Bls. Peter Snow and Ralph Grimston

Peter Snow, of Ripon, England, was ordained a priest in Soissons, France in 1591. After returning to England, he served for seven years in Yorkshire, ministering to his fellow Catholics persecuted under Queen Elizabeth I. In the spring of 1598, he received assistance in his travels from a Yorkshire native, Ralph Grimston, a married layman from Nidd. Ralph had previously suffered imprisonment for opening his home to Catholic priests. On or around May 1, 1598, Father Snow and Ralph were captured while journeying together to York. Father Snow was condemned to death by hanging, drawing, and quartering for being a priest. Ralph was condemned to death by hanging for having assisted Father Snow and for having attempted to prevent the priest's arrest when they were caught. They suffered martyrdom together on June 15 at York.

Peter Snow (executed at York, 15 June 1598) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, along with Ralph Grimston who died with him, beatified in 1987. Their liturgical celebration is on 15 June.

Life

He was born at or near Ripon and arrived at the English College, Reims, 17 April 1589. He received the first tonsure and minor orders 18 August 1590, the subdiaconate at Laon on 22 September, and the diaconate and priesthood at Soissons on 30 and 31 March 1591.

He left for England on the following 15 May. He was arrested about 1 May 1598, when on his way to York with Ralph Grimston of Nidd. Both were shortly after condemned, Snow of treason as being a priest and Grimston of felony, for having aided and assisted him, and, it is said, having attempted to prevent his apprehension.

Relics in Leeds Cathedral

In 1845, two skulls were discovered under the stone floor of the ancient chapel of Hazlewood Castle, near Tadcaster. At the time they were thought to be relics of two other English martyrs, John Lockwood and Edmund Catherick and the skulls were placed in a niche near the altar. In 1909, it was stated that they were the relics of Peter Snow and Ralph Grimston. This identification was accepted.

In 2005, Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds, decided to place relics in Leeds Cathedral altar. He ordered reconstruction of their faces using the latest techniques from the University of Dundee. The reconstructed face pictures of Blessed Fr.Peter Snow and Ralph Grimston can be found on Leeds Cathedral webpage. The story of reconstraction was covered in BBC's Inside Out. In 2008, Fr Robert Barron released video comments on A Tale of Two Skulls Video on YouTube.