Henry Heath

Henry Heath, known in religion as Paul of St. Magdalene, was an English Franciscan priest executed for his priesthood in the mid-seventeenth century. He was born in 1599 at Peterborough in Northamptonshire, the son of John Heath, and was raised in the Church of England. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where even as a Protestant he was remarked for seriousness of life. Reading of the Church Fathers and other Catholic authors led him to enter the Catholic Church. He then left England for the English College at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands.

In 1624 he joined the Recollect Franciscans at Douai and received the name Paul of St. Magdalene. After profession and ordination he taught theology in the community and later served as its guardian. He was known for austerity, prolonged prayer, and devotion to the Passion, and he repeatedly sought permission to return to England both to serve recusant Catholics and, if it were God’s will, to suffer for the faith.

That permission was granted in 1641. Heath crossed secretly to England and reached London, but was arrested not long after his arrival. He was held in Newgate Prison, where he continued to minister to fellow Catholic prisoners. He was tried under the Elizabethan statute that made it high treason for a priest ordained abroad to enter the realm, was condemned, and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

On 17 April 1643 he was taken to the gallows at Tyburn. Contemporary notices describe him as meeting death with composure, praying for the king and for those who executed him. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929 among a large group of English and Welsh martyrs of the Reformation period. He has not been canonized. His memorial is kept on 17 April.