Our Holy Role-Model for June is St. Thomas More, brilliant lawyer and apologist who was ultimately beheaded for refusing to support King Henry VIII in his divorce, remarriage, and claim of primacy over the Pope for the Church in England.  The world may focus mostly on his illustrious career and public martyrdom, but St. Thomas More was also a contemplative and prayerful Christian, a devoted husband, and a doting father.

Childhood and studies

Thomas More was born in London, England on February 7, 1478.  His father, John More, was a respected lawyer and judge.  His mother, Agnes, and three of Thomas’ five siblings all died during Thomas’ early childhood, some possibly of the plague.  Thomas was fortunate to receive a great education, starting with one of the best grammar schools in London, and continuing as a page for the Archbishop of Canterbury.  At age 14, he headed to Oxford University to study law.

Thomas enjoyed his studies, as well as the quasi-monastic schedule of Oxford students.  He would go on to live in the guesthouse of London’s Charterhouse Monastery for several of his early years practicing law.  Thomas of course ended up as a married man and not a religious brother, but he never lost the devotion to silent prayer he had learned from the Carthusians.  He also wore an uncomfortable hair shirt under his clothing from this point forward as an act of penance, unbeknownst to almost everyone but his favorite daughter, Meg.  

Thomas was finally named a full member of the law profession in 1501 or 1502.  More valued justice deeply.  “Were it my father stood on the one side and the devil on the other,” he once wrote, “his cause being good, the devil should have right.”

Marriage and family life

In 1505, Thomas married Jane Colt, a woman he described as facilima– most good natured.  Together, they had four children: Margaret (Meg), Elizabeth, Cecily and John.  Their marriage seems to have been happy.  Sadly, Jane died after just six years of marriage, likely while giving birth to a fifth, stillborn child.

Thomas was grieved over the loss of his first wife but had no choice but to remarry in a hurry-  he had four young children that needed the care of a mother.  Less than a month after Jane’s death, Thomas married a widow and old friend named Alice Harper Middleton.  Dame Alice More was not quite so beautiful or as facilima as Jane had been, but Thomas felt he could completely rely on her to run the household and raise the children.  She made him laugh with her witty comments, and she never shied away from entering religious discussions with him.  

As he became more and more busy in his advancing career, Thomas wrote almost daily to his children, and encouraged them to do the same.  He deeply valued education, not only for his son but equally for his daughters, which was a countercultural idea at the time.  Daily prayer and scripture study were also very important.

Advancing career: Increasingly lofty and dangerous positions

In autumn 1516, Thomas was appointed to the king’s council, the Council of the Star Chamber.  He knew that this was both a powerful and a dangerous position.  What if Thomas’ conscience and the king’s will did not align?  He must have been relieved when King Henry VIII urged him to serve God first and his master second.  The king would, unfortunately, change his tune soon after.  

It was no secret that King Henry VIII was dissatisfied with his wife, Catherine of Aragon.  Henry wanted a male heir, but after many years of marriage, Catherine had borne only a daughter and several stillborn sons.  In 1529, Henry sent his Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, to Rome to obtain a papal annulment of his marriage.  When Wolsey returned empty handed, he was arrested for treason, and Henry appointed Sir Thomas More in his place.

As Lord Chancellor, Thomas had to combat heresy against the Church.  More was no stranger to defending his faith, having written long responses to the arguments of Protestants like Luther (Responsio ad lutherum) and Tyndale (Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer).  He boldly supported the unity of the Catholic Church, and specific Catholic traditions that were under attack at the time.  But the king wanted more than a hardworking Lord Chancellor- he wanted one who would back him up in his annulment conflict.

In 1532, King Henry drafted the “Submission of the Clergy,” wherein all legislative powers of the Church were given instead to Parliament, and royal assent was required for any change to canon law to be recognized in England.  The king, and not the Pope, would be the head of the English Church. Thomas declared that he could not swear this oath “without the jeapording of [his] soul to perpetual damnation.”  Mostly out of fear, the British clergy agreed to sign the submission document.  The very next day, May 16, 1532, Sir Thomas More resigned his chancellorship.

Thomas’ final months

After his resignation, Thomas knew his future was uncertain. He fasted, prayed, and focused on his family. He often woke as early as two o’clock in the morning to finish his work and to pray before Mass at seven. He also helped feed the hungry- up to 100 people a day, especially during a famine.

In April 1534, Sir Thomas More was officially called forward to sign his name to the oath. At his refusal, he was accused of high treason and sent to the Tower of London to await trial.  The conditions there were actually not so terrible.  More had adequate food and shelter, and more time than ever before for prayer, spiritual reading and writing.  As his biographed Ackroyd puts it, “he had become a monk at last.”  

At his 1535 trial, Thomas defended himself nobly, but it was in vain— he was sentenced to a gruesome death within 15 minutes.  His dear daughter Meg, “overcome with great grief…forced her way right through the crowd, and… rushed up to her father…holding him tightly in her embrace without being able to say a word.”  No words would have been adequate. 

Still, Thomas More, who frequently described himself as “merry,” managed to find mirth in his last moments. He asked for help climbing the stairs to his beheading but joked that, afterwards, he could make it back down fine on his own.  He forgave his prosecutors and executioner, sincerely hoping that he and they “may yeat hearafter in heaven meerily all meete together” like St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and St. Paul, who participated in Stephen’s stoning.  Just before he died, Sir Thomas More famously professed himself “the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”  

St. Thomas More, pray for us!

Sir Thomas More was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935, exactly 400 years after his martyrdom.  He is the patron saint of adopted children, lawyers, civil servants and politicians.  He is a model to fathers, husbands, and defenders of the indissoluble covenant of marriage everywhere. 

References:

Ackroyd, Peter. The Life of Thomas More. New York: Anchor Books, 1999.

Roper, William. The Life of Sir Thomas More. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2005.

“St. Thomas More.” Catholic Online. Last modified, 2020. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=324.

Wegemer, Gerard B., ed. Thomas More Studies. Last modified, 2018. https://www.thomasmorestudies.org.

“Thomas More.” Biography. Last modified June 27, 2019. https://www.biography.com/scholar/thomas-more.

“Thomas More.” Wikipedia. Last modified June 6, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More.