Day 291 -- Saint John Fisher

Today I prayed for our seminarians in our Diocese since our minor seminary in our diocese is named after Saint John Fisher. His name means God is gracious or gift of God. Saint John Fisher was born in 1469 in Yorkshire, England. He studied theology at Cambridge University and received degrees in 1487 and 1491. He was a parish priest from 1491 to 1494. He was the confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII. He became bishop of Rochester, England in 1504 and was known as an excellent speaker and writer. He was the tutor of young King Henry VIII. In 1527 he was asked to study the problem of Henry's marriage and became the target of his wrath by defending the validity of the marriage and rejecting his claim. Saint John Fisher was imprisoned in 1534 for the opposition and spent 14 months in prison without a trial. While he was in prison, in 1535 he was created a cardinal. He died a martyr on June 22, 1535 on Tower Hill in Tyburn, England. He was buried in the churchyard of All Hallows, Barking, without rites. His head was put on as an exhibit on the London Bridge to set an example, then thrown into the River Thames two weeks later. His relics are in Saint Peter's Church in the Tower of London. He was canonized in 1935 and is the patron of the Diocese of Rochester, NY.

"I condemn no other man’s conscience: their conscience may save them, and mine must save me. We should remember, in all the controversies in which we engage, to treat our opponents as if they were acting in good faith, even if they seem to us to be acting out of spite or self-interest."