Bl. Thomas Plumtree was martyred in Durham on 4th January, 1572. He was offered his freedom if on the condition that he renounce his Catholicism, but refused, and is buried in the marketplace.I’m slightly peeved to have lived in Durham for three years and to have been oblivious to the fact, but I hadn’t been received into the Faith at the time. But such is life – I have travelled very widely, and reached a sort of “all is vanity” position on it all, as I only really took in anything that mattered after learning to see things through a Catholic lens.
Bl. Thomas was a scholar at Corpus Christi, Oxford, and in 1546 was made Rector of Stubton. He resigned his position after the state religion was changed under Elizabeth I, and became a schoolmaster at Lincoln, but was also obliged to resign that post on account of his faith.
Bl. Thomas became the chaplain to the army of the Northern Rising - or Pilgrimage of Grace - of 1569, under the Dukes of Northumberland and Westmoreland. He is thought to have been the last priest to celebrate a public Catholic Mass in Durham Cathedral, when it briefly returned to the old Faith.
6 comments:
I was interested to read your blog about Thomas Plumtree, a courageous man of faith in cruel times. However, I want to assure you that he was not the last to celebrate 'public mass' in the Cathedral - it continues to be celebrated every day according to the Anglican rite. We continue to pray for union between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches out of recognition of our common baptism into Christ.
Epiphany greetings
Michael Sadgrove
Dean
Fair enough, Michael; mine was a provocative choice of words, which were chosen in a moment of bravado. I am united with you in your prayers, but would hold that while any rite may profess to celebrate the Mass, the Mass is not valid under every rite.
But actually, I'm sorry for offending you, Michael. I'll change "public Mass" to "public Catholic Mass". I hope that you continue to enjoy reading my blog.
Michael,I understand that it is a delicate area but I trust that you would wish relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion to be marked by honesty. It was only a few years ago that the then Cardinal Ratzinger drew attention to the continuing validity for Catholics of the teaching of Apostolicae Curae. While we respect your different opinion on the matter, for Catholics, Anglicans orders are invalid until proven otherwise.
This is one reason why men such as Thomas Plumtree felt the need to risk their lives to maintain the Catholic faith.
I too lived in Durham for three years, was an am a Catholic and didn't know all that, so thank you very much for informing me.
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