St. Margaret Clitherow
Feast 03-26 · Canonized 1970
Patron of
About
Margaret Clitherow was born in York, England, around 1556. She converted to Catholicism in 1574, at a time when the faith was outlawed in England. She sheltered priests in her home and arranged for Mass to be celebrated secretly, risking her life to keep the faith alive in her city.
She was arrested in 1586 and refused to plead, to protect her children and her priest friends from being forced to testify. She was pressed to death under a heavy door on Good Friday, 1586.
Known as the Pearl of York, she was canonized in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Suggested prayer
O God, who gave St. Margaret Clitherow courage to be pressed to death rather than betray her priests and children, grant through her intercession that mothers and all who keep the faith in secret may stand firm. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
