5 Comments

An elegant and wise piece as ever, Tom. I think (and this will surprise you not one jot nor tittle) that if I were an Anglican I would be very much wedded to the Prayer Book: I think if you are performing any kind of honour or worship it should be done in beauty and the language of Cranmer et al is beautiful and sonorous, hallowed and dignified by age. Enoch Powell, before his return to Christianity in 1949, said that although he was an atheist, he thought there should be a Church of England and that the King should be the head of it.

One or two additional observations from my own patch of grass, as it were: had my beloved Queen Mary lived, the English (Catholic) church would have seen a new vernacular Bible and an English catechism, though to whom the translation would have fallen of course we can’t say. An intriguing thought.

Henry VIII’s beliefs were very odd and unpredictable. As you rightly say, he wanted an annulment, not a divorce: he didn’t believe in divorce and never contracted one. Amusingly, at one point there was a suggestion, floated by Erasmus and Luther among others, that perhaps the King could simply take a second wife without abjuring his first…

In many ways he was an orthodox Catholic but his head could be turned: he was eventually persuaded of the benefits of an English Bible when he realised each copy could bear his image and be, in essence, a gift from him to his people. He retained some belief in auricular confession and, oddly, intercessory prayer; but he was happy to see the monasteries swept away when it became clear how much money he could make. But then, he was never the same after that bang on the head in 1536.

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Sep 18Liked by Fr Thomas Plant

"my beloved Queen Mary" It's lovely to read this.

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You know far more about this period than I and I'm grateful as ever for your insights. I'm intrigued as to why Queen Mary holds such a place in your heart. Pray tell!

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Sep 19Liked by Fr Thomas Plant

Oh, because she is so dreadfully maligned by history, because she had a rotten life (only 42 when she died), because she was serious and earnest and dutiful, and because she actually got quite a lot done in her five years and gets so little credit. The church she was building would have been a fascinating one: not wholly counter-Reformation, as she was in many ways very traditional, but well-ordered and “reformed” from the worst abuses that had triggered Luther and others. The priests would have been well educated and properly trained, there would have been decent schools, and her bishops were a pretty solid and commendable lot. There was a lot more of Katharine of Aragon’s steel in Mary than many people recognise (and K of A was hard as nails: after the Battle of Flodden at which James IV was killed, she sent Henry VIII the Scots King’s bloodied surcoat with a suggestion he use it as a war banner, and said she would have sent him James’s head but the English nobles got really squeamish).

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What a remarkable essay, I found it a fascinating and inspiring piece. This has answered many of my questions and concerns regarding liturgy and worship. Thank you so very much for your hard work researching and sharing this important historical information with us. God Bless 🙏🙏

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