Profile
Studied at London and Oxford. Page for the Archbishop of
Canterbury. Lawyer. Twice married, father of one son and three
daughters, and a devoted family man. Writer. Friend of King
Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor of England, a position of power
second only to the king. Opposed the king on the matter of
royal divorce, and refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy
which declared the king the head of the Church in England.
Resigned the Chancellorship, and was imprisoned in the
Tower of London. Martyred for his refusal to bend his religious
beliefs to the king's political needs.

Born
1478 at London, England

Died
beheaded in 1535; head kept in the Roper Vault, Saint
Dunstan's church, Canterbury, England; body at Saint Peter ad
Vincula, Tower of London, England

Canonized
1935 by Pope Pius XI

Memorial
June 22nd

Patronage
adopted children, diocese of Arlington Virginia, civil servants, court clerks, difficult marriages, large
families, lawyers, diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Florida, politicians, politicos, statesmen,
step-parents, widowers

Representation
English Lord Chancellor carrying a book; English Lord Chancellor carrying an axe

Writings
Treatise On The Blessed Sacrament
Utopia

Readings
What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason:
what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?

- Saint Thomas More
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What men call fame is, after all, but a very windy thing. A man things that many are praising him, and talking
of him alone, and yet they spend but a very small part of the day thinking of him, being occupied with things
of their own.

- Saint Thomas More
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Although I know well, Margaret, that because of my past wickedness I deserve to be abandoned by God, I
cannot but trust in his merciful goodness. His grace has strengthened me until now and made me content
to lose goods, land, and life as well, rather than to swear against my conscience. God's grace has given
the king a gracious frame of mind toward me, so that as yet he has taken from me nothing but my liberty. In
doing this His Majesty has done me such great good with respect to spiritual profit that I trust that among
all the great benefits he has heaped so abundantly upon me I count my imprisonment the very greatest. I
cannot, therefore, mistrust the grace of God.

By the merits of his bitter passion joined to mine and far surpassing in merit for me all that I can suffer
myself, his bounteous goodness shall release me from the pains of purgatory and shall increase my
reward in heaven besides.

I will not mistrust him, Meg, though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with
fear. I shall remember how Saint Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I
shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to him for help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand on
me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning.

And finally, Margaret, I know this well: that without my fault he will not let me be lost. I shall, therefore, with
good hope commit myself wholly to him. And if he permits me to perish for my faults, then I shall serve as
praise for his justice. But in good faith, Meg, I trust that his tender pity shall keep my poor soul safe and
make me commend his mercy.

And, therefore, my own good daughter, do not let you mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to
me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be, however
bad it may seem, it shall indeed be the best.

- from a letter written by Saint Thomas More from prison to his daughter Margaret

Saint Thomas More

Saint Thomas More