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22nd June ~ Feast of St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs Born c. 19 October 1469 - Beverley, Yorkshire, Kingdom of England Died 22 June 1535 (aged 65), Tower Hill, London, Kingdom of England Ordination 17 December 1491, by Thomas Rotherham Consecration 24 November 1504, by William Warham Created cardinal 21 May 1535, by Pope Paul III Beatified 29 December 1886 Rome, Kingdom of Italy, by Pope Leo XIII Canonized 19 May 1935 Vatican City, by Pope Pius XI Motto faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum ("I shall make you fishers of men") John Fisher was born in Beverley, Humberside in 1469 the son of a mercer. He was educated at Cambridge University and, after being a distinguished scholar, became a Doctor of Divinity, Master of Michaelhouse (now Trinity College), Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1501 and finally in 1504, both its Chancellor and the bishop of Rochester. He wrote four volumes against Martin Luther. He became confessor to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII stating that no other prince or kingdom had such a distinguished prelate. His fall from grace came during the break with Rome. During the king’s attempt to divorce Catherine he clearly demonstrated the validity of the marriage and showed that it could not be legally dissolved by any power on earth. In Convocation in 1531 he protested against the new title of ‘Head of the Church of England’ for Henry VIII and in 1534 was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. His trial took place on the 17th of June 1535. He was executed four days later after pardoning his executioner, declaring that he was dying for the faith of Christ’s holy Catholic Church and reciting the Te Deum. His head was displayed on London Bridge for a fortnight before being thrown into the Thames. Born 7 February 1478, City of London, England Died 6 July 1535 (aged 57), Tower Hill, London, England Spouse(s), Jane Colt (m. 1505; died 1511) Alice Middleton (m. 1511) Children Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, and John Parents Sir John More, Agnes Graunger Beatified 29 December 1886, Florence, Kingdom of Italy, by Pope Leo XIII Canonized 19 May 1935, Vatican City, by Pope Pius XI Major shrine Church of St Peter ad Vincula, London, England Thomas More was born in 1478 the son of Sir John More, a barrister and judge. He was educated at Canterbury College, Oxford and in 1501. In 1504 he entered Parliament (his constituency is unknown) and, at one stage, contemplated either joining the Friars Minor or becoming a diocesan priest. He did neither choosing instead a legal career although this period did have an influence on his later life – he would daily wear a hairshirt and recite the Little Office. He was a prolific author, his most famous work being Utopia written in 1516. In the late 1520s Henry VIII consulted Thomas More about his proposed divorce from Catherine of Aragon – More excused himself for his lack of expert knowledge. In 1529 he was appointed Lord Chancellor in succession to Cardinal Wolsey. The dispute with Henry VIII over the break with Rome and the succession of Anne Boleyn led to More’s fall from favour and eventually, with John Fisher, to his imprisonment in the Tower of London. He was executed on Tower Hill on the 6th of July 1535 declaring that he was “the king’s good servant, but God’s first”. Both he and John Fisher were beatified in 1886 and canonized in 1935. Almighty and ever living God, who in martyrdom have brought true faith to its highest expression, graciously grant that, through the intercession of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, we may confirm by the witness of our lives, the faith that we profess with our lips. See also – St John Fisher: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08462b.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fisher https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-fisher/ https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-john-fisher/ St Thomas More https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More https://catholicsaints.info/saint-thomas-more/ Buy a copy of St Thomas More’s Utopia here: |
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23rd June ~ Optional memorial of St. Ethelreda, Abbess Born c. 636, Exning, Suffolk Died 23 June 679, Ely, Cambridgeshire Major shrine St Etheldreda's Church, Ely Place, Holborn, London; Originally Ely Cathedral (now destroyed) Attributes Abbess holding a model of Ely Cathedral Patronage Throat complaints Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe or Etheldreda or Audrey), was of noble birth, the third daughter of Annas, the king of the East Angles, and of St. Hereswyda, the younger sister of St. Sexburga and St. Ethelburga, and probably came from Exning in Suffolk. Twice married, on the advice of St. Wilfrid, she chose to become a nun withdrawing to the monastery at Coldingham, beyond Berwick where she lived in holy obedience under St. Ebba. According to Thomas of Ely, in 672 she returned to the Isle of Ely and founded a double monastery upon her own estate. She is reported to have restored an old church at Ely reputedly destroyed by Penda, the king of Mercia. Her monastery is supposed to have been on the present site of Ely cathedral. For seven years she is reported to have lived a life of austere penance and prayer eating only one meal a day, wearing woollen clothes instead of linen and watching each day between Matins and dawn. She died in 679 from a tumour on her neck interpreted as a divine punishment for her vanity in wearing necklaces when young. Seventeen years after her death her body was found to be incorrupt, the body and the cloths in which it had been wrapped as fresh as on the day when she was buried, and the tumour on her neck miraculously healed. Almighty and ever living God, by whose grace the Virgin Saint Ethelreda chose rather to be a servant of Christ than the queen of any earthly realm, grant, we pray, that through her intercession, we may be freed from earthy toils and be found worthy of a heavenly crown. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelthryth https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05554b.htm |
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24th June ~ Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had lavished on her his faithful love, they shared her joy. Now it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. “No,” she said, “He is to be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name”, and they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” Why is St. John the Baptist considered so important? Dressed in camel skins and living on a diet of locusts and wild honey he must have presented a strange looking figure as he preached and baptised on the banks of the River Jordan. The pages of the Old Testament are littered with the names of the prophets – of those chosen by God to speak for Him – see the call of Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 3. Repeatedly the prophets stress that it is not their own words that they utter, but rather that it is God speaking through them. St. John the Baptist is seen as the last of these Old Testament prophets calling the wayward Chosen People back to God and he did not mince his words in doing so calling the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Temple ‘aristocracy’ of the time, a ‘brood of vipers’. He stands astride both the Old and the New Testaments. He foretells the coming of the Messiah – one greater than he whose sandal strap he is not fit to undo. He baptises with water, but he warns that one is coming who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Finally, John’s baptism of Jesus is traditionally seen as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry – He must increase as I must decrease. Jesus called John the greatest of all those who had preceded him: “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John....” But John would have agreed completely with what Jesus added: “[Y]et the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). The greatness of John, his pivotal place in the history of salvation, is seen in the great emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the event itself—both made prominently parallel to the same occurrences in the life of Jesus. John attracted countless people (“all Judea”) to the banks of the Jordan, and it occurred to some people that he might be the Messiah. But he constantly deferred to Jesus, even to sending away some of his followers to become the first disciples of Jesus. Almighty and ever living God, you raised Saint John the Baptist to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord, give your people, we pray, the grace of spiritual joys and direct the hearts of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace. See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08486b.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_Saint_John_the_Baptist https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-the-baptist/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/johnBaptistNativity.htm |
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27th June ~ Optional memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor of the Church Born - c. 376, Didouseya, Roman Egypt (modern-day El-Mahalla El-Kubra) Died - 444 (aged 67–68), Alexandria Feast day - 18 January and 9 June (Eastern Orthodox Church), 27 June (Coptic Church, Catholic Church, Lutheranism), 9 February (Western Rite Orthodox Church, formerly: Catholic Church, 1882–1969), 27 June (Church of England in Common Worship) Venerated in - Latin Christianity, Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Lutheranism Title as Saint - The Pillar of Faith; Seal of all the Fathers; Bishop, Confessor, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher of the Faith and also (in the Catholic Church) Doctor of the Church Attributes - Vested as a bishop with phelonion and omophorion, and usually with his head covered in the manner of Egyptian monastics (sometimes the head covering has a polystavrion pattern), he usually is depicted holding a Gospel Book or a scroll, with his right hand raised in blessing. Patronage - Alexandria Declared a Doctor of the Church: 1882. Little is known of Cyril’s early life. He was born c. 376 at Alexandria and first comes to note as a young priest who was the nephew of the patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilius, whom he succeeded in 412. He vigorously attacked the Novatians, the Neoplatonists, the Jews and the imperial governor Orestes. It was his opposition to Nestorius that was the most important in his life. Nestorius taught that there were two distinct persons in Christ who were joined in a merely moral union. Therefore the Blessed Virgin Mary could not be called the Theotokos, the Mother of God. Cyril certainly and Nestorius probably appealed for support to Pope Celestine who, after examining the question at a council in Rome condemned Nestorius’ teaching and excommunicated and deposed him unless he retracted. Cyril was appointed to carry out the sentence. Nestorius refused to retract and the Council of Ephesus was summoned in 431. Cyril presided and 200 bishops took part. Nestorius effused to appear before the arrival of the bishops of the patriarchate of Antioch. They in turn condemned Cyril but later reached agreement with him. The condemnation of Nestorius was upheld by the emperor. Traditionally Cyril is regarded as a fearlessly outspoken champion of orthodox thought about the Person of Christ. His writings contain some fine passages about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the place of Mary in the Incarnation. As the moving force behind the third Ecumenical Council his is of great importance in the development of Christian doctrine. He died in 444 and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882. Almighty and ever living God, you made the Bishop Saint Cyril of Alexandria an invincible champion of the divine motherhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who believe that she is truly the Mother of God, may be saved through the Incarnation of Christ your Son. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_of_Alexandria https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04592b.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cyril-of-alexandria/ https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2018/06/saint-cyril-of-alexandria.html |