Blessed William Spenser

Blessed William Spenser was raised in an Anglican family. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, England, but left in 1580 and entered the Catholic Church in 1582. He then studied at the seminary in Rheims, France, and was ordained a priest for the apostolic vicariate of England on September 24, 1583. Father William returned to England to minister secretly to persecuted Catholics during the Reformation. His priestly work was carried out at great personal risk, as Catholic clergy faced arrest and execution under English law. He was eventually captured, tried, and martyred for the crime of being a Catholic priest in England.