THE SHIELD OF TRUTH

Reading for 8th July from "Mementoes of the Martyrs", Burns and Oates 1961, which every anglophone Catholic gentleman should have by his bed or board.

ADRIAN FORTESCUE (fort escu - strong shield) was born of an old Devon family in 1476. He served in the French campaign of 1513 with the young King Henry VIII, and became attached to Henry's court. He served again in France in 1523, and assisted at the coronation of Anne Boleyn, his first cousin, for the pope had not yet declared Katherine's marriage valid. But the oath of supremacy in 1535 opened his eyes to Henry's pretensions. Adrian had always been true to his faith (he was a knight of St John of Jerusalem and a Dominican tertiary), and early in 1539 he was sent to the Tower. He was then attainted by Parliament, and on July 9 of the same year beheaded on Tower Hill. The knights of his order have always revered him as a martyr, and his picture is in the church of St John at Valletta in Malta, with the martyr's palm.

Blessed Adrian, pray for us