JESUIT AND ONE OF THE 40 MARTYRS OF ENGLAND 

Born in Norfolk in 1558, he was the eldest son of Christopher whose wife, Margaret, was an heiress. 

Educated at Norwich School and then Cambridge, he drew the suspicions of local spies, always on the lookout for those daring to practice Catholicism, because he often was seen meeting with members of Catholics whose families had never renounced their Catholic faith. 

Henry secretly published a small book of poetry honoring Fr. Edmund Campion, a Jesuit Priest and martyr. Though they didn’t initially find Henry, local authorities found the printer, cut off his ears, and fined him. 

He then fled to Paris and began the journey to become a Jesuit priest. He was ordained a Deacon in 1588 and was sent to serve English and Irish refugees who had fled to the Netherlands. There, he was captured by the English and tortured before being ransomed by his brother, Michael, and his Jesuit superiors. 

But he was captured again, sent to York Castle, and then transferred to The Tower of London by the infamous priest hunter Richard Topcliff. 

After severe torture, he was condemned to death for being a priest, along with Fr. Alexander Rawlins. 

He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on this day in 1595. 

St. Henry Walpole, please pray for us.