St. Swithun Wells
Facts
Patron: Laymen; England; martyrs
Birth: c. 1536
Death: December 10, 1591
Canonized: Pope Paul VI
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Saint Swithun Wells was an English Catholic layman who sheltered priests and remained faithful during the persecution of Catholics after the Reformation. He and his wife, Saint Margaret Clitherow’s contemporaries, risked their lives to preserve the sacramental life of the Church.
Swithun was arrested and hanged at Tyburn in 1591 because he had assisted Catholic priests. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970 among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
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