St Thomas More

Martyr for the Faith

The years 1500 and onwards in England would be difficult and tumultuous ones as Henry Vlll ascended the Throne of England as King in 1509, and alongside Henry his wife Catherine of Aragon would become his Queen. But King Henry the Vlll was an immature 17 year old lad who was full of self importance and lacking in wisdom.

For Henry the Vlll was a man of volatile and tumultuous temperament who could also be vindictive as well as garrulous, a very combustible personality. One of his first acts as King was to abolish the heavy taxes which his father before him had imposed; his way of ending this tax was to execute the officials who helped impose it! To work for King Henry Vlll could be very perilous indeed, as many were to find out, including his friend, Thomas More.

Thomas More was born into a prosperous family in 1478, due to his wealth Thomas was to enjoy the benefits of a good education, provided by the wealth of his father Judge John More. His early education was at St. Anthony's school before moving onto the much respected university at Oxford. This provided Thomas an avenue to express his love of literature, it also helped Thomas to make long and enduring friendships, for Thomas personality was pleasing, polite and humorous.

The young Thomas did not take himself too seriously, which made him very popular amongst his contemporaries, and which would hold him in good stead in his future.

Though Thomas loved literature due to pressure from his father, he too decided to study the law and to earn his living in a field which needed much skill and enterprise. But Thomas maintained a curious mind in all things and was an avid reader and scholar.

But beneath the surface of Thomas amiable personality lay a very deep and abiding love of God and the Faith, which soon consumed him so much so that he gave up his practice and tried to enter a Monastery. He stayed with the Carthusians for a time and became a great admirer of monastic living and its spirit of discipline. But Thomas's personality was of a man for the people, he wished to serve his fellow man and with his witty but gentle persona, he decided to leave the Carthusians and enter politics.

Upon entering the political arena it did not take Thomas long before he fell foul of King Henry the Vll, who when Thomas opposed a bill which would grant the King more money, King Henry the Vll then imprisoned Sir John More in retribution!

Thomas decided upon the release of his father, to instead concentrate on his interest in literature and to wait out the Kings wrath, for one of the abiding gifts that Thomas had was a spirit of perseverance. Thomas also concentrated on his family and his lovely new wife whom he had married in 1505. This was a happy time for the family as they enjoyed the social season and took part in visiting plays and other social activities.

But in 1510 Thomas More was appointed as an under-sheriff in the city of London, it was during this time that Thomas was to meet many people who were not as fortunate as he, and Thomas tried his best to be fair to all he encountered. But London was not a very sanitary place to live and unfortunately Thomas More wife died whilst trying to give birth.

But Thomas did not like life alone so he remarried for a second time to his new wife, Alice. It was during this period that King Henry the Vlll, came to meet Thomas and due to Thomas humour and wit the King and Thomas were to become good friends. Thomas also helped King Henry Vlll to counter Luthers Reformation, when he wrote 'Defence of the Seven Sacraments', unbeknownst to both that the King too would soon turn against the Church in Rome!

Thomas More and King Henry Vlll complimented one another in that both were witty, intelligent with a love for the arts, they also shared a love of literature and many other activities. But the King lacked Thomas's more human and compassionate nature, for Thomas though witty was not a sardonic man, nor was he selfish. In many ways and in various area's it was Thomas who would outshine the King by his very deep and abiding love for his Faith and his genuine concern and love for the people.

What would start out as a friendship among equals soon turned to jealousy on the Kings part as he became aware that Thomas was the more genuine and sincere man of the people, for Thomas had done the unforgivable he had outclassed the King in intellect, humour and principles! But even though the Kings friendship with Thomas was to become tricky, still he appointed Thomas More as Lord Chancellor in 1529, this was indeed a great honour for the More family but it would come at a terrible price!

For the King was determined to bring forth a son so as to inherit the throne and unfortunately Katherine of Aragon had born him a daughter, Mary. The King was disgruntled that in their years of marriage no further children were added, this was to lead to resentment and petulance as the King blamed his wife, Katherine for her inability to produce a male heir.

It was this urgency to produce a male heir that drove King Henry Vlll to contemplate divorce, which was anathema to Thomas More a man of great integrity and principles. But Henry was a man of ruthless ambition, and he met his match in ruthlessness upon meeting one of his wife’s ladies in waiting, the very striking Anne Boleyn, the King fell madly in love and the course was set for further conflict.

Thomas More could not accept the Kings decision to try and divorce Queen Katherine, so he resigned his position as Lord Chancellor in 1532, for he strongly disapproved of the Kings attempts to divorce his wife of many years standing. Even when Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen in 1533 Thomas had refused to attend her coronation, this infuriated the tempestuous Anne and the volatile Henry, Thomas Mores days were now numbered!

In 1534 Thomas More also refused to swear allegiance to the King in the Act of Succession nor would he swear an oath to acknowledge King Henry's ascendency over Rome! This was too much for King Henry Vlll and in his fury he had Thomas arrested and thrown into the Tower of London.

But unlike the King Thomas More bore no malice in his heart, nor would he deny The Church of Rome's authority to save his life by swearing an allegiance to the King and thereby acknowledge the illegitimate Queen Anne Boleyn.

For Thomas More was a man of God first and also an obedient son of the Church in Rome, he therefore stood by his principles even unto death, for though Henry was King, it was Thomas who had the heart and courage of a Lion!

Whilst waiting on the scaffold his final words were, "The King's good servant, but God's First"!

Thomas More was beheaded in 1535.

Thomas More was canonized by Pope Pius Xl in 1935.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

The Nuns of Compiegne

Saints and Martyrs

As we have seen the French revolution was to lead to untold inhumanity against man, but also it was a direct attack on the Church itself and it struck at the heart of the Church in our Priests and Religious, in which many suffered Martyrdom.

Instead of a revolution that freed the poor from the oppression of poverty it instead, was a tyrannical and obscene political movement. For if one is either rich or poor we are all children of God, and murder is never acceptable to solving social problems!

As the people reeled from one disaster to the next in this blood thirsty landscape where no amount of blood shed could quench the lust of the murderers, for in their blood lust these killers spared no one! The persecution of the Catholic Church in France is almost unequalled, in the annals of history.

But no matter the political turmoil or the unrest of the people, the Church stands Strong and firm, including both Priests and Religious!

So when the 'new' law of France was declared that of liberty it was to be in a perverted sense, in that many stormed the Monasteries and Convents to 'release' the 'imprisoned' in order to 'enlighten' these Holy men and women to this amazing freedom, which was simply a form of enchainment to the State! And when they in turn informed the officials that they were already free in their Love for Christ, many officials took this as a provocation to their 'new world order' in their 'enlightened age'.

So we come to the Carmelite Sisters of Compeigne, who had fled persecution in England only to find it arriving on their doorstep once they arrived in France. In themselves these holy Sisters were quite ordinary souls they lived their religious vocation as devoutly and as humbly as they could, and prayed for peace in France. They tried to obey the civil authorities, despite the obnoxious way their Rule of Life was treated!

These most Holy Nuns also kept prayer vigils for all those suffering under this terrible persecution and offered themselves as victim souls in expiation against the terrible sins being committed against the Church, God and their fellow man.

Perhaps this was too much for these 'brave' men of the revolution who when hearing of the Nuns devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had the Nuns of Compiegne arrested! Obviously by their very pious and humble prayers they were considered 'provocateurs'!

And in this bloody thirsty generation it seemed their blood lust was still not appeased and so these innocent and Holy Nuns were arrested on trumped up charges. What was their crime? The officials found portraits of Jesus of the Sacred Heart, these Nuns were then deemed enemies of the peoples, and they faced their trial which was a kangaroo court of mere thugs and degenerates!

The Nuns of Compiegne were accused of being 'parasites' and of being 'deluded' in that they these revolutionaries were more enlightened than to actually believe that God existed, for these degenerates God NO longer existed but their perverse Law did!

But these Holy Nuns were not silent against such a gross injustice, and it would be Mother Henriette who upon handing these officials her written statement they then read it aloud, "How false are the judgments that the world makes of us! Its profound ignorance disapproves of our promises; all that it adorns itself with is but pure vanity. Its only reality is the sorrow that devours it. I despise its pride, I consider its hatred an honour; and I prefer my chains to its spurious freedom. O day of eternal celebration, O day forever holy, when, vowing myself to Carmel I won the heart of God. O beloved and precious bonds I strengthen you each day; all that the earth can offer me is worthless in my eyes; your sarcasm, worldlings, compared to my joy is a dead giveaway: that joy outweighs all the cares to which your soul is prey."

This declaration of their love for God and many other devout nuns praising God were enough for the 'Judge' to pass judgement and that was death by guillotine!

Many of these Holy Nuns went to the guillotine singing songs of Praises to God on High but also for mercy to those who were to martyr them. These heroic Nuns truly had their prayers heard and died for the expiation of many who were committing horrendous and barbarous acts in the name of 'liberty'!

These Holy Nuns of Compiegne died in 1794.

They were beatified in 1906 by Pope Pius X.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Blessed Jeanne Jugan

France could be termed the nation of tears, for from the French Revolution onwards, the French people suffered terribly. Whilst the Catholic Church was persecuted, the monarchy was replaced with anarchy!

This brought untold misery to many French people, and most especially those who were devout Catholics, as even the Holy Father was threatened by this ungodly event. As Church's were ransacked and many were destroyed, Holy relics were discarded and the Clergy were spat upon, and many were martyred in the name of 'liberation'!

Through this great catastrophe the Church held firm, even though its Powers were limited by the French authorities and its position diminished. These were tremendously difficult years for the Catholic Church and for the people of France, as wars only make a few people wealthy and many more into misery and poverty!

But this also brought out the best in people, as we have seen in many of our Saints, and such is the case of another heroic Frenchwoman by the name of Jeanne Jugan.

Jeanne was born into a very poor fishing family. She did not get to know her father well as he sadly died when Jeanne was young. So it was to her Mother that Jeanne was dependent upon, as her Mother, Marie, struggled to provide for her family.

But even though the Church was suffering under repression, Marie Jugan did her best to raise Jeanne to be a faithful and devout Catholic. Jeanne proved herself to be an apt pupil, in learning of her Faith at the knees of her Mother.

Jeanne began earning her own living at 16 years when she began to work as a maid to a more prosperous family. This family also helped the poor in their area and Jeanne would accompany her employer in works of mercy.

It was during this time that Jeanne refused several, marriage proposals in that she felt a calling to help the poor and destitute. Coming from a poor background herself, she longed to alleviate the sufferings of the many elderly people she would see.

So in her mid 20's Jeanne began working in a hospital, in order for her to fulfil her particular calling and it was whilst she was working at the hospitals that other women too, joined Jeanne in her mission to help the poor.

But the heavy work was taking a toll on Jeanne's health and therefore she accepted an offer from a lady to live as her companion, which she did until her friend’s death. It was then that Jeanne was told she had been left some money in her benefactress will.

But it was in the year 1839 that proved to be pivotal ones for Jeanne, as she came across an elderly woman too poor and infirm to take care of herself. Jeanne offered the poor woman a home in her small apartment. Once this news spread there were many elderly who threw themselves upon the mercy of Jeanne.

But Jeanne was not alone in her work and other women of the area soon rallied around to help her, serve the poorest of the poor, the elderly and infirm. They moved to a larger home where they were able to take care of more elderly, as the need was great due to the political uncertainty and many were left to die hungry and alone in the streets.

In order to gain more money to help the infirm, Jeanne and her friends began begging in the streets and going from home to home so they could support the elderly who were reliant upon them. This was not always pleasant work and Jeanne found herself under verbal and physical abuse, but her Faith in God was strong and she bore all ill will with humility.

It was in 1844 that Jeanne founded her Order and named it 'Sisters of the Poor', Jeanne then took the name Sister Mary of the Cross, her and her companions then made the usual vows of charity, chastity, poverty and obedience. Whilst the Charism of their Order was in the spirit of hospitality, so the Sisters were not enclosed but lived to serve the poor throughout France.

Sister Jeanne worked for many years tramping the streets seeking aid for her beloved elderly and soon many other houses would be founded. But Sister Jeanne paid little attention to any compliments for she lived to serve the Lord and it was to Him that all praise be given.

During her entire life, Jeanne led a deep and rich prayer life, which gave her the strength to endure and also to remain unaware of the beauty of her own spirit as she only Honoured God in her heart.

Even though she suffered many difficulties even from within her community of Sisters, Rome recognised and sanctioned her Order in the year 1878. Through all the stresses and strains Jeanne simply continued on whilst praying continually.

Jeanne Jugan died peacefully in 1879.

Blessed Jeanne Jugan was beatified by Pope John Paul 2 in 1982.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.