Saint David Lewis SJ Martyred at Usk 1678

Description

Known as the Father of the Poor, St David Lewis was loved throughout Monmouthshire by Catholics and Protestants alike..Born in 1616 the son of Abergavenny headmaster, Morgan Lewis. A qualified lawyer, he had pity on the Catholics suffering under draconian penal laws, converted to Catholicism and returned as a priest, His main mission was to the poor and priest to Llantarnam Abbey, Abergavenny Gunter House and various inns. He fell victim to the political strictures at the time of Puritans attacking the Earl of Worcester , who used the 'Popish Plot' fabrication to kill elderly Catholic priests like Father David and Fr John Kemble (over eighty years of age) and their curates. The perpetrator of the plot Titus Oates was discovered as a perjurer and liar and jailed for life a few days later, but 120 priests and 80 noble persons loyal to the crown were hung drawn and quartered in this disgusting deceit. On the Sunday closest to 27th August at 3pm (the time reputedly of Christ's crucifixion) a Mass is held at St Francis Xavier and St David Lewis' Church in Usk by hundreds of people, and a procession leaves for the old priory church of St Mary, where he is buried and remembered. Fresh flowers appear on his grave every day.