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Patron Saints of the Parish
St John Fisher
-
English bishop and martyr, born in Yorkshire
- 1459-1535
- Feast
day 22 June
He received
his masters degree in 1491 and thereafter occupied
the vicarage of Northallerton until 1494. He then became proctor
at Cambridge, at his college, Michaelhouse (later part of Trinity College),
until 1501; then as vice-chancellor of the university from 1501 to 1504;
and finally with a lifetime appointment as chancellor, beginning in 1504.
Meanwhile, as chaplain/confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond
and Derby, and mother of Henry VII, Fisher became closely associated
in her endowments to Cambridge and in 1503 became the first Lady Margaret
Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. He had a great progressive influence,
promoting humanism, creating scholarships, and introducing Greek and Hebrew
into the curriculum. He brought in the world-famous Dutch scholar Desiderious
Erasmus to Cambridge as professor of Divinity and Greek.
In 1504, he became Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor
of Cambridge, in which capacity he also tutored
Prince Henry who was to become Henry VIII
As a churchman and humble servant of God, however, Fisher strongly opposed,
and wrote treatises against the Reformation, especially the doctrines of Martin
Luther. In 1527 he protested the plan of King Henry VIII of England
to divorce Catherine of Aragón, to whom Fisher was confessor. In 1534,
when he and the English statesman Sir Thomas More refused to take the oath
of the new act of succession (that Anne Boleyn was Henry's new wife and legitimate
heir to the throne), they were imprisoned in the Tower of London. In May
1535, Pope Paul III made Fisher a cardinal. One month later, the new cardinal
was brought to trial, accused of the treasonous act of refusing to accept
Henry VIII as head of the church. He was sentenced to death.
Half an hour before his execution, John Fisher opened his New Testament for
the last time and his eyes fell on the following words from St. John's Gospel:
"Eternal life is this: to know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified
you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do.. Now Father,
it is time for you to glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever
the world was". (ref: John 17:
3 - 5). Closing the book, he observed: "There is enough learning in that to last me the rest of
my life." St John Fisher was beheaded
on 25 June 1535, and canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1935.
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© Ss Alban
& Stephen Catholic Church 2004
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