2 martyred Catholic priests – Blessed William Marsden and Blessed Robert Anderton – were commemorated at St Thomas of Canterbury church on Tuesday (29th April).
Blessed William Marsden together with Blessed Robert Anderton were executed for their Catholic Faith at (or near) Cowes on 25th April, 1586.
The pair were ordained as Catholic priests abroad but were betrayed and captured at Cowes when their ship took shelter in a storm and subsequently executed as a warning to the people that this was to be the fate of those ordained priests abroad and anyone who aided them.
Fr. Jonathan Redvers Harris (parish priest of St. Thomas’s, Cowes) welcomed Kenneth Marsden, an 82-year-old descendant of William Marsden, to the ceremony at Cowes a few days after the martyrs’ anniversary.
Kenneth was accompanied by members of the Veterans and Community Gallery – a registered Charity based in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. They help service veterans and those in the wider community by getting them engaged in a variety of art and culture projects to improve health, wellbeing and the quality of life.
After attending Mass in St. Thomas of Canterbury church, they processed outside to the Island martyrs’ memorial, where prayers were led by Fr. Jonathan. These two martyrs were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929 ,and this memorial was erected and blessed in July, 2003.
Members of the V.C. Gallery were delighted to be present and to support their colleague, Kenneth Marsden. They were full of tales on their various life experiences, which they shared over lunch in the church hall.
