{"id":85400,"date":"2015-06-22T08:03:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T15:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=85400"},"modified":"2017-02-10T08:23:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T16:23:12","slug":"giving-the-devil-benefit-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/giving-the-devil-benefit-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving the Devil Benefit of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hans<\/a>

Sir Thomas More
(by Hans Holbein the Younger)<\/p><\/div>
\nT<\/span>oday is the memorial of one of my favourite saints, Saint Thomas More<\/a>, who died at the hands of King Henry VIII (that villain).<\/p>\n

That is, it is his memorial in the modern Roman calendar. In the Benedictine calendar, it is no such thing – you’d have to wait for July 9 for that.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I’ve become familiar enough with my Diurnal<\/a>, that I can make adjustments. Why, just yesterday I discovered that buried near the end of the book there’s an index of Feasts and Names of Saints.<\/p>\n

It’s not actually at <\/em>the end, which is why I hadn’t found it previously; it’s only sort of near <\/em>the end.<\/p>\n

I’ve known for some time that it’s possible to use the Diurnal with the newer calendar – I believe that this is more or less what they do at Clear Creek Monastery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s an experiment for today, since I have a devotion to the Saint. It does make it a little more complicated to use the Diurnal, so in the future I will probably stick with the Benedictine Ordo.<\/p>\n

The life of Saint Thomas More was (more or less) made into the wonderful movie, A Man for All Seasons<\/em>, starring Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. <\/p>\n

The script is just brilliant, and eminently quotable. The “but for Wales?” bit alone is worth the price of admission.<\/p>\n

Here is one of my favourite exchanges:<\/p>\n

William Roper:<\/strong> So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!<\/p>\n

Sir Thomas More:<\/strong> Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?<\/p>\n

William Roper: <\/strong>Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!<\/p>\n

Sir Thomas More:<\/strong> Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? <\/p>\n

This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? <\/p>\n

Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More’s refusal to accept the claims of the King over the Pope in ecclesiastical matters led to his resignation as Chancellor.<\/p>\n

His refusal to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England led to his arrest on charges stemming from Papal supremacy.<\/p>\n

After a sham trial, where the prosecution rested on perjury and innuendo, he was found guilty of treason, at which point he gave his final statement to the court:<\/p>\n

\n

For as much as, my Lords, this Indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly repugnant, to the Laws of God and his Holy Church, the Supreme Government of which, or of any part thereof, no Temporal Person may by any Law presume to take upon him, being what right belongs to the See of Rome, which by special Prerogative was granted by the Mouth of our Savior Christ himself to Saint Peter, and the Bishops of Rome his Successors only, whilst he lived, and was personally present here on Earth: it is therefore, amongst Catholic Christians, insufficient in Law, to charge any Christian to obey it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He was sentenced to death.<\/p>\n