Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/83

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CLIMACUS


59


CLOGHER


by secular priests, is now in the hands of the Fathers of the Society of the Holy Ghost.

Catholic Directories (185(^-1907); Brady, Annals of the Catholic Hierarchy (1877).

Edwin Burton.

Climacus, John, Saint. See John Climacus,

S.\I^fT.

Climent, Jose, Spanish bishop, b. at Castellon de la Plana (Valencia), 17f)6; d. there 2.5 Nov., 1781. Dis- tinguished for his' rharities, educational cfTorts, elo- quence, and exempl.ary life, he studied and afterwards professed theology at the University of Valencia, laboured for several years as parish priest, and was consecrated Bishop of Barcelona in 1766; he resigned his see in 1775. His episcopal activity was directed to the founding of hospitals, the estab- lishing of free schools, and tlie diffusion of knowl- edge among the people by means of low-priced publications. He translated into Spanish several works, among them Fleury's "Moeurs dcs Israelites et des Chretiens". His pastoral instructions con- tributed largely to his fame. That of 1769, on the renewal of ecclesiastical studies, caused him to be de- nounced to the court of t'harles III for having eulo- gized the Church of Utreclit ; but a commission com- posed of archbishops, Ijishops. and heads of religious orders, appointed to examine his case, returned a decision favourable to the jirelatc. The sway he held over his people was shown by his success in quelling a dangerous uprising in Barcelona against military con- scription; but this only served still further to render him obnoxious to a suspicious court. He refused, on conscientious grounds, a promotion to the wealthy See of Malaga, and withdrew to his native place. His life was published in Barcelona in 178.5.

MlCHAUD, Biog. Univers. (Paris, 1843-66).

John H. Stapleton.

Clinical Baptism. See Baptism.

Clitherow, Margaret, Venerable, Martyr, called the "Pearl of York", b. about 1556; d. 25 March, 1586. She was a daughter of Thomas Middleton, Sheriff of York (1504-5), a wax-chandler; married John Clitherow, a wealthy butcher and a chamber- lain of the city, in St. Martin's church, Coney St., 8 July, 1571, and lived in the Shambles, a street still unaltered. Converted to the Faith about three years later, she became most fervent, continually risking her life by harbouring and maintaining priests, was fre- quently imprisoned, sometimes for two years at a time, yet never daunted, and was a model of all vir- tues. Though herhusband belonged to the Established Church, he had a brother a priest, and Margaret pro- vided two chambers, one adjoining her house and a second in another part of the city, where she kept priests hidden and had Mass continually celebrated through the thick of the persecution. Some of her priests were martyred, and Margaret who desired the same grace above all things, used to make secret pilgrimages by night to York Tyljurn to pray beneath the gibbet for this intention. Finally arrested on 10 March, 1586, she was committed to the castle. On 14 March, she was arraigned before Judges Clinch and Rhodes and several members of the Council of the North at the Y'ork assizes. Her indictment was that she had harboured priests, heard Mass, and the like ; but she refused to plead, since the only witnesses against her would be her own little children and ser- vants, whom she could not bear to involve in the guilt of her death. She was therefore condemned to the peine forle el dure, i. e. to be pressed to death. "(!od be thanked, I am not worthy of so good a death as this", she said. Although she was probably with child, this horrible sentence was carried out on Lady Day, 1586 (Good Friday according to New Style). She bad endured an agony of fear the previous night,


but was now calm, joyous, and smiling. She walked barefooted to the tolbooth on Ousebridge, for she had sent her hose and shoes to her daughter Anne, in token that she should follow in her steps. She had been tormented by the ministers and even now was urged to confess her crimes. " No, no, Mr. Sheriff, I die for the love of my Lord Jesu", she answered. She was laid on the ground, a sharp stone beneath her back, her hands stretched out in the form of a cross and bound to two posts. Then a door was placed upon her, which was weighted down till she was crushed to death. Her last words during an agony of fifteen minutes, were "Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! have mercy on me!" Her right hand is preserved at St. Mary's Convent, Y'ork, but the resting-place of her sacred body is not known. Her sons Henry and William became priests, and her daughter Anne a nun at St. Ursula's, Louvain. Her life, written by her confessor, John Mush, exists in two versions. The earlier has been edited by Father John Morris, S. J., in his "Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers", third scries (London, 1877). The later MS., now at Y'ork Convent, was published by W. Nicholson, of Thelwall Hall, Cheshire (London, Derby, 1849), with portrait: " Life and Death of Margaret Clitherow the martyr of York". It also contains the "History of Mrs. Margaret Ward and Mr-; Viine line, mrirtvrs". Challoner. .l/.i«, \: ■■,!■■■ 1 ..iMlcin. 1S7S);

GlLLOW, Bibl. Diet. <■: / ' I : n 1^^ , , I; MiLBURN,

A Marhir of York (I, i i " in . //,, ;•,„,/ ,,/ York (with

pnrtrait). (London, lyui.. a .li;uiia li> die iieiiedictinea of iStanbrook.

Bede Gamm.

Clogher, Diocese of (Clogherensis), a suffragan of Armagh, Ireland, which compriscstheCountyMona- ghan, almost the whole of Fermanagh, the southern portion of Tyrone, and parts of Donegal, Louth, and Cavan. It takes its name from Clogher, the seat of


the Prince of Oriel, with whose territory the old Dio- cese of Clogher was, practically sjieaking, coexten- sive. The see was foundetl by St. Patrick, who appointed one of his hou.schold. St. Macarten, as first bishoj). There does not seem to be any evidence that St. Patrick governed Clogher as a distinct diocese licfore taking up his residence at .\rinagh, as is stated by Joccl\ni. There is great difficulty in tracing the succession of bishops in Clogher, as indeed in every Irish diocese from the sixth to the eleventh century, on ac<'ownt of the confusion of the bishops with the aljbots of the monastic establishments; the difficulty is increased in Clogher in view of the diversity exist- ing lietween the lists a.s given in the Iri.sh Annals, and the " Register of Clogher". compiled by Patrick Culin, Bishop of Clogher (I519-:i4), and Roderick Ca,ssidy, archdeacon of the diocese. The "Register of Clo- gher" is of very little liistorical value.

In 1241 Henry III ordered that Clogher should be united to Armagh, on account of the poverty of both