Diocese of Aberdeen: Birthplace of St John Ogilvie to celebrate 50th Anniversary of his Canonisation

This weekend, October 17th, at 11am, the parish of St Thomas in Keith, Moray, will be marking the 50th anniversary of the Canonisation of St John Ogilvie (1580-1615). Local priests, deacons, and representatives of parishes in the Diocese of Aberdeen will attend the Diocesan Mass. Fr Colin Stewart, Dean of the St John Ogilvie Deanery, who was a seminarian in Rome at the time of the Canonisation, will preach.

St John Ogilvie is Scotland's only post-Reformation saint. The first son of Walter Ogilvie, Baron of Drum-na-Keith, he was born in the present-day parish of Keith. His paternal grandfather had been treasurer to Mary Queen of Scots. By the time John was born, his family was (largely) Calvinist.

As a teenager, he was sent to France to study. Starting to doubt his family's faith, he later described what he went through: 'His soul became sick with anxiety and interior doubts, for he could not tell the true religion…The more he thought, the more confused the issue became'. He converted to Catholicism in 1596 at the age of 17, joining the Jesuit order in 1599 and becoming a priest in 1610, aged 31.

However, Scotland still held his heart, and the great lack of priests in the country fortified his desire to return home to support Catholics who had to worship in secret. Within a year of his return, he was betrayed. Months of imprisonment and torture followed. However, in his great charity, he never revealed any of the Catholics he ministered to. John never denied the royal authority of the King and declared that he would "die in defence of the King's civil authority, but he could not obey him on spiritual matters". Thus, remaining loyal to Rome. He was hanged in Glasgow on March 10th, 1615, for defending religious freedom.

In 1929, John was declared a blessed Pope Pius XI. After the miraculous healing of a dock worker from Glasgow named John Fagan, who was dying of stomach cancer, he was canonised by Pope Paul VI on October 17th, 1976. A large contingent from Scotland, including a small group from Keith, flew out to Rome for the occasion. This very special event is recalled in Keith this Saturday by celebration a Mass in his honour. Furthermore, parishioner and retired journalist Michael Collins, whose father attended the Canonisation, will give a talk to remember the pilgrims and, for many, an event of a lifetime.

LINK

Parish of St Thomas in Keith: https://stthomaskeith.com/