Saint Edmund Arrowsmith, born Brian Arrowsmith, but preferred his confirmation name Edmund was a Jesuit martyr. His family suffered steadfastly for their Catholic faith through the anti-Catholic period in England. His parents were arrested when Edmund was a child. He never saw them again. In 1605, he left England and became a priest in Douai, Belgium, and returned in 1612 to serve for 15 years in Lancashire. In 1622, he was arrested for being a priest, only to be pardoned by King James I. He became a Jesuit after he completed the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in 1624. Once again he was betrayed as a priest in 1628 and hanged and quartered. His last words were, “Bone Jesu” (O good Jesus). He’s one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.
