June 22: Saints Thomas More and John Fisher
Faithful to Christ and the Church unto martyrdom
It was June 22, 1535, when Bishop John Fisher of Rochester England was executed by beheading in the Tower of London. He had been accused of high treason by King Henry VIII. In the hope of sparing his life, Pope Paul III had named him Cardinal on May 20 of that year, but it was in vain. Fisher’s head was displayed at the entrance of London Bridge until July 6, when it was thrown into the River Thames. In its place, the head of Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor of England, was set. He too had been condemned to death for high treason. His sentence was carried out on July 6, 1535.
Thomas More mounted the scaffold with great serenity and, with a touch of humor, said to the executioner: “Help me up, and I’ll manage going down on my own.” After reciting the Miserere, he blindfolded himself and laid his head on the block. His final words were: “I die the King's good servant, but God’s first.”
A bishop and a layman united in martyrdom for remaining faithful to God rather than yielding to the abuses of power.
Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478. After studying at Oxford University and later at the Inns of Court in London, he became a highly respected lawyer, a Member of Parliament, and a distinguished judge. He served his country in various key roles, but never neglected his family or his commitment as a renowned scholar in the European Humanist movement. At 41, he began serving directly under the king, and over time his responsibilities grew until he became Lord Chancellor at the age of 52. On May 16, 1532, he resigned from this position to oppose King Henry VIII’s policy of forcing Parliament and the clergy to recognize his authority over the Church of England. He was arrested and, after 15 months in prison, tried and sentenced to death for refusing to swear allegiance to the Act by which the king proclaimed himself head of the Church, even in spiritual matters.
More was known for his intellect and forward-thinking ideas. He was among the first to advocate that daughters receive the same education as sons—an extremely progressive view at the time. His writings, especially translations from Greek (notably of Lucian), his poetry, and his most famous work Utopia, earned him great fame. Utopia remains his most celebrated achievement.
John Fisher was born in October 1469 in Beverley and was ordained a priest in 1491. He came under the patronage of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII of England. In 1497, he became her confessor and persuaded her to found two major colleges at Cambridge: Christ’s College and St. John’s College. Meanwhile, in 1504, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Bishop of Rochester.
With the rise of Martin Luther’s theses in 1520, Fisher began actively opposing them. He wrote several books in Latin refuting Luther’s ideas, earning widespread recognition in Europe as a theologian. In the House of Lords, he firmly opposed any attempt by the State to interfere in Church affairs.
When Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was challenged in 1527, the king and Cardinal Wolsey consulted Fisher, who publicly defended Catherine in both writings and sermons delivered in London.
In 1531, Fisher openly opposed the decision to grant Henry VIII the title of “Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England,” and in 1534, he refused to acknowledge the Act of Supremacy, through which the king proclaimed himself head of the Church of England, rejecting papal authority.
On March 1534, the Act of Succession was passed, declaring Henry’s marriage to Catherine null and legitimizing his union with Anne Boleyn. On April 13 of that same year, Fisher and Thomas More together refused to swear allegiance to this law. They accepted the succession order as a decision of Parliament but could not accept the clause denying the Pope’s authority.
John Fisher and Thomas More were canonized by Pope Pius XI on June 22, 1935. Since 1980, More has also been honored in the Anglican calendar of saints. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared him the Patron Saint of Statesmen and Politicians.
Here is the famous Prayer for Good Humor, traditionally attributed to Thomas More:
Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,
nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,
and to be able to share it with others.
Amen.
