The Communion
of Saints
In April 2026, Canon Adrian encouraged us to get to know the saints better and suggested we begin with the martyrs whose beautiful banners hang in our church. Here's a short introduction to these heroes of our faith.
St Edmund Campion
Priest and Martyr
The most famous of the English martyrs, St Edmund Campion (1540-1581) gave up a promising career at Oxford and an invitation to enter Queen Elizabeth's service in order to become a Catholic priest and join the dangerous mission to minister to the Catholics in England who greatly desired the sacraments.
He was captured by a spy and refused to renounce the Catholic faith under torture, he was executed on 1st December 1581 and his last act was to forgive those who murdered him.
St John Plessington
Priest and Martyr
Although he was born in Lancashire, St John exercised his ministry in Holywell, across North Wales and in Chester. He was ordained in Segovia in Spain and then returned to minister to recusant Catholic communities. Arrested during the 'Popish Plots' scare, he was hanged, drawn and quartered on 19th July 1679 at Boughton Cross, overlooking the River Dee at West Chester.
Remarkably, copies of the speech St John wrote ahead of his death are still available today.
St John Fisher
Bishop, Cardinal and Martyr
St John Fisher was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day. He was made Bishop of Rochester at 35 and was zealous in improving standards among the clergy and combatting heresy.
In 1521, Fisher was asked to study the question of King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He incurred Henry’s anger by defending the validity of the king’s marriage, and later by rejecting Henry’s claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England.
He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in May 1535. St John was beheaded on Tower Hill on 22 June 1535, the feast day of St Alban, proto-martyr of Britain.
St Richard Gwyn
Martyr
Born in Montgomeryshire around 1537, St Richard studied in Oxford and Cambridge, until he became a schoolmaster in the Wrexham area, gaining a reputation as a Welsh scholar. St Richard had six children by his wife Catherine.
For a time he conformed in religion, but was reconciled to the Catholic Church when seminary priests first came to Wales.
He was arrested more than once, and from 1579 he was kept in various prisons, underwent a number of trials, was tortured, and even forcibly carried to a Protestant service.
He was found guilty of treason in Wrexham. His life was offered him on condition that he acknowledge the queen as supreme head of the Church. He refused and was executed in Wrexham on 15th October 1584. His wife consoled and encouraged him to the last.
The Relic of St Richard Gwyn can be found at St Mary's Cathedral, Wrexham.
