THE 19 MARTYRS OF GORCUM, HOLLAND July 9

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July 0⃣9⃣

_Martyrdom_ 🌟🌹

*THE 19 MARTYRS OF GORCUM, HOLLAND*

In the year 1572, the Protestant sects of Lutheranism & Calvinism had spread through a great part of northern Europe. In Holland Calvinism was victorious.

In June, 1572 A.D., Calvinist forces captured the town of Gorcum and arrested nine Franciscans priests & two Franciscan brothers, a Norbertine canon and three secular priest. These 15 prisoners were locked up at Gorcum from 26 June to 6 July 1572 A.D.

During their imprisonment, they were tortured, subjected to countless indignities, and were offered freedom if they would deny the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the primacy of the Pope.

The 15 prisoners were then transferred to Brielle, to be killed in the presence of a Protestant nobleman, Admiral William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey, who was noted for his hatred of Catholicism.

On the way a Dominican friar, a Norbertine canon & 2 secular priests were added, and all the 19 prisoners reached Brielle on 8 July, where they were exhibited for money to the curious crowds.

The following day, Admiral William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey, commander of the Gueux de mer, had them interrogated and ordered a disputation.

It was demanded of each that he abandon his belief in the Blessed Sacrament and in Papal supremacy. All remained firm in their faith. Hence on 9 July 1572 , they were hanged in a turf shed at Brielle. Their bodies, mutilated both before and after death, were callously thrown into a ditch.

A shrub bearing 19 white flowers sprung up at the site of the martyrdom. Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Gorcum martyrs, especially the curing of hernias.

The 19 martyrs of Gorcum were Beatified by Pope Clement X, on 14 November 1675, and they were Canonized by Pope Blessed Pius IX, on 29 June 1865. For many years the place of their martyrdom in Brielle has been the scene of numerous pilgrimages and processions.

The relics of the 19 martyrs were secretly conveyed from Holland in 1616 to the Franciscan friary in Belgium, which was later suppressed during the French Revolution in 1796, the relics were then moved and enshrined in the Church of Saint Nicholas at Brussels in Belgium; where the gilded bronze reliquary was created in 1870 for the relics.

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*Today we also commemorate the martyrdom of St. Zeno, the Roman military officer and 10,203 Catholic soldiers*, who refused to worship the pagan idols, hence they were arrested and forced to perform slave labor, building the immense Baths of Emperor Diocletian in Rome.

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Then by order of the pagan Roman Emperor Diocletian, they were all killed in the year 298, at the same place where St. Paul was beheaded, where now stands the famous Church of St. Paul at the three fountains.

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