All the Feasts of Sts. Fisher and More

My brother and sister and I bought this book together, chipping in equally, so we could celebrate certain feast days together. Today we'll gather for a Benedictine feast to honor Saint Benedict of Nursia, making a couple of Bénédictine (the herbal liqueur) cocktails. Drinking with the Saints: The Sinners Guide to a Holy Happy Hour often includes both the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite (EFLR) dates of saints' feast days and the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite (OFLR) dates, as it does in the case of St. Benedict: today is the OFLR date; March 21 is the EFLR date.

Earlier this week the author, Michael P. Foley posted on his official Facebook page a note about the different dates upon which Saint Thomas More is honored on the Catholic calendar of saints (with an appropriate "for all seasons" cocktail):

Whether or not you celebrated the Feast of St. Thomas More on June 22 (in the new calendar), there are two more opportunities to toast to this great saint, scholar, and martyr. Today, July 6, is the 485th anniversary of More's martyrdom at the behest of King Henry VIII, and July 9 is his feast day in the traditional calendar. Why July 9, you ask? It was the first free day on the calendar. Fittingly, More died on the old octave day of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (it was his loyalty to the See of St. Peter that led to his martyrdom), July 7 was the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and July 8 was also already taken (St. Elizabeth of Portugal).

Foley even suggested a toast:

Last Call: You can toast to the merry More with an adaptation of his very last words: “To being God’s good servant first and the king’s second: may the prayers and example of St. Thomas More help us always keep our priorities straight.”

Remember that the Church of England celebrates these Reformation Martyrs on July 6, Thomas More's date of execution.

On July 9, indeed, Father John Zuhlsdorf offered Mass to celebrate the feast of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More on the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, including the texts for the Propers of the Mass on his blog.

I was struck by the appropriateness of the readings and prayers, for example the Epistle from the Second Book of Maccabees about the old scribe Eleazar, who refused to even seem to eat pork to save his life. But the Alleluia and the Tract were even more appropriate, one for each of these great men:

St John Fisher read these works on the way to the scaffold outside the Tower of London:

Allelúia, allelúia. V. Hæc est vita ætérna, ut cognóscant te solum Deum verum, et, quem misísti, Jesum Christum. Allelúia

Alleluia, alleluia. V. This is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent. Alleluia. (John 17:3)

Stating after he had read the verse: "Here is even learning enough for me to my life's end."

And the Tract seemed perfect for the merry Thomas More, emphasizing joy:

Qui séminant in lácrimis, in gáudio metent. V. Eúntes ibant et flebant, mitténtes sémina sua. V. Veniéntes autem vénient cum exsultatióne, portántes manípulos suos.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. V. Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds. V. But coming, they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. (Psalm 125:5-6)

Saint John Fisher, pray for us!

Saint Thomas More pray for us!

Saint Benedict of Nursia, pray for us!

One more comment about Thomas More: please read Professor Richard Rex's review of Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light in First Things! It echoes some comments Rex made in a June 2019 presentation in Dublin.