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 Saint John Fisher Date Issued: February 21, 1946 Perforation: 14 x 13 1/2 Scott #115 The Catholic Church jointly celebrates the feast day of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More on June 22nd. Saint John Fisher (1469-1535) was a man of learning and scholarship. At the age of 35 he became a bishop. He also became Chancellor of Cambridge. He was martyred on June 22, 1535, because of his refusal to recognize King Henry VIII’s divorce to Queen Catherine of Aragon, and his refusal to recognize the King’s claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England. Erasmus, who has been called by some “the wandering scholar”, said John Fisher: “is the one man at the time who is incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning and for greatness of soul.”  
 Saint Thomas More Date Issued: May 7, 1985 Perforation: 14 x 13 1/2 Scott 755,756,757 Saint Thomas More (1478-1535) is described as “a man for all seasons”. He was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer, gentleman, father of four children and chancellor of England. His belief, that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the Church of Christ, cost him his life. He was beheaded on Tower Hill, London, July 6, 1535, two weeks after the death of Saint John Fisher. Saint Thomas More quotes of interest: John Fisher and Thomas More were both beatified on December 29, 1886 by Pope Leo XIII, and both were canonized on May 9, 1935, by Pope Pius XI, who compared Fisher and More to “grand lighthouses set up to shine upon and enlighten in the ways of God…….These holy martyrs come to tell us that God’s ways are not our ways; they are not ways which lead to darkness, but to light……The two great figures which today are upraised before us as objects of our admiration ought also to be the object of our imitation; and, although they are two such grand personalities, yet such imitation is not difficult, but (entirely) possible…..There is a martyrdom which occurs in continual preserving fidelity in little things, in those demands for diligence in the divine service, in the daily duty which becomes a daily cross.”The stamp depicting Saint John Fisher comes from the Council of Trent issue of 1946, and his inclusion in the set honors him as a promotor of Catholic Reform who wrote in defense of Catholic doctrine and faith in response to the Protestant Reformation. The three-stamps set for Saint Thomas More was released in 1985 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his birth. References: |
