Ego et Walli mei*

St John Roberts, whose feast day was on the 10th, is a saint I have a particular devotion to. His life connects to mine in so many different ways that he provides special inspiration for me. We were both born in the ancient Diocese of Bangor – though he was born in 1575 and I came into the world 400 years later. We became Catholics at a young age. He, like me, went to Valladolid to test a vocation to the priesthood. Both of us were attracted to the Benedictine ideal, and left the seminary – he followed what was a monastic vocation, I haven’t got that far, yet! He was one of the founders of the community, which is now Downside Abbey, and I have known a few of the community over the years. St John spent the latter part of his life in London, where I am now. His place of imprisonment is just round the corner from where my flat is. He was martyred at Tyburn – a place I often go to, seeking his prayers and help.

John Roberts was born into a Welsh family in Trawsfynydd. His parents were called John and Anna, and they seemed to have been the local landowners at Rhiw Goch^. In fact, it is possible that John was descended from Welsh nobility, and it is certain that he receiveded a good preliminary education. Indeed, it is thought that one of his early teachers was a former monk from the nearby Cymmer Abbey, and that this man instilled in him a sense of Catholic identity. John Roberts continued his studies at Oxford and then at one of the Inns of Court. It was after his studies, during a visit to Paris with a friend, that he decided to be reconciled to the old faith. Within a few years he risked all in order to study to become a priest for the home mission and, for this reason, entered the Royal English College at Valladolid in 1598.

John didn’t stay long in the College at Valladolid. In fact he’d left before the academic year was out. Whist living there I remember reading that St John Roberts had complained of the food on offer at the College, and cited this as one reason why he decided to leave. Another factor might have been his ever so slightly fractious relationship with the Rector - who would one day be a martyr-saint himself. In fact, the truth of the matter is that John felt a deep sense of vocation to the religious life, and to the monastic ideal in particular. Like so many other Welshmen the concepts of simplicity, silence, penance, and the holiness of the cloister held him captive. The Benedictine Abbey at Valladolid was relatively close to the College – one can walk there quite easily in less than half an hour**. So, having made up his mind, John entered the religious life there in 1599 – though moved to Santiago de Compostela to complete his noviciate. [As an aside, there is a wonderful portrait of St John Roberts hanging in the Royal English College at Valladolid. It is a powerful work of art, and had quite a mysterious grip on me whenever I walked past it – and it was such a great grace to be able to call on his prayers before this sacred image.]

After being ordained a priest on St Stephen’s Day, 1602, John Roberts returned to England and dedicated himself to covert missionary work. Some might think this was a bit of an odd thing for a professed Benedictine to do, yet, to a man familiar with the old British Saints of Wales (who were, on the whole, missionary hermit-monks), this form of monastic life seemed perfectly natural and necessary. He would have known that re-entering Britain to preach the Catholic truth would probably lead to a martyr’s crown. Not only would John have to contend with plague and poverty during his missionary work, but he also had to evade the tyrannical grasp of the Crown and its network of spies. On several occasions he was arrested and exiled – yet, back he came, to minister amongst the poor and persecuted Catholic population of London. During one of his banishments John became the first prior of the new English Benedictine foundation at Douai – it was this monastic community which was later to become the great Abbey of St Gregory’s at Downside (now famous both as a monastery and school).

Like so many other missionary priests of the time, St John constantly came back from exile to serve the people of this country – even in the face of death. In fact, it seemed that the prospect of martyrdom might have been a motivation for his persistent returns to England. Also, like others before and after him, including St John Southworth, he was kept for long periods as a prisoner at the Gatehouse in Westminster. This was the old prison attached to Westminster Abbey, and served as a semi-open prison where inmates could sometimes come and go. Many Catholic priests were kept at this place, and therefore ministered to the local community amongst the marshes and squalor of what was a very dangerous and criminal area of the city. In 1609, though, St John Roberts was arrested, having escaped from the Gatehouse, and placed in the hellish Newgate Prison. Thanks to the appeals of the French Ambassador he was spared death, and exiled to France where he returned to his beloved Benedictine community – before, of course, returning once more to preach the Gospel in Protestant England!

St John Roberts was finally arrested, celebrating Mass, on 2 December 1610. He was taken to Newgate still dressed in his vestments. He was unjustly tried within three days and was executed five days later, on 10 December 1610. He suffered the horrendous torment of being hanged, drawn and quartered – though, due to the affection of the crowd (who knew all about his pastoral care of the poor and dispossessed of Westminster), he was spared the more gruesome horrors of this punishment. The people at Tyburn that day, overcome with grief, remained silent at the execution - there was definitely no rejoicing, even in Protestant England, at the death of this Welsh Catholic hero. His body was taken back to his monastery, St Gregory’s in Douai, but was lost during the French Revolution – as happened to St John Southworth’s remains. John Southworth’s body, though, was rediscovered in the 1920s, and returned to Westminster Cathedral. All we have of St John Roberts are a few relics, which are mainly to be found at Downside Abbey, the Catholic Church at Gellilydan (Trawsfynydd), and Tyburn Convent.

Next year will be the 400th Anniversary of St John Roberts’ martyrdom, and celebrations began on his Feast Day this week. A special Mass was held in Dolgellau, led by the Bishop of Wrexham, Edwin Regan. A friend of mine was amongst the celebrants – a Welsh hermit-monk called Fr David Jones (who wrote the setting for the Mass, and has published poems on the Saint). In July 2010 a Solemn Mass will be celebrated at Westminster Cathedral – partly in Welsh – to commemorate St John Roberts, who spent so much of his time ministering to the people in that part of London. Apparently, it seems that both the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster, and the Mayor of London, will be at this event. My guess is, though, that one of the Welsh bishops will preach – maybe Rt Rev Edwin Regan? I really hope to be at this Mass – where, amongst other things, Lord Dafydd Ellis-Thomas will unveil a mosaic of St David. During this time there will also be a special Welsh pilgrimage to Tyburn!

St John Roberts, gweddia drosom ni!

* “I and my Welshmen,” the words of Dom Leander Jones – co-founder, with St John Roberts, of St Gregory’s Douai – to the Benedictine Abbot Caverel. He used this phrase to describe his monastic community.
^Rhiw Goch is the Welsh for Red Hill – what an appropriate name for the home of a future Martyr-Saint.
** This Abbey church no longer belongs to the Benedictines, but (I think) is now under the care of the Augustinians.

[Picture note: St John Roberts, from the painting at the Royal English College, Valladolid. Source: www.trawsfynydd.com]