St John Houghton was a Carthusian hermit, serving as a Catholic priest and the first Catholic Martyr whose death was as a result of the act of supremacy, through king Henry VIII of England. He was also the first of his order to die as a Martyr.
St John Houghton brief life History |
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Date of Birth | 1487 AD |
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Country of Birth | The United Kingdom in Europe |
Profession | Carthusian hermit and Catholic priest |
Place of Work | England |
Date of Death | 4 May 1535 |
Place of Death | Tyburn, London, England |
Feast Day | October 25 |
Beatification | By Pope Leo XIII on 9 December 1886 |
Canonization | By Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970 |
Patron Saint of |
St John Houghton Life History
St John Houghton graduated from Cambridge with degrees in civil and canon law. Ordained in 1501 and served as a parish priest for four years.
Carthusian monk, doing his novitiate in the London Charterhouse and making his final vows in 1516. Prior to the Beauvale Carthusian Charterhouse in Northampton, England. Prior of the London Charterhouse.
In 1534 he was the first person to oppose King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy. Imprisoned with Blessed Humphrey Middlemore. When the oath was modified to include the phrase “in so far as the law of God permits”, John felt he could be loyal to Church and Crown; he and several of his monks signed the oath, though with misgivings. Father John was released, and a few days later, troops arrived at the chapter house and forced the remaining monks to sign the modified oath.
On 1 February 1535, Parliament required that the original, unmodified oath be signed by all. Following three days of prayer, Father John, with Saint Robert Lawrence and Saint Augustine Webster, contacted Thomas Cromwell to seek an exemption for themselves and their monks.
The group was immediately arrested and thrown in the Tower of London. True to his Carthusian vow of silence, John would not defend himself in court but refused to co-operate or sign anything. The jury could find no malice to the king, but when threatened with prosecution themselves, they found John and his co-defendants guilty of treason.
He became the first person Martyred under the Tudor persecutions, dying with Blessed John Haile and three others. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Today’s St John Houghton Feast Day Quote:
Saint John Houghton born in 1487 at Essex, England and died on 4 May 1535. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, London, England.
His body was chopped to pieces and put on display around London as an example to others.
St John Houghton Relics
As Catholic tradition potrays, when Saint John Houghton was about to be quartered, the executioner tore open his chest to remove his heart. He then prayed, “O Jesus, what would thou do with my heart?”.
The image of the Carthusian Protomartyr, by the draftsman of the religious figures, Francisco Zurbaran illustrates him with his heart in his hand and a noose around his neck. In the chapter house of St John Houghton’s Charterhouse, parkminster, in England, there is a painting depicting the martyrdom of the three priors.
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