Relics of St John Lloyd & St Philip Evans - Identified
Webmaster • April 23, 2021
Two skulls and a cluster of other bones discovered in 1878 in an attic in Holywell in Wales have been identified as the relics of two seventeenth century Welsh martyrs. Philip Evans SJ and Fr John Lloyd were hung, drawn and quartered near Cardiff in 1679 and are among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Dr Jan Graffius, curator of the Stonyhurst Collections at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, said: “To be able to say with a good degree of confidence, ‘this is who they are’, is very exciting.”

The Burial of Jesus In the past, a widow's hope is on her own children. But Jesus' Passion and Death meant Our Lady's 'only Son' was taken away from her. His Last Word: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ which made the most sorrowful Mother's whole body trembled in the bitter pain of her heart, still present and fresh in her ears whenever she thought on this cry. Watching Him buried in the cold tomb, how much tears she must have shredded when bidding her final farewell, and how many 'final glance' at her Son she would have took, to a point that she would willingly to be placed alive in the grave with Him! We can imagine this pain as if her heart was torn into pieces, and everything seemed to be lost... How many times had we or saw others vent anger on God during our sufferings? Or falling into depression due to the miseries in lives? But our dear Mother, although in inexpressible anguish, was in peace and had unshaken fortitude. Why? Because of her 'fiat', her total abandonment to God's Will, her perfect faith in the Almighty God. Since she knew that everything had happened according to His Will and could not have happened unless He had allowed it. So she thanked God for everything, thus within her sadness there was even some joy, because she saw that Jesus had, in his great love, wanted to suffer this much for the sins of mankind. Jesus' Sacrifice redeemed our souls and brought us our salvation. And Mary, also loves us so, united her sufferings with her Son's and took part in the Work of Salvation. Not only that, she kept this sorrow within her heart and remained on this earth to be a witness of God's Love for all until her Assumption. May this Lent be a time that we re-examine our relationship with God, a time of realisation of how much He has done for us, and a time to begin to tell our neighbours how much He Loves us! (Reference: The Prophecies and Revelations of St Bridget of Sweden)

The Archdiocese’s Safeguarding Team is working with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to deliver free ‘live’ online training sessions via TEAMS: 1) Professionals / Volunteers Protect (1 April 6-8pm) 2) Digital Resilience (11 June 6-8pm) 3) Understanding Harmful Sexual Behaviour (24 September 6-8pm) 4) Child sexual exploitation awareness (12 November 6-8pm) To book, please contact safeguarding@rcadc.org – stating which date and your name

Almighty ever-living God, who as an example of humility for the human race to follow caused our Saviour to take flesh and submit to the Cross, graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering and so merit a share in his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.