Gospel in Art: Feast of The English Martyrs

The Martyr's Picture, by Durante Alberti, 1581 © The Venerable English College, Rome

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 4 May 2026
Matthew 10:17-22

At that time: Jesus instructed his Apostles: 'Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.'

Reflection on the painting

Today we celebrate the Feast of the English Martyrs. Our painting, The Martyrs' Picture, was painted in 1583 by Durante Alberti, shortly after the foundation of the Venerable English College in 1579, where the work still hangs today. It presents the Blessed Trinity above, with two great English martyrs below: Saint Thomas of Canterbury (on the left) and Saint Edmund, King of East Anglia (on the right). At the centre, a burst of divine light radiates behind God the Father, marked by a triangular halo, a symbol of the Trinity, more commonly seen in later Eastern iconography, sometimes bearing the inscription HO ON ("The One Who Is"). Christ, with arms outstretched, is held by the Father. His wounds pour blood down onto a map of the British Isles, a striking image of grace flowing into a land where so many martyrs shed their own blood, as Catholic priests were persecuted and put to death for their faith. Above, a cherub lifts the College motto: Ignem veni mittere in terram - "I have come to cast fire upon the earth." Tradition tells us that students would gather before this image to sing the Te Deum whenever news arrived that a former student had been martyred back in England. Forty-four of those alumni have since been recognised as saints.

This painting belongs to a wider moment in the Church's history, shaped by the reforms following the Council of Trent under Pope Gregory XIII. At a time when Catholics in England and Wales could no longer train for the priesthood at home, seminaries like the English College in Rome became lifelines; places where young men were formed in faith, knowing full well that returning home might cost them their lives. Originally a hospice for pilgrims, the building was soon transformed into a seminary under Jesuit care, sending priests back into a hostile environment where fidelity to the Catholic faith was often met with persecution and death. The painting is therefore not simply decorative: it is formative, a visual reminder of the cost of discipleship and the fire of mission.

The martyrs we honour today gave their lives in witness to Christ, living the words of the Gospel with the Spirit of the Father speaking through them. For many of us, the idea of laying down our lives for the faith feels distant. And yet, their witness is not confined to history. Even today, across the world, there are Christians who suffer and die quietly for their faith, unseen and unheard. They are the hidden martyrs of our own time. When Pope Paul VI canonised the English Martyrs in 1970, he recalled the words of Tertullian:

"The blood of Christians is the seed that is sown as it was with the shedding of Christ's own blood, so it is with the sacrificial offering of her Martyrs in union with His: a source of life and of spiritual fecundity for the Church and the entire world."

LINKS

Christian Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reading: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-10-17-22-2026/