0204 John Stone d. 1539

Jack and Thom,
Good morning, I love you
110104, 1300

How many English martyrs are there? Google it. Check the Catholic Encyclopedia. There are lists. And still, not enough reminders to clutch onto our faith no matter who or what oppresses us. Oro pro vobis.

February 4

John Stone b. 1509 d. 1539

Almost nothing is known of John Stone's early years or of his life and activities as an Augustinian. We do know that his early life led him to the Augustinians. Where is your early life leading you? Especially since you don’t know what early is. For me, 30 is early. I bet that for John Stone, who probably didn’t turn thirty, he figured his adolescence was his early life. At 21 and 23, you are in the late stages of very early life. Or, it’s the day before you get leveled by a wayward truck. Is your life preparing you for the Augustinians? For Heaven?

The Parliament of England in 1534 approved a law known as the Act of Supremacy. This Act proclaimed King Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church in England. The “supreme head.” Who’s in your head as supreme? God? Jesus? Spirit? The clover leaf? Are you a Papist? You better be. That’s what’s engraved on your soul. Any one who tells you differently ranks up there with the persecutors of England circa 1534.

John Stone was a doctor of divinity. We are each responsible for knowing our faith, our religion. It’s a constant learning process of tradition and scripture. A personal responsibility under the guidance of our Holy Mother Church. The recent article in America about the Magesterium is instructive – our bishops are there to teach us, and teaching is not mandating. Or the article recently about the nuns creating their own cadre of theologians. Learn, always, about our faith.

Circa 1538, an official of the King arrived in Canterbury to close all the monasteries and to obtain the written assent of every single Friar to the provisions of the Act of Supremacy. At the Augustinian house where John Stone was a member all the other Augustinian Friars signed the document. But, John Stone refused.

Be certain of this – if a person opposes your faith, that opposition is not likely to dissipate or fade away or be withdrawn. Our faith is also a rejection of others’ fundamental beliefs that some cannot withstand when they look into the mirror or into their soul. When the ‘supreme’ in your life declares your faith anathema, know that they will persist in persecuting you; know that they will unceasingly try to suppress your faith through whatever punishments they can imagine.

And all around you, people will acquiesce. Just like all the friars except John Stone signed their support of the Act of Supremacy. What’s the big deal, right? No harm no foul – especially no harm to me and no foul to the supreme. But John Stone knew better. You can imagine every other friar telling John Stone to just sign the parchment! Not only for his sake but for theirs.

John Stone was arrested and thrown into prison in the Tower of London. The supreme is serious about squashing the recalcitrant in their dominion. When you stand with your faith, be prepared by prayer and fasting, by faith and hope, most importantly by your love of Jesus and His Bride, the Church,

John Stone remained firm in his refusal to accept the King as head of the Church. While in jail, John Stone spent many hours in prayer.

Under the pressure to renounce the fundamentals of life, spend many hours in prayer. Many HOURS. And the only way that will be your salvific response is if you spend hours now in daily prayer. HOURS. Each day. The discipline of prayer will build the foundation and framework of your life as Catholic in this anti-Catholic environment.

Listen to the Word of God speaking to your. In your prayer. In the daily liturgy. In your persistent reading of the Bible and our other sources of wisdom . God is speaking to you to be of good heart – regardless of the persecutions – and to remain steadfast in our belief, which is necessary to be of good heart. Round and round in faith.

John Stone is probably the Austin Friar of whom Bishop Ingworth complained on 14 December, 1538, that "at all times he still held and still desired to die for it, that the king may not be head of the Church of England". It is harder to will to live for our faith. To live in the midst of people who demean our faith and our religion. To live in the midst of loved ones who reject us for our faith. Like in the movie Patton, at the beginning, the speech to the troops – let some other sonofabitch die for his country, to win, to let the Kingdom spread on earth, we must live our faith.

When in prison before his martyrdom "after an uninterrupted fast of three days, he heard a voice, but without seeing the presence of anyone, calling him by name and exhorting him to be of good courage and not to hesitate to suffer with constancy for the truth of the opinion which he had professed". John Stone listened to the exhortation to be of good heart and to remain steadfast in his belief, even if it meant death. From this point on, John Stone felt great strength.

John Stone was tried and convicted of treason in 1539. Right after Christmas of that year, a slow procession passed through the streets of Canterbury. The prisoner John Stone was being taken through the city to a hill outside the city walls. Okay, simple enough. See the Crucifixion.

John Stone was hanged, drawn and quartered. Because he was considered a traitor, his head and body were put on display at the entrance to the city. Because he was considered a martyr, this display did not frighten so much as it strengthened our faith, then and now.

I love you,
Dad
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