From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
June 22, 2026 (#112)
The Feast of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, Martyrs
Since the reform of the General Roman Calendar in 1970, June 22nd is the day assigned by the Roman Catholic Church for the feasts of two great English martyrs, John Fisher (born 1469) and Thomas More (born 1478). The feast day coincides with the anniversary of the execution, by beheading, of the former, John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, in 1535. Sir Thomas More, husband, father of four, and former Lord High Chancellor of England, was also beheaded, the following July 6. The formal charge against them both was high treason. In fact, they died because they did not support the divorce and remarriage of the king, Henry VIII, and of his claim to supremacy over the Catholic Church England. They were canonized, together, in 1935, four centuries after their martyrdom, by Pope Pius XI. Ironically, perhaps, the Church of England keeps a commemoration of these two most Catholic of saints on its calendar, on July 6,
In our time, Thomas More is surely the more famous of the two. In the Great Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II declared More "the heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians.” Among scholars, he is known as a humanist author, famous for his book, Utopia, originally published by Erasmus in 1516. And in more recent times, he is famously known as “A Man for All Seasons,” the result of a modern play (1960) and movie (1966). Nevertheless, John Fisher has been widely admired for his integrity, wisdom, piety, and virtue in his own time and since. Erasmus said of him, "He is the one man at this time who is incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning and for greatness of soul."
In 1535, there were 22 dioceses in England and Wales. John was the only diocesan bishop among them to stand up to the falsehoods of Henry regarding the Sacrament of Marriage and the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, and thus the only one to suffer the consequences: martyrdom. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in April 1534. In May of the following year, Pope Paul III created him a cardinal of the Roman Church, which infuriated Henry, who, according to a famous story, threatened that if the customary (red) hat were delivered to him, it would have to be imposed on his shoulders as he would no longer have a head. During the ceremony in which the hat is normally imposed, the new cardinal is reminded that the color symbolizes that he should be prepared to give his life for Christ and His Church. Few have ever been called on to do so. John was and did.
Saint John Fisher died on the feast of Saint Alban, the first martyr in Britain. Moreover, it was two days before the feast of his patron saint, John the Baptist, who was also beheaded for his witness to the integrity of marriage as intended by God.
St. Thomas More, pray for us!
St. John Fisher, pray for us!
Books and devotional materials related to St. Thomas More can be found at:
https://inhisname.com/search?options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=st+thomas+More
