Ambrose Barlow
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| Ambrose Edward Barlow | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1585, Barlow Hall, near Manchester, England |
| Died | 10 September 1641, Lancaster, England |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 15 December 1929, Rome by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | 25 October 1970, Rome by Pope Paul VI, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales |
| Feast | ; 25 October (as part of the 40 Martyrs) |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Ambrose (Edward) Barlow (1585 – September 10, 1641), was a Catholic priest and martyr.
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[edit] Early life and education
Barlow was born in Barlow Hall near Manchester, the fourth son of Sir Alexander Barlow, knight, of Barlow Hall, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Uryan Brereton, knight, of Handforth Hall, Cheshire. He was baptized at Didsbury church on 30 November 1585. Until 1607 he adhered to the Anglican church, but then turned to the Catholic church. Barlow was educated at the Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory in Douai, France, and entered the English College in Valladolid, Spain, on September 20, 1610. He later returned to Douai where his elder brother (William) Rudesind Barlow was a professed monk. Barlow also professed in 1614 and was ordained a priest in 1617.
[edit] Mission and Martyrdom
After his ordination to the priesthood in Douai, Barlow was sent to England on the mission in South Lancashire. He resided chiefly at Wardley Hall, the seat of the Downe family, near Manchester, and at Morley's Hall, a mansion of the Tyldesley family, in the parish of Leigh, approximately seven miles from Manchester. Pursued by anti-Catholic mobs and Anglican officials, Barlow was imprisoned at least five times for his proselytization. He was caught for the fifth and final time on Easter Sunday, 25 April 1641 and was arrested by the Vicar of Eccles. He was paraded at the head of his parishioners, dressed in his surplice, and was followed by some 400 men armed with clubs and swords. Although he had been preaching at the time of his apprehension, and could possibly have escaped in the confusion, he voluntarily yielded himself to his enemies. He was taken to Lancaster Castle and, after four months' imprisonment, was tried on September 6th or 7th, and sentenced the following day after confessing to being a Catholic priest. On Friday September 10 he was hung, drawn and quartered at Lancaster.
[edit] Hagiography and Relics
Challoner (see below) compiled Barlow's biography from two manuscripts belonging to St Gregory's Monastery, one of which was written by his brother Dom Rudesind Barlow, President of the Anglo-Benedictine Congregation. A third manuscript, entitled "The Apostolical Life of Ambrose Barlow", was written by one of his pupils for Dom Rudesind, and is presently in the Library of Owen's College in Manchester; it has been printed by the Chetham Society. There also exist two portraits of Barlow and one of his father, Sir Alexander. Many of his relics are also preserved, a hand being at Stanbrook Abbey near Worcester and his skull in Wardley Hall.
In 1970 Ambrose Barlow was canonized by Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, whose feast day is 10 October.
[edit] Sources
(in 1913)
- Allanson, Biographical MSS. (preserved at Ampleforth Abbey), I
- Joseph Gillow, Bibliographical Dictionary Eng. Cath. (London, 1885)
- Fletcher Moss, Pilgrimages to Old Homes (Didsbury, 1903)
- idem, History of Didsbury (Manchester)
- idem, Chronicles of Cheadle, Cheshire (Didsbury, 1894)
- Dodd, Church History of England (Brussels, 1739).
(modern)
- Butler's Lives of the Saints, ix (revised ed, 2000)
- Camm, B., Nine Martyr Monks (1931)
- Challoner, R. (ed J.H. Pollen), Memoirs of Missionary Priests (1924)
- New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967)
- Rhodes, W.E. (ed), The Apostolical Life of Ambrose Barlow (Chetham Society, 1909)
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
