Blessed James Duckett

James Duckett was not Catholic growing up. He made a living publishing and selling books in London. After reading a book called “The Firm Foundation of the Catholic Religion” his life changed and he really wanted to join the Catholic Church. During this time (in the late 1500s), Queen Elizabeth I was queen of England. She did not like the Catholic Church and made laws to punish people who believed in the Catholic Church’s teachings. James Duckett stopped going to his old church and was put in jail because of that decision. While he was in prison, he was very determined to become Catholic. He met an old priest named “Mr. Weekes” who taught him more about the Catholic faith and soon he was baptized into the Catholic Church. He had such a love for the Catholic faith that he printed many Catholic books and gave them to people everywhere. His work was very dangerous because there were many laws against printing, owning, and giving Catholic books to others. He married a Catholic woman and their son became a Carthusian monk. The couple was married for 12 years and he spent 9 of those years in prison because of sharing his faith. During his trial, a book binder named Peter Bullock told the court that he had bound many Catholic books for James and so James was sentenced to be killed. Peter Bullock was hoping that the Queen would be kind to him because he told her about James, but he was also sentenced to be killed for binding Catholic books. Both men were killed on the same day at the same place. Before they died, James forgave Peter Bullock for telling on him. He died a martyr because of his faith in Jesus. He is the patron saint of booksellers and publishers.