On the evening of every November 5, patriotic Englishmen recall the so-called Gunpower Plot of 1605 to restore the monarchy, hatched by Catholic restorationists to be carried by one Guy Fawkes. Fawkes had spent ten years in the service of King Philip I of Spain and had gained considerable experience with explosives. The theory goes that certain Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, wished to see an end to Protestant persecution of Catholics in the realm, and wish to put to death the Protestant ascendancy in the person of King James I. To do so, a plot was hatched to detonate barrels of black powder beneath the Houses of Parliament while the King and parliament conferred.
Guy Fawkes was caught in the act and eventually tortured in the Tower. He was sentenced to die by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. However, was able to throw himself from the scaffold and break his neck before the last lugubrious part of his sentence could be carried out.
Ever since then, Guy Fawkes has been hung and burnt in effigy, as bonfires are lit in Merry Olde England in his memory. The chant that has long been repeated is as follows:
Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.
A stick and a stake for King James’ sake!
Holla, boys, Holla, make the town ring;
Holla, boys, Holla, boys, God save the King.
The date was also once celebrated in America, as was noted by the New York Gazette on November 7, 1737. “Saturday last, being the ffith of November, it was observed here in memory of the horrid and treasonable popish gunpowder plot to blow up and destroy King, Lords and commons and the gentlemen of his Majesty’s council. The Assembly and Corporation and others, the principal gentlemen and merchants of this city, waited upon his honor, the Lieutenant Governor at Fort George, where the royal healths were drunk as usual under the discharge of cannon, and at night the city was illuminated.”
Today the Eastern church celebrates the feast of St. Galacteon, the spouse of a pagan woman named Epistemis. Following her conversion, Galacteon and Epistemis sold all their worldly goods and gave the proceeds to the poor. Galacteon begame a xenobitic hermit, while Epistemis joined a community of women. Arrested for his faith during the Emperor Decius’ persecution of Christians in Phoenicia, Galacteon was joined by his wife. Together they faced torture, beheading, and martyrdom. Gaius Messius Quintus Decius was emperor from 249 to 251 AD, but no death date is known for the two martyrs. The emperor and his son met their doom during the Battle of Abrittus in what is now modern Bulgaria.
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