St. Thomas More

One

St Thomas More 

After graduating from law school and before he was married, Thomas More lived for four years at the London Charterhouse near a Carthusian monastery so that he could participate in the monks’ life of prayer and self-mastery. This helped him develop his own prayer life which enabled him to overcome vice and become virtuous as well as discern his vocation to marriage. In these four years he learned not to rely on his own wisdom and effort alone, but the need for the grace that came from the sacraments and prayer. As a result, he began the spiritual practices he would maintain for the rest of his life.

Even though he was a husband, father of six children, lawyer, statesmen, theologian, author, social reformer and the Lord High Chancellor to King Henry VIII of England, the highest-ranking officer in the Government next to the King, (a pretty busy guy with a lot of responsibilities) he started each day with meditation, study and Mass.

Thomas More wrote, “If you love your health; if you desire to be secure from the snares of the devil, from the storms of this world, from the hands of your enemies; if you long to be acceptable to God; if you covet everlasting happiness – then let no day pass without at least once presenting yourself to God in prayer, falling down before him flat on the ground with a humble affection and a devout mind; not merely with your lips, but from the innermost recesses of your heart…”

Daily meditation, a resolution and examination of conscience were the source and soul of his life. 

Two

Thomas More wrestled with the choice of vocation 

Many wrongly believed that if you want to become holy you became a monk or a nun. Otherwise, you got married. But Thomas More had a spiritual director who helped him see that Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Marriage as a double mission to holiness and to build the Kingdom of Jesus by having and raising faith filled children. This shows us how essential it is for each one of us to have a good spiritual director. 

He married Jane Colt and they had four children, three girls and a boy. Tragically, in the sixth year of their marriage Jane suddenly died leaving More with four young children to raise by himself. Within 30 days he married the best woman available, Alice Middleton.

More was realistic about marriage. He said, “I do not think it possible to live, even with the best of wives, without some discomfort…Generally we make our wives worse by our own fault.”

More was known for his indifference to what he wore and what he ate. He had extra ordinary flexibility and serenity in the face of unexpected change. In the summer and fall of 1528 the country suffered a severe famine. That winter, More fed one hundred people a day. Then, just as a most welcomed harvest came, a fire broke out caused by the negligence of one of his neighbors. The result was the destruction of all of More’s barns, part of his house, and several of the neighbors barns as well. More was out of the country when he received word. Yet, without hesitation he sent a letter to his wife telling her, “We must and are bound not only to be content but also to be glad of God’s will. After all, it was God who sent us all that we have lost and since He has by such a chance taken it away again, His pleasure has been fulfilled. Let us heartily thank God as well for adversity as for prosperity, and perhaps we have more cause to thank Him for our loss than for our gain, for His wisdom sees better what is good for us than we do ourselves. Therefore, be of good cheer and take all the household with you to church and there thank God both for what he has given us and for what he has taken from us and for what he has left us – which, if it pleases him, he can increase when he will; and if it pleases him to leave us yet less, so let it be at His pleasure.”

He then told Alice to find out what the neighbors lost and pay for their loss. Then, if it was necessary, to sell the land to provide provision for the winter to do that and be a peace. 

The second thing we learn from Thomas is to be responsible yet detached. 

Three

St. Thomas More took personal responsibility to form his children in prayer, faith and virtue. 

So important to him was the formation of his family that he was willing to change his career rather than neglect them. He wrote, “I assure you that, rather than allow my children to be idle and slothful, I would make a sacrifice of wealth, and bid adieu to other cares and business, and attend to my children and my family.”

Three principles guided the formation of his children.

First, his greatest effort was to know and understand each of his children individually. The only way to know what each kid needed was to know them individually which takes real intentional time. So, Thomas More sought to befriend his children, know, understand love and care for them and lead them to the divine Teacher within.

Second, More knew that you can’t just give kids knowledge about faith. The content alone is not enough. Belief has three parts: to trust the person who reveals the content, to accept what they tell us as true, and to act on that truth. Since Jesus is the one who reveals the content of the faith we need a relationship with Him. Therefore, just giving his kids the content or the facts about the Catholic Faith is not enough. Thomas More knew he must lead his kids to a personal friendship with Jesus in prayer.

Third, Thomas knew that it was not his responsibility to make his kids holy. It was his responsibility to make sure his kids had a holy father.

Four

At 41, More was asked by King Henry VIII to enter his service as the Lord High Chancellor 

Thomas More knew this was very dangerous because King Henry VIII had become infatuated with Anne Boleyn (Bolynn) and began to search for a way to divorce his lawful wife Catherine of Aragon. Henry petitioned the Pope for an annulment but the Pope refused because it was a legitimate marriage. In response Henry proclaimed himself both the Pope and the King of England. Then he demanded everyone in England take Oath of Supremacy, rejecting the Pope as the Head of the Church. St. Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor and refused to take the Oath. So, Henry had him convicted of treason, and placed in prison to be executed. Yet through this all More had a remarkable sense of humor and forgiveness.  

More had learned that humor is one of the most powerful weapons in the spiritual battle to overcome fear, pride, anger, resentment and even pessimism. In fact, right before he laid his neck on the executioner’s block, More, having a great gray beard said to the ax-man, “I pray you let me lay my beard over the block lest you should cut it.”

At the end of his life, More frequently expressed his desire to be merry together in heaven with those who were responsible for his destruction. This from a man who had every reason to be angry and pessimistic. He had been betrayed by his closet friends, only one Bishop in all of England had joined him in resisting a tyrannical king. He had lost everything he owned, even his reputation, his health was broken and everyone abandoned him, even his own wife and family! They had all taken the oath, yet, Thomas forgave them all and held no resentment.  

Five

How could Thomas More be merry to the end?

Because his sense of humor was grounded in trust in Divine Providence, the absolute confidence that God works all things for good for those who love him. And this conviction helped him keep everything in perspective. 

While still in prison More wrote, “The brothers of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred. Nothing can come accept what God wills and I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, even if nothing has ever appeared so bad, it shall indeed be the best.”

Prayer for a Good Sense of Humor by St. Thomas More:

“Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others.”