Saint Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, civil servants, and politicians, is our patron saint, too. The Society looks up to More’s example as an honest attorney, effective civil servant, and devout Catholic whose faith permeated his civic life.
Saint Thomas More worked as an attorney and government official during the Renaissance. More authored Utopia, a partially satirical work widely read throughout the Enlightenment that challenges readers to contemplate the ethical values necessary in society. He was a brilliant philosopher, theologian, and legal mind whose contributions to humanist scholarship and the development of common law remain notable.
As a Catholic statesman, Saint Thomas More understood Christ’s mandate to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but unto God the things that are God’s” requires Christians to live out the gospel even in the civil arena. More, therefore, defended the Catholic faith in England—even when that meant defending it against the king himself.
Dear scholar and martyr, it was not the King of England, but you who were the true defender of the faith. Like Christ unjustly condemned, neither promises nor threats could make you accept a civil ruler as head of the Christian Church. Perfect in your honesty and love of truth, grant that lawyers and judges may imitate you and achieve true justice for all people.
Prayer to Saint Thomas More
Amen.
In 1530, King Henry VIII sought to annul his marriage and marry another woman. More refused to sign a letter to the Pope requesting the annulment, straining a previously close relationship with the monarch. As the king began purging clergymen who supported the Pope and the prospect of a schism grew more likely, More realized his role as a statesman might put him at odds with the Church.
More resigned instead. His later decision not to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn further angered the king, who viewed More’s absence as an attempt to undermine his new authority as head of both church and state in England. The king ordered More to swear an oath of loyalty proclaiming him head of the Church of England.
More refused. When he would not acknowledge King Henry VIII’s break with Rome or the king’s ersatz annulment, the king ordered his execution. Saint Thomas More climbed the scaffolding and announced, “I die the King’s good servant and God’s first.” He was beheaded on July 6, 1535.
Quotes of Saint Thomas More
“I never intend, God being my good Lord, to pin my soul to another man’s back, not even the best man that I know this day living: for I know not where he may hap to carry it.”
Dialogue on Conscience (written to his daughter from prison, August 1534)
“[Y]ou should not forsake the ship in a storm because you cannot command the winds. . . . You ought rather to cast about and to manage things with all the dexterity in your power, so that if you are not able to make them go well they may be as little ill as possible.”
Utopia, CWM, v. 4, pp. 99, 101
“What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?”
“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.”
“Your reasons for wanting me to stay away from Holy Communion are exactly the ones which cause me to go so often. My distractions are great, but it is in Communion that I recollect myself. I have temptations many times a day; by daily Communion I get the strength to overcome them. I have much very important business to handle and I need light and wisdom; it is for this reason that I go to Holy Communion every day to consult Jesus about them.”