John Fisher
Feast: June 22
after Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1543)
(PD)
Saint John Fisher was the Bishop of Rochester and one of the foremost Catholic scholars of Tudor England. Born in 1469 in Beverley, Yorkshire, he served as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and was renowned for his learning, piety, and pastoral care. He was the only English bishop to refuse King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy. Pope Paul III created him cardinal in recognition of his courage, but Henry had him beheaded on Tower Hill on June 22, 1535 — a fortnight before his friend Thomas More suffered the same fate.
Patron of:
- Diocese of Rochester
In Manus Tuas
In te, Dómine, sperávi;
non confúndar in aetérnum:
in iustítia tua líbera me.
Inclína ad me aurem tuam,
accélera ut éruas me.
Esto mihi in Deum protectórem,
et in domum refúgii, ut salvum me fácias.
Quóniam fortitúdo mea et refúgium meum es tu;
et propter nomen tuum dedúces me et enútries me.
Edúces me de láqueo hoc
quem abscondérunt mihi,
quóniam tu es protéctor meus.
In manus tuas comméndo spíritum meum;
redemísti me, Dómine, Deus veritátis.
In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped;
let me never be confounded:
in Thy justice deliver me.
Bow down Thine ear to me,
make haste to deliver me.
Be Thou unto me a God, a protector,
and a house of refuge, to save me.
For Thou art my strength and my refuge;
and for Thy name's sake Thou wilt lead me and nourish me.
Thou wilt bring me out of this snare
which they have hidden for me,
for Thou art my protector.
Into Thy hands I commend my spirit;
Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.
— Psalm 30:2–6 (Vulgate), recited by Saint John Fisher at his martyrdom, 1535