9
Father Postgate gained an
extraordinary reputation
for piety and zeal. He set
sail for Yorkshire to an
uncertain future. His task
was to be a travelling priest
who would be in constant
danger of execution as a
traitor; he would have no
home and no money but
his duty was clear: he had
to gather the English
harvest of souls. He served
in wealthy households for
many years. The time came
when crippling fines were
laid on those households
and they could no longer afford the
expense and risk of housing a priest.
During those 34 years, Fr. Postgate had
conducted 226 marriages, 593 Baptisms,
719 funerals and had brought over
2,400 people into the Catholic Church.
At the age of 62, when most people were
looking for an easier life, he decided to
return to his moors. He wanted to live
among the poor as one of them to help
them and make sure they had food,
shelter and clothing, and to bring them
the Sacraments. None of this would be
easy because he had no home, no
income and no one to care for him. He
would be alone on those moors in all
their terrible and dangerous moods.
He had great devotion to St. Margaret
Clitherow of York, who was known
locally as the “Pearl of York.”
Margaret was the wife of a butcher, and
had been charged again and again for
harboring priests and permitting Mass to
be celebrated. The penalty
for Margaret was to be
pressed to death beneath
the heavy weights placed
upon her body until she
was crushed by its weight.
Father was conformed to
eat as the poor ate, have
similar lodgings as they
had and dress as they did.
He devoted himself solely
to the sick, tired, old and
deprived people of all
faiths, or no faith, who
lived on the barren moors.
He wanted Catholics to be
enriched by the Sacraments. He had
been raised here and could understand
their language and help them
with their problems. Whenever anyone
would come to Father’s humble house
by prior arrangement or unexpectedly,
he would make them feel welcome. If
they brought him offerings of food or
money or even clothes, he would share
them with people in greater need
than himself. His activities had to be
conducted in the utmost secrecy. He
refused to use a horse or pony to help
him undertake long journeys; he felt this
would be a sign of wealth and walked
everywhere. He covered thousands of
miles on foot. His parish covered around
553 square miles, the area of New York.
Father Postgate had great devotion to
the five Wounds of Christ. X-marks on
the posts around the Moors were used
by him to mark his Mass centers,
though they could not be placed in
areas where they would be noticed.
Often, sheets hanging on the line in a
home would indicate a Mass Center.
The five Wounds of Christ is a clear
outline of the X-mark. The portable
altar stones carried by Fr. Postgate
bore this symbol. In fact, it was a
practice for all altar stones to bear the
symbol of the five Wounds of Christ in
the form of an X. But this requirement