St. Thomas More was born in 1478 in London and as a young boy was placed in the service of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the age of fourteen, he went to study at Oxford, but after two years his father had him move to study law in London. He was attracted by the new humanism. His religious faith led him to practice asceticism and to study with two prestigious communities: the Observant Franciscans and the London Charterhouse. He married, fathered children, and was elected to Parliament under King Henry VII. Because of his upright moral character, prestigious learning and sharp mind; he was made Lord Chancellor shortly before Henry VIII decided to take control of the Church of England. St. Thomas More resigned over this and consequently suffered poverty, imprisonment in the Tower of London, and beheading. Thomas More, along with 53 others, including St. John Fisher, Cambridge scholar and Bishop of Rochester, were beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886. More and Fisher were canonized in 1935.

“After various nefarious machinations, John Fisher was imprisoned in the harshest of conditions for over a year, even being deprived the services of a priest. During this time, the Pope named him a cardinal, although Henry refused him the ceremonial placing of the red hat on his head. After a brief trial with the usual perjury, Cardinal John Fisher was beheaded on June 22, 1535. In order to avoid inevitable comparisons between Cardinal Fisher and St. John the Baptist, King Henry moved the cardinal’s execution forward to avoid any connection to June 24th’s Feast of John the Baptist. Both Johns were martyrs to marriage. But there was no silver platter for John Fisher. His head was placed on a pole on London bridge for two weeks, only to be replaced by Thomas More’s head. Saints John Fisher and Thomas More were beatified in 1886 along with fifty-four other English martyrs. The two were canonized together in 1935.”

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