On July 9, 1572, the Calvinists hanged nineteen priests and religious in Gorcum
on account of their loyalty to the Catholic faith. Among these were two sons
of St. Norbert, Adrian and James. Adrian Jansen (sometimes called Becan after
his place of birth) was born at Hilvarenbeek in 1529 and entered the abbey of
Middelburg at the age of 15. After a stint as master of novices and chaplain,
he was appointed pastor of Agterkerke in 1560 and of Munster in 1572. Adrian
was an exemplary priest and a true apostle, laboring in a parish which already
counted several Calvinists among its population.
James Lacops, also a canon of Middelburg, was born at Oudenaarde in 1542. He
was an intelligent and charming young man whose success went to his head. His
religious life was mediocre. When the iconoclastic Calvinists infiltrated the
abbey in 1566, the 24-year-old James renounced his faith together with two others.
His father and his brother, who was also a Norbertine, eventually brought him
to reconsider. Touched by the grace of God, he returned to the abbey and was
kindly received by the community when he asked forgiveness for his apostasy.
Among other things, he had gone so far as to write a pamphlet attacking the
Church, and had become a preacher of the Calvinist beliefs. His abbot sent him
to the abbey of Mariëweerd for a prolonged period of penance. At the end
of five years, the abbot appointed him curate in Munster where his brother was
currently pastor. After the death of his brother in 1572, Father Adrian Jansen
was appointed pastor.
Adrian had only been there three months when revolutionary soldiers attacked
the rectory and captured both priests in July of 1572. Together with seventeen
other priests and religious, they were marched through the streets while beaten
and insulted, accompanied by a screaming mob. Along the way the soldiers offered
local fishermen to set the priests free in exchange for a cask of beer, an offer
which the highly Calivnistic locals refused. The nineteen priests and religious
were thrown into prison and subjected to a trial during which they defended
the doctrine of the Eucharist and the authority of the Successor of Peter. Although
Adrian was more experienced in refuting the arguments of the heretics, it was
now James, with his gift for speaking, who took the lead in arguing with their
captors. They were mistreated, tortured, and denied food. On July 9, 1572, both
Adrian and James, together with the other seventeen priests and religious, were
hanged from the rafters of a barn at Gorcum and received the crown of martyrdom.
Adrian was 43 and James 30. They were beatified by Pope Clement X on November
24, 1675 and canonized by Blessed Pius IX on June 29, 1867.