Kresta in the Afternoon Podcast and Download

Just so you have it handy for your listening pleasure--and to download if you wish--here's the podcast of my interview with Al Kresta on January 15, the 485th anniversary of Henry VIII proclaiming himself "Henricus Octavus, Dei gratia Angliæ et Franciæ Rex, Fidei Defensor et Dominus Hiberniæ, et in Terra Supremum Caput Anglicanæ Ecclesiæ": Henry the VIIIth, by the Grace of God King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and on earth Supreme Head of the Church of England"!

One chronological point about this date in the context of the timeline of the English Reformation to clarify: Oaths of Succession had already been submitted for secular and religious men to take: Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher had been in the Tower of London since the middle of April, 1534 because they refused to swear that oath. It did not proclaim Henry the Supreme Head of the Church of England but it did deny the spiritual or ecclesiastical authority of the Pope in England, especially when it interfered with the Succession and Henry's marital affairs.

When Henry VIII made this declaration of his new title, the Parliamentary Act of Supremacy and the Treasons Act were already in place--since November of 1534. At their trials, the crucial act for the government to prove was that both More and Fisher had denied that Henry VIII was the Supreme Head of the Church of England; thus they had committed Treason and were condemned traitors to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. At both of their trials, Sir Richard Rich was the star witness to their acts of treason: Sir Thomas More vehemently protested that he would never have confided to such a person his thoughts on a matter he had told no one else, not even his family!

I first met Al Kresta in 2011 at the Catholic Writers Guild/Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. He has been kind enough to recommend my book to "anyone interested in this topic" ever since! He says so at the very end of this interview!

On "Kresta in the Afternoon" TODAY

Before I go to my Holy Hour of Adoration today, I am going to record a segment for Kresta in The Afternoon, which will be aired later today. I'm not sure when it will be aired during his two hour show, but we are going to discuss Henry VIII being named Supreme Head and Governor of the Church in England and what it meant for Catholics in England.

Kresta in the Afternoon is on EWTN Radio and Ave Maria Radio from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central Time/4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern, etc.

What did it mean for Catholics in England at the time? Did they expect any real changes in doctrine, worship, and discipline? Except for a few, like the Carthusians, and the Observant Franciscans, and Sir Thomas More, and Bishop John Fisher, most probably thought that Henry VIII becoming the Supreme Head and Governor of the Church of England meant that everything as far as doctrine--except for the Pope--and worship--except for the Pope (as he was cited in the prayers at Mass and in the Divine Office)--and morals would remain the same.

By December 24, 1545, Henry VIII may have not been sure what he wanted to achieve as the Supreme Head and Governor of the Church of England. He was certainly disappointed that there was so much division in the Church, but there had been at least two parties, the reforming Lutherans and the conservative Catholics, from the beginning, contending for influence over the king. From 1536 to 1545, religious practice in England changed from being more Lutheran to being more Catholic: the Ten Articles and the Bishops Book; then the Six Articles and the King's Book; the suppression of the monasteries and the friaries; the fall of Cromwell; the Chantries Act; and at the end of Henry VIII's reign, the Lutheran/Calvinist party prepared to seize power when he died.

According to G.W. Bernard, in The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church:

The king sought a middle way between Rome and Zurich, between Catholicism and its associated superstitions on one hand and the subversive radicalism of the reformers on the other. With a ruthlessness that verged on tyranny, Henry VIII determined the pace of change in the most important twenty years of England’s religious development.

I think it's hard to know what Henry VIII intended to achieve at the beginning of his control over the Church of England beyond consolidating his dynasty's succession.

April 17, 1534: St. Thomas More in the Tower

On April 13, 1534, Thomas More was presented with the Act of Succession and the oath it required at Lambeth Palace in the presence of three other Thomases and one William: Audley, Cranmer, Cromwell, and Benson (The last Abbot and first Dean of Westminster Abbey). Then More was held in the custody of Benson for a few days. By April 17 he was in the Tower of London and wrote to his daughter Meg about his questioning earlier that week. He left the Tower again for trial on July 1, 1535 and then for the last time on July 6, 1535 for his beheading.

The Latin Mass magazine published an article I wrote titled "The Long Lent of St. Thomas More" in its Winter/Spring 2015 issue (print or on-line subscription only). In it I demonstrated that More was preparing either for death from natural causes or by execution throughout those long months in the Tower of London:

From April 17, 1534, through the trial and execution of the three Carthusian priors (John Houghton, Augustine Webster, and Robert Lawrence) with Father John Haile and the Angel of Syon, Father Richard Reynolds on May 4, 1535; the trial and execution of John Cardinal Fisher in June of that year, and his own trial on July 1, 1535, Thomas More prepared for his death in the Tower of London. For more than 14 months in the Tower, More observed a Long Lent of repentance and devotion. He meditated on the Passion of Christ, particularly on His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed to repent of all past sins and to wean himself away from all worldly concerns and seems to have marked his progress toward preparing to die. The purpose of this article is to examine those methods of preparation and thereby trace signs of More’s progress and final acceptance of death.

I examine two of his Tower works: The Sadness of Christ and his "Godly Meditation" prayer and then look at More's progress toward death and martyrdom through his letters to his daughter Margaret Roper and of course his trial and execution. You may read many of the letters from the 14 months he was held in the Tower of London in a great collection with updated English spelling and punctuation from Scepter Publishers. Scepter also publishes an excellent edition of another of St. Thomas More's Tower Works, A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation. Oh, and Scepter published my book too!

I was on Kresta in the Afternoon on Monday afternoon, discussing the events of April 13 through 17, 1534 with Dr. Matthew Bunson. You'll find the podcast of that program here.

On "Kresta in the Afternoon"

In the celebration of Holy Week and the Triduum last week, and in the midst of preparing for an Easter week vacation in the Ozarks, I forgot to tell you about my interview on Kresta in the Afternoon! Al and I talked about the issues and characters involved in "The King's Great Matter", Henry VIII's desire to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the mother of his children and his anointed and crowned Queen because they had not had a son who survived infancy.

(This was the reason that I had done some research on Eleanor of Aquitaine's annulment last month!)

It is always so fun to talk with Mr. Kresta: he is so knowledgeable himself about Church History and yet wants to hear what his guest has to say!

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Alleluia!

The Feast of the Martyrs of England and Wales on the Radio

I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show Friday morning, May 3 to highlight once again the great Feast of the Martyrs of England and Wales, which is on Saturday, May 4 in the Dioceses of England and Wales. Brian Patrick and I will discuss the martyrs and their feast, which is set on the day the protomartyrs of the English Reformation suffered and died at Tyburn in 1535, at 7:45 a.m. Eastern--6:45 a.m. Central (where I am!)

Then on Monday afternoon, May 6, I'll be on Kresta in the Afternoon to discuss the same feast (Al Kresta is on retreat this week so we'll talk then from 4:35 to 4:55 p.m. Eastern--3:35 to 3:55 p.m. Central.

With both of these interviews, I do want to highlight the upcoming Catholic Martyrs of England Pilgrimage, pointing out that our tour will visit several sites and shrines associated with these martyrs:

York: St. Margaret Clitherow and St. Henry Walpole, and several other priests, including two of the Carthusians of the Charterhouse in London, were martyred there; York was a major center of recusancy;

Oxford: Many of the priests who suffered martyrdom during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were former students at the University of Oxford, including St. Edmund Campion, St. Cuthbert Mayne, St. Ralph Sherwin; and four martyrs were executed in Oxford: Blessed George Nichols and Blessed Richard Yaxley, priests; Blessed Thomas Belson and Blessed Humphrey Pritchard, laymen;

Canterbury: Not only the site of St. Thomas a Becket's martyrdom but also of St. John Stone, Augustinian Canon (executed after Christmas in 1539) and the Oaten Hill martyrs, executed after the failure of the Spanish Armada: Blessed Edward Campion, Blessed Christopher Buxton, Blessed Robert Wilcox, and Blessed Robert Widmerpool--and there's the St. Thomas More connection as his head is buried in St. Dunstan's Anglican church;

London: St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher and many, many others (St. Robert Southwell, St. Oliver Plunkett, St. Anne Line, et al) suffered both at the Tower of London and at Tyburn Tree, and at various other sites in London, including Smithfield, where Blessed John Forrest was burned alive;

Arundel: not the site of martyrdom, but an important shrine at the Cathedral of St. Philip Howard and the location of splendid Arundel Castle, with its exhibit of "relics" of Mary, Queen of Scots and a fascinating chapel.

This pilgrimage, since I developed the itinerary at Corporate Travel Services' request, is unique in its focus on the English martyrs and in the selection of cities and sights to visit. With daily Mass in so many historically significant places (the Parish of English Martyrs in York; St. Aloysius Oratory Church in Oxford; St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church in Canterbury; the Cathedral of St. Philip Howard in Arundel, and St. Etheldreda's and Westminster Cathedral in London!) the spiritual blessings of the pilgrimage will be as great as the historical background we'll all share. All the English Martyrs, pray for us!

November 15, 1539--Glastonbury and Reading Abbeys

Blesseds Richard Whiting (Abbot), John Thorne and Roger James were executed on Glastonbury Tor in Somerset in the southwest of England, while Blesseds Hugh Faringdon (Abbot), John Rugge, and John Eynon were executed in Berkshire at Reading Abbey, all on November 15, 1539. The ruins of their abbeys, Glastonbury and Reading, are pictured above (Wikipedia sources). A third Abbot, Blessed John Beche (aka Thomas Marshall) would be executed on December 1 that year--more about him soon.

As I've been working on the chapter on these martyrs in Their Faith Was Their Crime, I've had a nagging thought about the relative paucity of martyrs among the 8,000 monks and nuns affected by the dissolution. Of course, the Observant Franciscian friaries, the Brigdittine Abbey of Syon, and the Carthusian Charterhouses were destroyed earlier in the course of Henry VIII's power grab--and many of their members suffered horrendously. But out of the 8,000 monks and nuns whose houses were suppressed, not very many stood up against Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell's officials.

The four last abbots of Fountains Abbey (William Thirsk), Jervaulx Abbey (Adam Sedbergh or Sedbar), Barlings (Matthew Mackarel), and Sawley (William Trafford) and some companion monks, were executed for their part in the Pilgrimage of Grace, but they have never been recognized as martyrs--and I am not sure why.

Of course, I must remember that only one bishop stood up to Henry VIII to suffer martyrdom.

Remember that I will be discussing my article on the Dissolution of the Monasteries in OSV's The Catholic Answer Magazine with Al Kresta on his radio show this afternoon at 4:40 p.m. Eastern/3:40 p.m. Central--listen live here. UPDATE: Dr. Matthew Bunson, editor of the magazine, let me know that the article is available free of charge here. Such a deal!

Serra Club Metro members in Wichita will hear my presentation on the English Reformation and the Catholic Martyrs at the Spiritual Life Center tonight.

Kresta in the Afternoon Interview

If you missed my interview on Kresta in the Afternoon last week from the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show/Catholic Writers Guild Conference, here is a link.

From the Kresta in the Afternoon blog:

"Second Topic - Supremacy and Survival
Stephanie Mann is the author of Supremacy and Survival - How Catholics Endured the English Reformation and has been a guest on the show in anticipation of the Pope's visit to the UK last year. Now she joins us in person here at the Catholic Marketing Network. She tells the story of the Catholic Church's survival and restoration in one land. It serves both as a lesson and a warning of the risks to faith and freedom when absolute power is given free reign. "

At the beginning of the interview, Al Kresta said Supremacy and Survival is "an outstanding book"; he enjoyed it and appreciated my approach and tone, highlighting my "strong academic sense for accuracy but you don't get bogged down in arcane academic debates" and commenting on my "strong sense of Catholic mission but without being triumphalistic or kicking people in the face".

Good recommendation, I think!

I hope to be on his show later in the year when The Catholic Answer Magazine publishes my article on the Dissolution of the Monasteries during Henry VIII's reign.

Day Two Report

Find my updates here.