Everyone whose ancestors lived in these islands before 1538 is descended from Catholic stock. Quite when my forefathers gave up their Catholic faith is unknown, but as they came from a part of the border with Wales where Catholicism proved hard to extirpate, I would like to think it took some time; but however long or short the time, they did what most English and Welsh people did in the end – they went with what the State wanted – even if, as early as the late seventeenth century they were no longer conforming with Anglican practice.
Today the Catholic Church remembers the forty canonised martyrs of England and Wales who were executed by the State between 1535 and 1679; these are but a small proportion of the hundreds who were hounded, persecuted and put to death by the State during the period between 1535 and the eighteenth century. The Church chooses this day, 4 May, because it is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Carthusian priors, St John Houghton of London, St Robert Lawrence of Beauvale and St Augustine Webster of Axholme, and St Richard Reynolds, a Bridgettine of Syon Abbey, and Blessed John Haile, a secular priest. Significantly, they were wearing their priestly vestments. They were hung drawn and quartered. Their crime? They refused their assent to the Act of Succession, which made Henry VIII, Head of the Church and made his children by Anne Boleyn rightful heirs to the throne ahead of Princess Mary, the only surviving child of Henry’s one canonical marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In June, St John Fisher and St Thomas More would go to the block for the same reason. It ushered in an era of unprecedented brutality. It was true that heretical individuals had been tortured and executed for their crimes, but nothing on the scale that now erupted had been seen. It is significant that when Princess Mary became queen in 1553, she continued the policy of her father and brother, and by 1558 the number of executions was d slowing down; it seemed as though the Protestant resistance was breaking; only her death in 1558 stopped England and Wales returning to the Catholic fold.
It was a violent age, and those contemporaries who criticise men like St Thomas More for participating in its legal cruelties might ponder, especially if they are American, their own country’s continuing commitment to what many of us regard as crude and nasty methods of killing the incarcerated; where legal systems allow such things, it is, though, pointless to condemn the individuals in the system who operate it. But why, one might ask, the level of violence across such a long period?
The answer seems to lie in what happened in Mary’s reign. According to its most recent historian, Eamon Duffy, Cardinal Pole and Mary had a clear aim in continuing the violence begun by her father and brother. The State had used extreme violence because the ordinary people were very attached to their Church and their faith. The old Protestant myth, that the Church was corrupt and unpopular was just that, as Duffy showed in his magisterial Stripping of the Altars. Had the myth been true, then few would have fought for the Church, and there would have been little need for extreme and prolonged violence by the State; only through fear and force could Henry and his men suppress popular loyalty. But that was, as Mary’s reign showed, all they managed. Within a couple of years of Mary coming to the throne, having dealt with the most prominent anti-Catholics, ordinary people felt confident enough to bring out their hidden alter-pieces, their concealed rood-screens and their statues. By 1558 it was beginning to look as though the harsh medicine of Cardinal Pole had had its effect – and then he and Mary died. The Protestant Elizabeth would continue her father’s policy.
As we look back to scenes which are reminiscent of what is happening in parts of the Middle East now, we can regret the spectacle of Christians (In Byron’s words) ‘burning each other, quite persuaded that all the Apostles/would have done as they did’. We can also be profoundly grateful that Christians have learned do do better, and now try to discuss what divides them rather than trying to compel others to conform by force. But on this feast day, we can also admire the faith and the courage of those who died for their faith.
It seems fitting to end this reflection with the words of one the first martyrs, St. John Houghton (c. 1486-1535) Carthusian hermit, and priest, who died on this day:
“I call Almighty God to witness, and I beseech all here present to attest for me on the dreadful danger of judgement, that, being about to die in public, I declare that I have refused to comply with the will of His Majesty the King, not from obstinacy, malice, or a rebellious spirit, but solely for fear of offending the supreme Majesty of God. Our holy Mother the Church has decreed and enjoined otherwise than the king and Parliament have decreed. I am therefore bound in conscience, and am ready and willing to suffer every kind of torture, rather than deny a doctrine of the Church. Pray for me, and have mercy on my brethren, of whom I have been the unworthy Prior.”
His last words were from Psalm 30:
“In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded: deliver me in Thy justice…. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit; for Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth”
For those who wish to say a prayer for the martyrs, here is one suggestion:
Oh God, in whom there is no change or shadow of alteration, you gave courage to the Holy Martyrs. Grant unto us, we beseech you, through their intercession, the grace to always value the Holy Mass. May we be strengthened to serve you in imitation of the courage of these Holy Martyrs. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.
Our holy Mother the Church has decreed and enjoined otherwise than the king and Parliament have decreed. I am therefore bound in conscience, and am ready and willing to suffer every kind of torture, rather than deny a doctrine of the Church.
A similar reaction has been made to the coming Supreme Court Decision on same-sex marriage by Dr. James Dobson: “I WILL NOT pay the surcharge for abortion services. The amount of the surcharge is irrelevant,” he said. “To pay one cent for the killing of babies is egregious to me, and I will do all I can to correct a government that lies to me about its intentions and then tries to coerce my acquiescence with extortion. It would be a violation of my most deeply held convictions to disobey what I consider to be the principles in Scripture. The Creator will not hold us guiltless if we turn a deaf ear to the cries of His innocent babies. So come and get me if you must, Mr. President. I will not bow before your wicked regulation.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/dobson-fall-of-western-civilization-at-hand/#0WqkoMV2mtMbVgQ5.99
I wish we could hear such courageous words from our bishops and receive some reassurance from our Pope on such things. But then they are too busy trying to limit population growth to save the planet from man-made global warming, I suppose.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The late Cardinal George’s famous prophecy will be proven to have been correct.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Might well be, my friend. It reminds one of the prophecies at Quito and at Akita as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It may well be this is the pruning of which Our Lord spoke in yesterday’s Mass reading of the Gospel.
LikeLiked by 1 person
God knows we have needed one for a long time now. It won’t be pleasant but it will be right and just.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When the winds blow, only the firm will stand up and be counted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed and sadly, until it does, none of us truly knows if we will withstand the whirlwinds sent our way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If we are true, we can do no other. Though I do not seek it, and even fear martyrdom, if it comes, I pray for the strength to be faithful to the end.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As do I, C. My wife said, shortly after I came into the Church, that she hoped that she would never have to face martyrdom and I laughed as if that were such a remote possibility. I am no longer laughing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello SF. Thanks for the link. I forwarded it to another passionate person in my parish. Good deal. God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are quite welcome Ginny. We need all the passionate people we can get these days. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am particularly grateful for this post as I am woefully ignorant of the history of the reformation in England. I agree with Servus that similar courage is needed in our own day with what we face from our ill-guided governments (in England and the US).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Zeke.
LikeLike
`Only a sick, twisted demonic cult would make Tom More a saint.
LikeLike
You seem to be an expert on the state of another person’s soul whether you knew them or not. Interesting that know how God has judged him and so many others. Is it perhaps because you have become your own God?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I guess as the only person here who is a one man sick, twisted demonic cult, you’d be well-placed to know. Have you read a word More wrote?
LikeLike
Not necessary, C. He knows Jesus and has supped with Him. So he have been given the gift to intuit all knowledge. No need to read or think or do anything other than stone the Catholics and other established churches.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think we both know who he has supped with – and his spoon was far too short.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True, funny, but also quite sad all at once.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is very sad, and for that reason, and that reason alone, I try to reason with the man.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve tried that with my dog. I think we’re going to get the same results.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your dog is faithful 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
True. He has many admirable Christian virtues in fact. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bosco just keeps barking up the wrong tree and spraying everywhere
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wants to be the alpha male of the pack but sadly there isn’t a pack that will have him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chalcedon – chortle! 😀
Servus – I think you just hit the nail squarely on the head. I’ve been wondering if the poor fellow notices (or cares) that he hasn’t a single supporter here. He’s “rite” and we’re all wrong. Funny that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
From Dobson and ‘Focus on the Family’ we hear a good evangelical voice in opposition to abortion. The UK equivalent of this organisation is ‘Care for the Family’, http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/ , headed up by a close friend of mine from our youth Rob Parsons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good to hear Rob. We need more people and organizations to work for this most worthy cause.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Chalcedon!!!!!
You just found one of the strings to my heart: the Martyrs and Confessors who gave it all for the Lamb. Praise God.
I just got a book I think every single person in the Church in America should read: 150 North American Martyrs You Should Know by Brian O’Neel. It gives the briefest of outlines of the brave and not so brave who gave it all so the seeds of the Church in our country could be planted and whose very own blood watered the saplings as they sprouted. May Jesus Christ be praised! In this work one gets to wondering if more were known about their witness to the faith if it would have an impact on those who’ve sold out the Church in our country to the culture of death. O Holy Martyrs of God, make intercession for us in our land, that we too may be inspired by your witness so that not even one drop of the blood you shed for love of the Lamb be wasted.
God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They were brave men and women, ginny, and we should ask for their intercession for us all – especially those who have apostatised either in name or action.
LikeLike
Ginny, I’ve been meaning to look up that book, thanks for the reminder. (Been meaning to learn more about the history of Catholicism in the US, but now Chalcedon reminds me I need to learn the history in England as well!)
LikeLike
Hello Grandpa. You can get it for cheap cheap at Amazon if you don’t mind used. God bless. Ginnyfree
LikeLike
Thanks Ginny, cheap cheap is good. 🙂
LikeLike
P.S. I hope QVO doesn’t read the book though because his stringent standards of “holiness” as it applies to Martyrs may not be satisfied by the stories of the bloodshed in our country by these men and women in the Church.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good point!
LikeLike
Actually Chalcedon, when I came into the Church I was in college at night and graduated the year I was Baptised. I finished my formal schooling but always thought if I ever got financially settled enough to return to school, I’d go for hagiography regarding the men and women you mention as well as those here in our country and all the history surrounding their lives and witness and confession. Yeah. It would be a labor of love. God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It would indeed. I’d give a great deal to be able to know how and when my own ancestors became Protestants. It is clear enough that they did not stay Anglicans for long – by the late 1600s they were Nonconformists and being fined for that!
LikeLike
Sadly though the culture of death has killed not only millions of babies in the womb, but it has rendered most ears deaf to the outrage that should be felt at such monstrosities. They have eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear……as the Psalm says. Compassion and empathy are gone. There is no sympathy for the babe in the womb so why do we expect there to be passion for the witness of these brave Confessors and Martyrs? Those numbed by the culture of death will look and go “So? What does it mean to me?” or worse, “They were fools who could’ve lived much saner and safer lives.” Yeah. Contraception and abortion on demand have a price and we’re still paying it and will for a few generations after all that bloodshed is over. We’re still in it and remain blind to it’s impact in our everyday lives. But deafness to the witness you mention is one of the prices. Ginny is now stepping down from her little soapbox. Thanks for lending your “ears.” God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLike
No! We need Ginny on her soapbox. Good job!
LikeLike
this is great !!! thanks for sharing !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – so glad you like it. Good to see you here.
LikeLike
Well, lots here.
With reference to capital punishment, either the state has a right, nay an obligation and duty to defend it’s citizen from all enemies, foreign, and domestic, or it doesn’t. The right to capital punishment is the same right as the right to make war, and like it must be utilized with due deliberation and caution bu it is a right, the right of self defense delegated by the people to the several states and by them to the federal government. That it should be utilized rarely, and not for petty cause (like the theft of small amounts), and humanely should be evident without saying.
I won’t condemn any man for his willingness to die for his beliefs, in fact I will admire him and hope I would be able to emulate him, if necessary. It was indeed a violent age, and many wrongs were committed, in God’s name, and it behooves us to try to do better, much better, in fact. But today I will commemorate the man who wrote, to Henry VIII’s approbation, before the English Reformation, in “The Obedience of a Christian Man”: this:
“They will say haply, the scripture requireth a pure mind and a quiet mind; and therefore the lay-man, because he is altogether cumbered with worldly business, cannot understand them. If that be the cause, then it is a plain case that our prelates understand not the scriptures themselves: for no layman is so tangled with worldly business as they are. The great things of the world are ministered by them; neither do the lay-people any great thing, but at their assignment. ‘If the scripture were in the mother tongue,’ they will say, ‘then would the lay-people understand it, every man after his own ways.’ Wherefore serveth the curate, but to teach him the right way? Wherefore were the holy days made, but that the people should come and learn? Are ye not abominable schoolmasters, in that ye take so great wages, if ye will not teach? If ye would teach, how could ye do it so well, and with so great profit, as when the lay-people have the scripture before them in their mother tongue? For then should they see, by the order of the text, whether thou jugglest or not: and then would they believe it, because it is the scripture of God, though thy living be never so abominable. Where now, because your living and your preaching are so contrary, and because they grope out in every sermon your open and manifest lies, and smell your unsatiable covetousness, they believe you not when you preach truth. But, alas! the curates themselves (for the most part) wot no more what the new or old Testament meaneth, than do the Turks: neither know they of any more than that they read at mass, matins, and evensong, which yet they understand not: neither care they, but even to mumble up so much every day, as the pie and popinjay speak, they wot not what, to fill their bellies withal. If they will not let the lay-man have the word of God in his mother tongue, yet let the priests have it; which for a great part of them do understand no Latin at all, but sing, and say, and patter all day, with the lips only, that which the heart understandeth not.”
That man was, of course, martyred, for his belief that the people had the right to read the Bible in their mother tongue, with the connivance, if not on the orders of that same Henry VIII in October of 1536. He was one of the three most important men in the history of the English language, and also wrote what may be the greatest of the English translations of the Bible. He was William Tyndale.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And now for a fair and balanced view of William Tyndale: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4749&CFID=27545322&CFTOKEN=30575890
🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am not sure that one is quite as fair and accurate as it should be – try this one for why Tyndale wasn’t as accurate as he thought he was – used late Greek MSS:
http://promethee.philo.ulg.ac.be/engdep1/download/bible/tyndale/criticism/Tyndale%20as%20Translator%20by%20Hooker.htm
LikeLiked by 1 person
This blog is a wonderful place for learning more about the faith – for those of us who wish to learn, that is. 😉 Thanks to all for the informative posts and links.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to be of service, Zeke – and we enjoy having your company here.
LikeLike
😀 You would have to make this the No Spin Zone. Now you’re throwing Bible Scholarship into the equation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Comes from being a professor I guess 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you much Chalcedon. Good stuff. Hope he goes there. Opening the eyes of the blind you are. God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, fair and balanced, just like Chris Matthews on Obama, I also note that Wycliffe’s translation is very hard to read because it is a literal word for word (including syntax) of the Latin Bible, so it is no more corrupt than the one used by the Catholic Church, and yet the hierarchy felt it incumbent to dig up his skeleton and burn it, scattering his ashes in the River Swift leading to this: “But as historian Ken Connolly noted, just as Wycliffe’s ashes flowed down the River Swift, to the English Channel, and eventually connecting to the world’s oceans, so his influence has spread to every part of the earth.” 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Neo – do follow the link in my response – a little more balanced perhaps 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will, I was in the comment box on my post, just catching up. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that does seem fair, and also far beyond my compentency, since I don’t speak the languages. I can easily understand his scholarship may have been deficient, and translations are always difficult. I’ll read that carefully but my first sense is that from the criticism it is, in fact, a testimony, even at that early date to the power and subtlety of English as well. Which was part of my point, although unstated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought it was a fair piece, and being by a translator and a linguist, said much that needed saying. About 80% of the KJV is based on Tydale, so he must have got something right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly, and many of the changes in the KJV had to do with making it a preacher’s Bible, designed to be read aloud, in which it excels. Somebody said that they kept much of what was already archaic language to make it seem ancient at the time of publication, the ancient and unchanging Word of God. Wise men, I think.
LikeLike
As C said: he used the wrong MSS. So methinks the Catholic Bible was a wee bit more accurate in the Vulgate and the Douay was taken from he Vulgate which is both its weakness and its strength as Jerome understood the idioms of the Greek and the Hebrew and tried to stay true to the meaning intended by those idioms. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a layman, who doesn’t speak the languages, I think i agree pretty much with C’s link. essentially it got politicized on both sides, and they were all both right and wrong. It was and is a pretty good translation, and we should remember that St. Jerome’s wasn’t received well either, but in time began to be considered infallible.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you much SF. Good job. God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Neo. Thanks very much for sharing. However, I found this in your piece: “I won’t condemn any man for his willingness to die for his beliefs, in fact I will admire him and hope I would be able to emulate him, if necessary.” I’d like to say that while reading that, my mind went to September 11th and the thought that those men who hijacked those planes that day were demonstrating their personal willingness to die for their beliefs and that is exactly how they saw what they did and to them it gained them heaven. Yet we as Christians know it gained them nothing of the sort. It isn’t simply a willingness to die for what one believes that makes for heroic virtue that is venerable, but willingness to die for the Lamb who died for us coupled with a determination to bear bloodless witness to His Sacrifice in our everyday lives. That is what a Confessor does. We may not all be called to bear a bloody witness to our faith, but we are all called to be brave Confessors and every man can do that much.
I don’t believe Mr. Tyndale is anything other than what he was: a man working to destroy the flock in his midst with distorted interpretations of Scriptures passed off to innocent trusting individuals whose faith would become as distorted as the person who authored such “translations” if they were permitted to read them as if they were the real thing. Fabrications with intent to mislead and sow weeds among the wheat. You may not like my opinion, but this whole topic is exactly why I say what I do. The Jehovah’s Witness’ New World Translation bears witness to the true dangers of men like Mr.Tyndale to the innocent ignorance of the average person whose nascent faith needs protection from the wolves who threaten the sheepfold. And I know you won’t like the next thing I’m going to say but better no Bible then a bad Bible! I’ll toss in these words from a Saint as well for all the faithful for hundreds of generations who managed to follow the Lamb wherever He led without a family heirloom Bible on the mantlepiece: the Rosary is the poor man’s Bible and he needs no other! Those words were said to counter the misleading trend of his times that had good folks fooled about whether or no they could be “saved” without possessing their very own copy of the Holy Bible. Saints are much more than good Bible salesmen. Only publishers of books need man like Mr. Tyndale. God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLike
Hi Ginny, I disagree on the 911 hijackers, their conduct fits far better into one of the archaic meanings of cowardice. It is never proper to advance a cause by suicide and the murder of innocent people., Heroism is the willingness to sacrifice your life to save others. In the 911 context, i would urge you to google COL Rick Rescorla, USA, (Ret.)
As C’s link shows, Tyndale’s scholarship may well be in question, his motives are not really. Charging him with heresy is a classic case of overcharging to protect the wealth and temporal power of the church. There is no real question that the medieval church (especially the hierarchy) had grown corrupt, the very fact that it reformed itself shortly after the Reformation bears witness to that. 🙂
LikeLike
Hello NEO. Thank you for your reply. You aren’t the first person I’ve discussed Tyndale with. Many see him as a hero and a martyr and the distortions of history help foster this opinion. But it is a distortion. He had a reason behind his translations and that reason was to deceive. His scholarship was skewed with an agenda. It also amazes me that persons today think no one at all knew the Scriptures until they had to Book in their hands. People actually managed to learn all about God without it.
I always find it awesome when I see how easily Bible scholars and laypersons today judge the whole of Christendom during the centuries of the Medieval age and find them corrupted and worthless and that they didn’t get “saved” till someone placed a Bible in their hands to carry out the work of God! Basically it says God remained helpless and powerless to save anyone till Guttenberg and Martin Luther came along knocked their heads together and said “Let’s get this act together or God isn’t going to be able to save anyone!” Pretty far fetched if you ask me, yet that is what we are expected to swallow and many do – hook, line and sinker. It also amazes me that persons today think no one at all knew the Scriptures until they had a bound paper book in their hands. People actually managed to learn all about God without it for hundreds of years. Do you really think no knew God or His Word until they bought the book? God bless. Ginnyfree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I took a class on English history up to 1689 last semester and when professor was giving us a run-through of the Protestant Reformation, she made clear to state that “Bloody Mary” is a complete Protestant slander against Mary Tudor. She was no more bloodier than her sister Elizabeth. The difference being is that Mary Tudor was for the Church and Elizabeth was for the state (and by no means are either an inherent good thing but it’s nice to know that someone else agrees that “Bloody Mary” is simply just Protestant slander).
LikeLike
What Henry and Elizabeth did for the good (as they saw it) of the state cannot be justified. However Mary’s acts as she saw them in support of the church was a greater evil as violence in the name of Christ is a blasphemy and contrary to the spirit of our faith.
The violence of churches has provided ample grounds for unbelievers to reject and attack the faith and is still a barrier to evangelism today.
The violence of the times can offer no excuse to any advocating it in the name of truth. Christ gave us the example and there have been churches even from violent times until today that have consistently stood against violence and sought to implement the true faith.
LikeLike
I’m with Dr Johnson – not wanting to parse the degree of precedence between a flea and a louse. What Henry did for his ego and his lust was to destroy the fabric which has helped the poor of this country for centuries – it took centuries to reconstruct it. What he and Edward V did was what ISIS have been doing in Iraq. What Mary did was also wrong, and what Elizabeth did, likewise. I am glad we have moved beyond that.
LikeLike
Pingback: Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 28th, 2015: Bl. Margaret Pole | euzicasa