We'll also talk about Saint Richard Reynolds, who was executed on May 4, 1535 with the Carthusian Priors. And we can't forget to honor Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, whose feast we celebrate on June 22, the date of Fisher's beheading, also in 1535.
Since Saint Richard Reynolds, a Bridgettine or Briggitine monk of Syon Abbey, suffered first, here's some background on him:
Like the Carthusians the Bridgettine nuns of Syon Abbey were regarded as exemplary religious in England. Reynolds was also known as a monk of great learning--like the three Carthusians with whom he suffered he had studied at Cambridge University (Corpus Christi College!). Reynolds had joined the Bridgettine Abbey of Syon as Chaplain in 1513 and was called the "Angel of Syon".
The Abbey, founded by King Henry V in 1415 as The Monastery of St Saviour and St Bridget of Syon, of the Order of St Augustine, was rich and shared plentifully with the poor around London. There were separate houses of men and women with the Abbess as the highest authority. The abbess at the time of Reynolds' martyrdom and the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 was Agnes Jordan.
In his Defense of the Unity of the Church, the public letter he wrote to Henry VIII to remonstrate with him and call him to repentance, Reginald Pole highlighted the martyrdom of Reynolds:
One of these martyrs I must not pass over without a special notice, as he was intimately known to myself. Reynolds was his name, and he was one who, for the sanctity of his life, might be compared with the very first of those who profess the more exact rule of conduct, according to the discipline of Christ. . . . To manifest to all future time the praises of his sanctity and doctrine, and to show the height of his piety to Christ and his love of his country, it was ordained that in company with the other heroes he should, in this time of so great need, give testimony to the truth with his own blood. He gave it in truth, and was among the first to give it, and that with such constancy of mind, that as I was told by one who was present at the spectacle and had observed most attentively all that took place, when he put his neck within the murderous halter, he seemed rather to be putting on a regal chain than an instrument of death, such was the alacrity manifested in his countenance. O Blessed man! truly worthy of the fullest confidence of thee, O my country!
It's also important to note that Reynolds was the last to suffer execution and consoled the four men (the Carthusians and Blessed John Haile) as they endured their brutal tortures at Tyburn.
St. John Stone, in contrast, died alone in Canterbury, probably on December 27, 1539. Although the date is not completely certain, we know exactly what his execution cost. We also know nothing about St. John Stone before his arrest, trial, and execution, except that he was a Canon in the Austin (Augustinian) Friary of Canterbury. As British History Online describes the events in Kent:
The Bishop of Dover was a former Dominican friar and prior, Richard Ingworth, who had been rewarded with that see in 1537 because he "had taken great pains in the king's matters" and readily submitted to the Oaths required and the surrender of King's Langley Priory in Hertford (which property he also received). He was then "commissioned by the king in February 1538 to visit all friaries in England, (fn. 68) and in May he was ordered to put their goods into safe custody and take inventories of them, (fn. 69) evidently in preparation for suppression."
The Midwest Augustinians's website offers these details of what happened to Friar Stone:
. . . All the other Augustinian Friars signed the document, but John refused.
John was arrested and thrown into prison in the Tower of London. He remained firm in his refusal to accept the King as head of the Church. While in jail, he spent many hours in prayer. One day, God spoke to him, encouraging him to be of good heart and to remain steadfast in his belief, even if it meant death. From this point on, John felt great strength.
And British History Online provides the data about the cost of his execution and the labor involved:
and the sequel is thus noted in the City Accounts (1538-9):—Paid for half a ton of timber to make a pair of gallows to hang Friar Stone, 2s. 6d.; to a labourer that digged the holes, 3d.; to four men that helped set up the gallows for drink to them, for carriage of the timber from Stablegate to Dongeon (i.e. Dane John), 1s.; for a hurdle, 6d.; for a load of wood and for a horse to draw him to the Dongeon, 2s. 3d.; paid two men that set the kettle and parboiled him, 1s.; to two men that carried his quarters to the gates and set them up, 1s.; for halters to hang him and Sandwich cord and for straw, 1s.; to a woman that scoured the kettle, 2d.; to him that did the execution, 3s. 8d. (fn. 38)
Another Augustinian history website provides additional detail about the date of his execution:
Usually such a sentence was carried out without delay but in this instance an extraordinary event complicated matters. Anne of Cleves, who was coming to England to be the fourth wife of King Henry VIII, was due to arrive on Sunday, 7th December 1539, and would be stopping at Canterbury overnight on her way to London.
Her arrival, however, was delayed by bad weather. Her visit and John Stone’s execution probably happened on Saturday, 27th December 1539. As bizarre as it sounds, John Stone's execution was timed to be part of the reception festivities arranged for Anne of Cleves, despite the shortness of her stay. This conclusion is deduced from the extraordinary expenses for the execution and from the fact that the paraphernalia needed for it were removed only after her departure. . . .
What a welcome to England for Henry VIII's (briefly) fourth wife! A brutal, bloody execution!
Saint John Fisher, pray for us!
Saint Thomas More, pray for us!
Saint Richard Reynolds, pray for us!
Saint John Stone, pray for us!
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