St. John Ogilvie

The Saint of the Day for March 10 is St. John Ogilvie

St. John Ogilvie was born of a noble Scottish family in 1579 and was raised a Calvinist. The wealth of his family allowed him to be educated on the continent, and there he became exposed to the religious conflict of the Reformation and Counter Reformation. After learning about both sides he decided to become a Catholic, this was in part because of his respect for the martyrs and saints. St. John attended a variety of Catholic educational institutions and soon discovered a call to join the Jesuits. After his admission to the Society, John petitioned to return to Scotland and work to convert souls there.

John's petition was accepted, and he first began to work to convert the souls of the nobles to Catholicism. He met with great resistance and returned to mainland Europe. After a brief rest, he returned to Scotland and began to work to convert the souls of the common people. He was greatly successful, but found many enemies in Protestant England. Eventually he was betrayed and turned into the authorities as a Catholic and insurrectionist. St. John was tried on the charges of treason and was convicted after three trials. John was sentenced to death by hanging and in 1615 was martyred.