The Postgate Society, an English group dedicated to spreading awareness of the life and deeds of Blessed Nicholas Postgate and other martyrs of the Reformation period, has celebrated its 50th annual “Postgate Rally.” The day drew some 700 Catholics to pray for the eventual canonization of these English Catholic martyrs.
According to the Catholic Herald, some 700 came out with folding chairs and blankets laid upon the grass despite it being a rainy day in Ugthorpe, near Whitby, Yorkshire. There, Cardinal Arthur Roche celebrated Mass and spoke on Blessed Nicholas Postgate, one of the last Catholics put to death for his faith during the 17th-century English persecution of Catholics.
Blessed Nicholas Postgate served the region of North York Moors for nearly five decades before he was arrested on charges of treason at 82. When given an opportunity to speak before his execution, he noted that his own age and frailty prevented him from making long speeches, so he would simply die for the faith he had devoted his life to.
His manner of execution – he was hanged, drawn, and quartered – was a particularly torturous method of killing that saw Blessed Nicholas disemboweled, and dismembered in four pieces, or quarters. It is the same way that William Wallace died, as portrayed in the popular film Braveheart.
Blessed Nicholas was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1987, along with 84 other martyrs of the period.
Shortcut to Heaven
In his homily, Cardinal Roche praised Blessed Nicholas Postgate for his humility and desire to live simply. The Cardinal noted that Blessed Nicholas had long suspected that the intolerance of the age would come for him, but he did not resist or flee, continuing his ministry until the end. In fact, when he was arrested, Blessed Nicholas was conducting a baptism.
“Nicholas did not condemn any of them.” Cardinal Roche explained, “Indeed, he died praying for them. A feature of his last days was that he greeted everyone with the open arms of charity and joked they had done him a great favor by giving him such a ‘shortcut’ to heaven.”
He went on to call Blessed Nicholas and the martyrs of England and Wales role models of courage who exemplified the notion of “taking the high road,” and he invited all in attendance to pray that Blessed Nicholas will one day be canonized, along with many other martyrs of his day.
“Blessed Nicholas, the great-grandfather of those of you in these parts who share the faith he lived and died for, whose legacy then is still with you today, remains with you. His faithfulness our model; his tenderness of soul our guide,” Cardinal Roche commented.
Read more about the 50th annual Postgate Rally at the Catholic Herald.
