You may know John Watson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
But did you know that there was a real John Watson?
Well, even the real John Watson wasn’t the real John Watson.
Let me explain…
In 1614, a man calling himself “Captain John Watson” rode into Glasgow. He was no soldier, no merchant, and certainly not an ordinary traveler.
His real name was John Ogilvie. He was a Jesuit priest working undercover in Protestant Scotland, where Catholicism was illegal.
Ogilvie had been born in Scotland in 1579 but left the country as a teenager to study in Catholic Europe.
Ordained a Jesuit in 1610, John might have expected that he would lead a typical priestly life running a parish, teaching, and serving the surrounding community. But this was not God’s plan for John Ogilvie.
Instead, he was sent on a dangerous mission: return home.
Back in Scotland, John would be asked to serve Catholics who still practiced their faith in secret.
His life as a priest could have been mistaken for the life of a spy.Disguises, coded messages, and hidden chapels were a part of daily life for Ogilvie and his fellow Scottish priests.
His work did not go unnoticed for long. After a few months in Scotland, he was betrayed, arrested, and interrogated by authorities who wanted him to renounce the pope’s authority. Ogilvie refused. Even under torture—where sleep deprivation and the infamous “boots” (iron devices that crushed the legs) were used—he did not break. On March 10, 1615, he was martyred and hanged in Glasgow.
John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, but in his own time, he was simply a priest doing his duty under threat of death.
We might not be called to life as an undercover priest, but we are all called to follow our faith, wherever it may lead us. Just like St. John Ogilvie, we’re going to need some courage on our own walk of faith.
Bring a dose of courage along with you wherever you go with this Be Strong and Courageous Leather Wallet. Featuring the important reminder, “Be strong and courageous. The Lord your God goes with you,” this wallet will help any Catholic man choose courage in their daily life.
