We heard a little bit about Saint Cuthbert Mayne back in October when he was celebrated along with the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. It was becuase of them we have the Christmas song "Twelve Days of Christmas."
Saint Cuthbert Mayne was born in 1544 and raised protestant by his uncle and he was ordained a protestant minister at age 19. He converted to Catholicism in 1570 when he was a graduate student at Saint John's College, Oxford. He was then ordained a Catholic priest in Douai, France--he was the first Englishman trained there. After his ordination he went back to England in 1575 with Saint John Payne to minister to convert Catholics in Cornwall. A year later he was arrested and condemned to death for the crime of being a priest. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on November 25, 1577. His relics are at the Carmelite convent in Cornwall, England. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970 with the other martyrs of England.
Today, during
the first week of Advent, I am reminded of all the catechumens and candidates in our Diocese and across the country who were welcomed to the Catholic Church today by way of the Rite of Acceptance and Welcoming. Let us pray to Saint Cuthbert for these individuals and their families.
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