Edmund Arrowsmith

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Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585 – 1628) is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Edmund was the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a farmer, and was born at Haydock, Lancashire, England. He was baptized Brian, but always used his Confirmation name of Edmund. The family was constantly harassed for its adherence to Roman Catholism, and in 1605 Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. He was forced to quit due to ill health.

He was ordained in 1611 and sent on the English mission the following year. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until about 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Protestant bishop of Chester. Edmund was released when King James I of England ordered all arrested priests be freed, joined the Jesuits in 1624 and in 1628 was arrested when betrayed by a young man, the son of the landlord of the Blue Anchor Inn in south Lancashire, who he had censured for an incestuous marriage. He was convicted of being a Catholic priest, sentenced to death, and hanged, drawn and quartered at Lancaster on August 28th 1628. His final confession was heard by St John Southworth, who was being held for his beliefs with Edmund.

Edmund Arrowsmith ministered to Catholics of Lancashire, before being arrested and questioned, at the still standing Wallcroft Farmhouse located in Chorley, Lancashire. His hand is preserved as a relic in Saint Oswald's Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield, England. His beatification occurred in 1929 and he was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970. His feast day is August 28.