Clitherow, Margaret, Blessed, Martyr

CLITHEROW, MARGARET, blessed, martyr. - Called “the Pearl of York,” she was born at York about 1552 to Thomas Middleton, a wax merchant and “sheriff” of York. Raised in heresy, she married in 1571 the well-to-do John C., a conformist Anglican, who had two Catholic brothers, one of them a priest. In 1574 M. C. came to know the Catholic faith and converted. Longing for martyrdom, she led a life of heroic penances and devoted herself to sheltering persecuted priests, providing them with places and means to celebrate Mass and to carry out the apostolate; she often went barefoot to the place where the martyrs of York had been executed from 1582 onward. Accused in 1586 of having sheltered priests and heard Mass, C. refused to defend herself in court for fear that those close to her might become responsible for her death through extorted testimonies. A twelve-year-old Flemish boy was so frightened that he revealed the chapel in which C. organized Eucharistic gatherings. On this invalid evidence, C. was killed by crushing on 25 March 1586. She was beatified on 15 Dec. 1929.