Saint Margaret Clitherow - March 25
Also known as
Margaret Clitheroe
Margaret Middleton
Margarita Clitherow
Margherita Clitherow
Marguerite Clitherow
one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
the Pearl of York
Memorial
25 March
25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Profile
Daughter of Thomas and Jane Middleton, a candle maker and the Sheriff of York for two years. Raised Anglican. Married to John Clitherow, wealthy butcher and chamberlain of the city of York, on 8 July 1571. Converted to Catholicism around 1574. Imprisoned several times for her conversion, for sheltering priests (including her husband’s brother), and for permitting clandestine Masses to be celebrated on her property. During her trial in Tyburn, London, England on 14 March 1586, she refused to answer any of the charges for fear of incriminating her servents and children; both her sons became priests, her daughter a nun.
Born
1556 at York, England as Margaret Middleton
Died
pressed to death on Good Friday, 25 March 1586 at York, England
right hand preserved at Saint Mary’s Convent, York
Venerated
8 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI (decree of martyrdom)
Beatified
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
Patronage
businesswomen
converts
martyrs
Representation
Elizabethan housewife kneeling or standing on a heavy wooden door