MARTYR HONOURED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 171, 3 May 1930, Page 5

MARTYR HONOURED

BURIAL IN LONDON.

IN WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL. FIRST TX THE EDIFICE. (United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Dav, 9.15 a.m.) LONDON, May 2. The first martyr buried at Westminster Cathedral is John Southworth, a Jesuit who was executed at Tyburn, where he was hanged, beheaded and quartered in 1654 under the orders of Oliver Cromwell. It may be said to be a home-coming, as Southworth was known as the parish priest of Westminster, where he worked for years among the poor during the outbreak of the plague, anointing many infected people. v The Earl of Arundel secured portions of the martyr’s body and placed them in a leaden coffin, which was taken, to Donai Seminary; where Southworth was educated. The coffin was re-dis-covered in 1927, when X-rays, revealing the scars of martyrdom, established the identification of the remains. To-day tliqusands assembled at the Cathedral, where there were hung banners showing the martyrdom. The body, arrayed in the red vestments of a martyr, was placed in a glass-sided teak casket, with the face covered, and was carried on the shoulders of priests to the chapel of St. George, Cardinal Bourne following. An immense crowd subsequently thronged the chapel, hoping to touch the casket with scapulars and rosaries. —“The Times” Cables.