine habit; priest's vestments; palm branch (martyr); Tyburn noose |
| Birthplace | Suffolk, England |
| Death Place | Tyburn, London, England |
| Cause of Death | Martyrdom; hanged, drawn, and quartered |
| Primary Shrine | Tyburn Convent, Hyde Park Place, London, England |
| Liturgical Class | Optional Memorial (England and Wales) |
| Historic Class | Not included |
Biography
Birth
Bartholomew Roe was born in 1583 in Suffolk, England, into a Protestant family. He grew up in the world of Elizabethan England, in which Catholicism was illegal and Protestant conformity was the expected norm of English life. He received a university education at St John's College, Cambridge, which placed him among the educated English Protestant gentry of his generation.
Nothing in his early life suggested that he would eventually die at Tyburn for the Catholic faith he had not yet embraced.
Early Life
The turning point of Bartholomew Roe's life came through a chance encounter with a Catholic prisoner. The accounts of his life describe how the young Cambridge-educated Protestant went to visit a Catholic recusant in prison with the intention of persuading him to renounce his faith and conform to the Church of England. The Catholic prisoner's resolute faith and the quality of his arguments had the opposite effect: Bartholomew Roe found himself convinced of the truth of Catholicism and left the encounter on the road to conversion.
He pursued his conversion seriously, and eventually crossed the English Channel to the English College at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands—the principal seminary for the training of English Catholic priests—to study for the priesthood. His path was not straightforward: he was expelled from Douai at some point, possibly for difficult behavior or for failing to meet the community's standards, and spent time at the English College in Rome before eventually being received as a novice at the Benedictine monastery of Saint Gregory at Douai (later relocated to Downside Abbey in England).
He made his monastic profession as a Benedictine monk, taking the name Alban, and was ordained to the priesthood.
Occupation
Father Alban Bartholomew Roe was sent on the English mission—the dangerous and illegal apostolate of providing sacraments to the Catholic population of England, which was prohibited by the recusancy laws. He worked in England for several years before his first arrest. He was imprisoned multiple times, spending long stretches in the Fleet Prison and other London jails. During his imprisonments, far from being silenced, he turned the prisons into centers of apostolic activity, ministering to fellow prisoners (Catholic and Protestant alike) and maintaining correspondence with Catholics outside.
He was repeatedly banished from England rather than executed, only to return each time to his ministry. Contemporary accounts describe him as a man of remarkable personal charm, wit, and good humor, who maintained his cheerfulness even in prison and who won the affection of jailers and prisoners alike. He was known for his blunt speech—he was not always tactful—and for his genuine pastoral care for those around him.
He was finally arrested for the last time and brought to trial in 1641. He was condemned to death for the statutory offence of being an ordained Catholic priest present in England.
Vocation
Alban Bartholomew Roe's vocation was that of a Benedictine monk and missionary priest on the English mission—one of the most dangerous apostolates in the seventeenth-century Church. He accepted the constant risk of imprisonment and death as the condition of his ministry, and his repeated returns to England after banishment demonstrate that this acceptance was not merely theoretical but deeply rooted in his commitment to his people.
He is said to have spent the night before his execution in prayer and in celebrating Mass. On the scaffold at Tyburn, he addressed the crowd with characteristic liveliness, professing his Catholic faith, praying for the king, and dying with courage and good humor.
Death
Alban Bartholomew Roe was executed at Tyburn on January 21, 1642, by hanging, drawing, and quartering—the statutory penalty for high treason, which was the legal category under which the recusancy laws prosecuted Catholic priests. He was fifty-eight years old.
He is said to have met his death with composure and even cheerfulness, consistent with the spirit he had maintained throughout his years of imprisonment and ministry.
Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe met his end through martyrdom on January 21, 1642, at Tyburn, London, hanged, drawn, and quartered for exercising his priestly ministry as a Benedictine monk on the English mission.
Significant events
- Born 1583 in Suffolk, England; raised Protestant; educated at Cambridge.
- Visited a Catholic prisoner intending to convert him; was converted himself.
- Entered the English College at Douai; eventually received as a Benedictine at Saint Gregory's, Douai.
- Ordained priest; sent on the English mission.
- Repeatedly arrested and imprisoned in London; ministered to prisoners during his imprisonments.
- Repeatedly banished; repeatedly returned to his ministry.
- Finally arrested c. 1641; tried and condemned to death.
- Martyred January 21, 1642 at Tyburn, London.
- Beatified December 15, 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
- Canonized October 25, 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: None
Death location: Tyburn, London, England
Notable location: Place of his execution (Tyburn (present-day Marble Arch area), London, England)
Notable location: Where he studied for the priesthood (English College at Douai) (Douai, Nord, France)
Notable location: Where he was repeatedly imprisoned for his ministry (Fleet Prison and other London prisons)
Notable location:
Notable location:
Dynamic content
Parishes
No parishes dedicated to Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe have been added to the database yet.
Media
No media found for this saint.
Shrines
Dynamic shrines
No results
No shrines where this saint is the primary saint.
List of shrines
Tyburn Convent, Hyde Park Place, London, England
- Tyburn Convent (officially the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre) is a convent of contemplative nuns established in 1901 at the site of the Tyburn gallows, where numerous Catholic martyrs including Alban Bartholomew Roe were executed. The convent maintains a shrine to the Tyburn Martyrs and a crypt containing relics of the martyrs. It is one of the principal pilgrimage sites for devotion to the English Martyrs in London.
- Pilgrimage details: 8 Hyde Park Place, London W2 2LJ, England. Open to visitors for guided tours daily (check website for times). Diocese: Diocese of Westminster.
- Facts: Tyburn was the principal place of execution for London and Middlesex from medieval times until 1783; over the course of the English Reformation, approximately 105 Catholics were executed at Tyburn, many of them for the crime of being Catholic priests.
Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England
- Downside Abbey is the principal house of the English Benedictine Congregation in England, successor to the monastery at Douai where Alban Bartholomew Roe made his monastic profession. The abbey's museum and library preserve materials connected with the English Benedictine martyrs.
- Pilgrimage details: Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Radstock, Somerset BA3 4RH, England. Diocese: Diocese of Clifton.
- Facts: The English Benedictine Congregation, to which Alban Bartholomew Roe belonged, produced ten canonized martyrs from its members during the period of the English Reformation.
Canonization
Servant of God
The cause of Alban Bartholomew Roe was part of the group cause for the Martyrs of England and Wales.
Venerable
Alban Bartholomew Roe was declared Venerable as part of the group process for the English Martyrs.
Beatification
Alban Bartholomew Roe was beatified on December 15, 1929, by Pope Pius XI.
Canonization
Alban Bartholomew Roe was canonized on October 25, 1970, by Pope Paul VI, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Miracles
Miracle for beatification
Miracles were confirmed through the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in preparation for the beatification of 1929.
Miracle for canonization
Miracles were confirmed through the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as part of the group canonization of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.
Patronage
Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe is venerated collectively with the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Feast day
January 21
Veneration
Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast day on January 21. He is especially honored in England and within the English Benedictine Congregation, where he is remembered as one of the greatest of the Benedictine martyrs of the English Reformation. His feast is celebrated in the Diocese of Westminster and throughout the Church of England and Wales. He is depicted in Benedictine habit holding a palm branch or in priestly vestments.
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.
Books
Written about the saint
Written by the saint
- Letters written during his imprisonments survive in fragmentary form in the archives of the English Benedictine Congregation.