Cardinal Arthur Roche by Catholic Church England and Wales / Flickr (Left), Blessed Nicholas Postgate (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // Cardinal Arthur Roche has called on English Catholics to pray for the canonization of martyrs from the Protestant Reformation, such as Blessed Nicholas Postgate.
According to the Catholic Herald, Cardinal Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, made this appeal during a homily at the 50th annual Postgate Rally in Ugthorpe, near Whitby, Yorkshire. More than 700 people were in attendance.
“Blessed Nicholas and our English and Welsh martyrs give us the courage not to lose our footing by taking the high road of indifference and superiority, but instead the track of life trodden by Christ that keeps us sane and close to reality,” Cardinal Roche said, according to the Herald.
Blessed Nicholas ministered for nearly 50 years on the North York Moors before being hanged, drawn, and quartered for his Faith in 1679 at the age of 82. He was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1987, one among hundreds of beatified martyrs from England and Wales who still await canonization.
In his homily, Cardinal Roche highlighted Blessed Nicholas’s humble life and enduring legacy, and said that he was an example for all Catholics to follow: “His faithfulness our model; his tenderness of soul our guide.”
He emphasized that Blessed Nicholas was aware that the intolerance of his time would eventually target him, yet he chose not to condemn the people who would kill him. Instead, he died praying for them.
Cardinal Roche encouraged the faithful to keep Nicholas’s memory alive, saying, “Let us call upon his intercession…. Keep asking God, through his intercession for the gift of that miraculous sign and do not rest until you get it!”
The Postgate Rally takes place annually. Its location alternates between Ugthorpe and Egton Bridge, two villages closely linked to Blessed Nicholas Postgate.
One of 27 priests to concelebrate the Mass, Cardinal Roche traveled from Rome for the Postgate Rally and stayed with Bishop Terry Drainey of Middlesbrough, the principal celebrant.
