English Roman Catholic saint
Saint
Ralph Sherwin
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Born
| 25 October 1550
Rodsley
,
Derbyshire
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Died
| 1 December 1581 (aged 31)
Tyburn
,
London
,
England
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Venerated in
| Roman Catholic Church
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Beatified
| 29 December 1886,
Rome
by
Pope Leo XIII
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Canonized
| 25 October 1970,
Rome
by
Pope Paul VI
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Feast
| 1 December (individual with his two companions)
25 October (collectively with
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
)
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Attributes
| Banner with his last words
Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus!
, noose in neck, martyr's palm, shackles in ankles, book or bible
[
citation needed
]
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Ralph Sherwin
(25 October 1550 – 1 December 1581) was an English
Roman Catholic
priest, executed in 1581. He is a Catholic
martyr
and
saint
.
Early years and education
[
edit
]
Sherwin was born at
Rodsley
,
Derbyshire
to John and Constance Sherwin and christened in Longford church. He was educated at Eton College. In 1568, he was nominated by Sir
William Petre
to one of the eight
fellowships
which he had founded at
Exeter College, Oxford
,
[1]
probably influenced by Sherwin's uncle, John Woodward, who from 1556 to 1566 had been
rector
of
Ingatestone
,
Essex
, where Petre lived. A talented
classical
scholar, Sherwin obtained his
Bachelor of Arts
in 1571 and
Master of Arts
on 2 July 1574, and the following year converted to
Roman Catholicism
. He soon made for the English College at
Douai
, where he was ordained a priest by the
Bishop of Cambrai
on 23 March 1577. On 2 August 1577, he left for
Rome
, where he stayed at the
English College, Rome
for nearly three years.
[2]
On 18 April 1580, Sherwin and thirteen companions left Rome for England as missionaries. He got into England in early August and started his successful ministry in different parts of the country but not for long.
[3]
Prison and death
[
edit
]
On 9 November 1580, he was arrested while preaching in the house of Nicholas Roscarrock in
London
and imprisoned in the
Marshalsea
, where he converted many fellow prisoners, and on 4 December was transferred to the
Tower of London
, where he was tortured on the rack and then laid out in the snow. Later he was put into an isolation cell, without food. He is said to have been personally offered a
bishopric
by
Elizabeth I
if he converted, but refused.
[1]
After spending a year in prison he was finally brought to trial with
Edmund Campion
on a charge of treasonable conspiracy. He was convicted in
Westminster Hall
on 20 November 1581. Eleven days later he was taken to
Tyburn
on a hurdle along with
Alexander Briant
and
Edmund Campion
, where the three martyrs were
hanged, drawn and quartered
. On the scaffold Ralph Sherwin again "professed his innocence, proclaimed his Catholic faith, and prayed for the Queen". Sherwin's last words were
"Iesu, Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi Iesus!"
[4]
Veneration
[
edit
]
Sherwin was the first member of the English College in Rome to be martyred. During the years 1581?1681 over forty more students were martyred for their faith. He was
beatified
on 29 December 1886 by
Pope Leo XIII
.
[5]
[6]
He was
canonised
on 25 October 1970 by
Pope Paul VI
as one of the
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
with a common
feast day
of 25 October. His individual feast day is celebrated on 1 December, the day of his martyrdom.
[7]
A Catholic church in the
Chellaston
area of Derby, registered in January 1981, was dedicated to Ralph Sherwin.
[8]
The church was demolished in 2018 to make space for a Lidl supermarket.
There is a Sherwin Football Club based in the Normanton area of Derby. Founded in 1973, the club provides football and social opportunities for all ages and both genders in the local community. The club colours are purple with yellow trim.
[9]
Notes
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
- "Blessed Ralph Sherwin"
in
Lives of the English Martyrs Declared Blessed by Pope Leo XIII
by Edward S. Keogh, Dom Bede Camm. Vol. 2 (1905). (Vol. 1 has list of 63 martyrs and beatification decrees in English).
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