St John Fisher

June 22 is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher. The latter, after becoming Chancellor of the University of Oxford, went on, at the insistence of King Henry VIII, to become bishop of Rochester. He was attentive to his diocese at a time when bishops usually looked upon their diocese simply as a source of income.


He did not recognize Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and would not support the Act of Supremacy by which Henry was constituted Head of the Church in England. After being imprisoned in the Tower of London on a charge of treason, he was executed on June 22, 1535, being beheaded the day before the vigil of his namesake, John the Baptist who was also beheaded for opposing the marriage of a king.
John Fisher was the only bishop to oppose King Henry. However, he did not condemn his fellow bishops for not doing likewise: “I condemn no other man’s conscience; their conscience may save them, and mine must save me.”

He is a saint for our times when disagreements are so often met with harsh and vindictive statements.

Prayer after Communion (from the British missal): “renew us, Lord, and strengthen us by the example and prayers of your martyrs Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, so that always following the voice of conscience, we may ever be your good servants.”