The Life Of Saint Thomas More by Gianna
Happy feast day of Saint Thomas More! Thomas More was a writer and lawyer. He was a member of the Parliament and a judge (a good and fair one to be true). Thomas was an advisor of King Henry VIII and soon became the Lord Chancellor. Thomas was not only powerful and popular, but he was holy and prayerful.
So, what am I getting at? Well, King Henry wanted a son to reign after him when he died and though he had a daughter Mary, he had no sons. All the Royal Doctors and medicals said that his wife wasn’t able to have any more children. So, Henry claimed that marriage wasn’t valid and got a different wife.
The Pope said this was wrong, and likewise Thomas said the same. He stubbornly refused to go to the coronation of Henry’s new wife. That made King Henry very mad. Still, Thomas was famous with the ordinary people.
A few years later, the pope still said that Henry’s new wife was not actually his wife. So, Henry made a law saying that the pope wasn’t the head of the Church, and that Henry was. And even worse, Henry made all the important people swear by the Bible that this was right.
Soon enough, Thomas was told to swear this oath. Thomas said "No," and this made the king very angry. King Henry didn’t like that a popular man like Thomas was standing up against him.
People including Thomas’s own daughter tried to persuade him to do it. But the more they pleaded with him, the more he became determined.
Soon, he was arrested, and put in prison. Some of his friends would visit him in prison, and they tried to change his mind. But Thomas’s choice was made. A year after he had been put in prison, he was executed and beheaded.
Thomas More teaches us all that we should stand up for what’s right, even if it means dying, because Christ died for us on the cross.
God Bless,
Gianna
