“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12 

Saint Thomas More is but one of those witnesses.  He surely must have penned the following prayer while awaiting execution in the Tower.  Execution for the crime of standing on God’s law rather than man’s, execution due to the testimony of his enemies, execution for being political incorrect, execution for standing on tradition and with the Church rather than adopting the values and creeds of a New Age. 

Here is a painting showing Sir Thomas More confronting an apostate Bishop.

 

Saint Thomas More, pray for me as I prepare for one of the most important hearings in my life.

A Prayer by St. Thomas More

Give me the grace, Good Lord:
To set the world at naught.
To set the mind firmly on You and not to hang upon the words of men’s mouths.
To be content to be solitary.
Not to long for worldly pleasures. Little by little utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of all its business. Not to long to hear of earthly things, but that the hearing of worldly fancies may be displeasing to me. Gladly to be thinking of God, piteously to call for His help.
To lean into the comfort of God. Busily to labor to love Him.
To know my own vileness and wretchedness.
To humble myself under the mighty hand of God.
To bewail my sins and, for the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity. Gladly to bear my purgatory here.
To be joyful in tribulations.
To walk the narrow way that leads to life.
To have the last thing in remembrance.
To have ever before my eyes my death that is ever at hand.
To make death no stranger to me.
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of Hell.
To pray for pardon before the judge comes.
To have continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me. For His benefits unceasingly to give Him thanks.
To buy the time again that I have lost.
To abstain from vain conversations.
To shun foolish mirth and gladness.
To cut off unnecessary recreations. Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all, to set the loss at naught, for the winning of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends, for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred. These minds are more to be desired of every man than all the treasures of all the princes and kings, Christian and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all in one heap.

Amen.

More on More here and here 

Information on the picture in this post from this fine website: 

Thomas More Defending the Liberty of the House of Commons, Painting by Vivian Forbes, 1927, St Stephen’s Hall, English Parliament, London. © The Palace of Westminster.

More’s defense of the liberty of the House of Commons, which also took place in 1523, is commemorated by a life-size mural in England’s Parliament. (See painting above.) This painting is one of eight in the “Building of Britain” series in St. Stephen’s Hall, and it depicts a famous incident that occurred in 1523 when, as Speaker of the House of Commons, More ingeniously and courageously resisted Lord Chancellor and Cardinal Wolsey’s attempt to violate the Commons’ tradition of free deliberation

 

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