St.
John Fisher was born in Beverly, Yorkshire, in 1459, and educated at Cambridge, from which he received his
Master of Arts degree in 1491. He occupied the vicarage of Northallerton, 1491-1494; then he became proctor of Cambridge University. In 1497, he was appointed
confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and became closely associated in her endowments to Cambridge; he created scholarships, introduced Greek and Hebrew into the curriculum, and brought in the world-famous Erasmus as professor of Divinity and Greek. In 1504, he became
Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge, in which capacity he also tutored Prince Henry who was to become Henry VIII.
St. John was dedicated to the welfare of his
diocese and his university. From 1527, this humble servant of
God actively opposed the King's divorce proceedings against Catherine, his wife in the sight of God, and steadfastly resisted the encroachment of Henry on the Church. Unlike the other
Bishops of the realm,
St. John refused to take the oath of succession which acknowledged the issue of Henry and Anne as the legitimate heir to the throne, and he was imprisoned in the tower in April 1534. The next year he was made a
Cardinal by Paul III and Henry retaliated by having him beheaded within a month. A half hour before his execution, this dedicated scholar and churchman opened his
New Testament for the last
time and his eyes fell on the following words from St. John's Gospel: "Eternal
life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him Whom You have sent,
Jesus Christ. I have given You
glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do. Do You now, Father, give me
glory at Your side". Closing the book, he observed: "There is enough learning in that to last me the rest of my life." His
feast day is June 22.
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