Ralph Sherwin, Saint

One of three Catholic priests who were martyred at the Triple Tyburn Gallows in London 1581, Fr Ralph Sherwin was just 31 years old when he stepped up to give his life in the wake of St Edmund Campion’s heroic death. Fr Campion, Fr Alexander Briant and Fr Ralph Sherwin had served Catholics in Elizabethan England by offering the illegal Mass, hearing Confessions, administering the outlawed Sacraments, Catechising and declaring loyalty to the Pope and the ancient Faith of England’s forefathers while hunted by the Queens priest catchers and vowing to keep alive the ancient Catholic Faith in the Dowry of Mary. Fr Ralph Sherwin had been educated at Eton and Exeter College. His father was a Marian priest who guided Ralph to Our Lady and the Catholic Faith. After his conversion, St Ralph journeyed to Douai and then the English college in Rome. He studied for the priesthood and vowed to return to England to bring the outlawed Catholic Faith back to the people during the persecutions of the Catholic Church under Queen Elizabeth I and her government. He entered the country with Fr Campion and his friend John Paschal. After a successful mission he was eventually arrested, tortured and tried for Treason. His love was for the Faith, for England and the Pope and he boldly declared so as he stood beneath the gallows having kissed the hands of the executioner, bloodied with Campion’s sacrifice. He is a Catholic Saint and Martyr. In this new film by Mary’s Dowry Productions, Saint Ralph Sherwin tells us his story, mission and sacrifice for the Catholic Faith in a witness relevant for today.