Saint Thomas More and Integrity

Welcome to the sixth installment of Saint of the Month! This month, I’m focusing on Saint Thomas More, whose feast day is June 22.

Saint Thomas More is one of those saints who is a very well-known historical figure, both in religious and secular circles. There has been a play written about him, and there is more than one movie about him, based on the play.

Though his whole life is quite fascinating, Saint Thomas is likely most known for his refusal to agree that Henry VIII’s annulment from Catherine of Aragon was valid, and his refusal to acknowledge Henry as of head of the Church. Saint Thomas didn’t openly speak against the king’s actions, but neither did he approve or sanction them. This wasn’t good enough for Henry, and Saint Thomas’s silence eventually cost him his life.

The virtue I’m focusing on is that of integrity. Bishop after bishop caved to Henry’s requests; the only one we know of who did not was Saint John Fisher (who also gave his life because of it, and shares Saint Thomas More’s feast day). Nearly everyone in the English court was sacrificing their integrity for political convenience.

But Thomas More did not. He didn’t try to actively interfere – and what good could it realistically have done if he did try? Henry was set on doing what he wanted to do; if reason could have prevented him, it would have done so already – but he did not push the bounds of his integrity or of what his conscience dictated by one step. His integrity, and his wish to put the highest priority on God’s law – even if that contradicted men’s laws – was more important to him than his life.

Saint Thomas More, help us to have strong integrity, and to be willing to suffer because of it if need be.

(P.S. I highly, highly recommend the 1966 movie about Saint Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons, based on the play of the same name. Although of course there are some details changed from the real facts, on the whole it’s simply excellent – in the screenplay, the casting, the acting, etc.)