February 4 -- St Gilbert of Sempringham

Today is the feast of St Gilbert of Sempringham in some of the English calendars. He is the founder of the only English religious order to come out of the middle ages. He never really intended to found an order. He originally gathered a group of women to be enclosed nuns and looked for some priests to look after them. When St Bernard refused to take them under the care of the Cistercians, he founded an order of canons regular to do so.

The good old Catholic Encyclopædia has a short life of St Gilbert here.

And as long as we're mentioning English saints, today is also the feast of St John Stone who was martyred on this day in 1539. He denied that Henry VIII could be head of the church or married to Anne Boleyn while his first wife still lived.

"Behold I close my apostolate in my blood, In my death I shall find life, for I die for a holy cause, the defence of the Church of God, infallible and immaculate" he said as the executioners prepared to do their work. Stone was hanged, drawn and quartered. . . .

His life can be found here.