Blessed John Forest
Also known as: John Forrest
Feast Day
22 May; 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University
Born
1471 at Oxford, England
Died
Hanged and burned to death on 22 May 1538 at Smithfield, England; a wooden statue of Saint Derfel, taken from a local church, was used in the fire, supposedly fulfilling a local prophecy that the statue’s burning would destroy a forest; John’s relics may still be in hiding in Smithfield
Beatified
29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII
Biography
Blessed John Forest, also known as John Forrest, was born in 1471 in Oxford, England. As a young man, he joined the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance at Greenwich, England, in his late teens, dedicating his life to the Franciscan order. He went on to study theology at the Franciscan College at Oxford, earning the title of "Doctor," although records of his degree have not survived.
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