More on More

To continue on the theme of St. Thomas More from yesterday, I have linked to what a few other bloggers have written about this great man of Faith.

First Friday blog highlights the following quote from St. Thomas More:

“If God permits me to perish because of my sins, it is His Justice that will be shown through me. Nevertheless it is my hope that He will show mercy and keep me loyal and allow me to become an example of His loving-kindness rather than of His Justice. Whatever happens is His Will. And whatever He wills, even though it may seem bad to us, is indeed the best.” (While in prison.)

From the Catholicism, Culture, and Politics blog:

Today is the feast day of St. Thomas More, who stood up in the face of the corruption of the Monderno-Protestant Ideological Revolutions at their onset, and said in a clear voice: NO!

More gave his life so that we might have an example of true secularity, an understanding NOT of the so-called 'separation' of Church and State, but the distinction of powers between secular and ecclesiastical Authorities. I use the Vatican's terminology to distinguish authentic secularity from its ideological perversion expressed in contemporary secularism. Secularity asserts the distinction between secular and ecclesiastical Authority which has ALWAYS been recognized in Church Docrine and Tradition; it falls short, though, of marginalizing ecclesiastical Authority to the realm of opinion and elevating the power of secular leaders to that of pontiffs in their own right. This perversion has lead to more bloodshed, oppression, and human degradation than anything inflicted by the worst of so-called 'theocracies.' A secular power without a moral power (particularly the Catholic Church) cannot contain its own natural impulses toward power-hunger, exploitation, and tyranny. Keep in mind that during the so-called 'unenlightened' Middle Ages (or, what I more accurately call Christendom), we had this sort of parity of powers... and certainly there WERE abuses, but there were NO gulags, no concentration camps, no gas chambers, no 'cultural revolutions', no Jacobins, no welfare states, no sweatshops...

Just a bit of food for thought.

Finally, Thoughts from the Right includes the following prayer to St. Thomas More:

"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. Amen."