Margaret Clitherow

Margaret Clitherow was born around 1556 in York, England, the youngest child of Thomas and Jane Middleton. In 1571 she married John Clitherow, a prosperous butcher and city chamberlain, and together they raised a family in the heart of York. Three years into her marriage, Margaret embraced the Catholic faith at a time when doing so invited suspicion, fines, and imprisonment. Though her husband remained in the Established Church, he supported her, even paying penalties for her refusal to attend Anglican services. Margaret’s love for Christ and His Church soon took a courageous shape: she sheltered persecuted priests and helped provide places where Mass could be offered in secret. Her home became a vital refuge for the hunted clergy of northern England, and she even sent her eldest son abroad to train for the priesthood. Arrested in 1586 for harboring priests, Margaret refused to plead, protecting others from torture and her children from being forced to testify. She was crushed to death on March 25, 1586—Lady Day—later honored as “the Pearl of York,” and canonized among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Her feast day is March 25.