There are men and women whose stories of determination and faith transcend the passage of time. By canonizing them, the Church enshrines their names and the legacy of their heroic virtues and testimony of faith in the calendar.
In a tumultuous period, as the Catholic Church fractured in the West, there was a humble and reserved friar who, like countless others for nearly a thousand years, could be heard softly reciting the rosary amidst the moss-covered arches of Canterbury Abbey.
This was a man keenly aware that he walked and safeguarded a part of the history of a God whom a king had attempted to dethrone in heaven to seat himself in His place.
The origin of a ferocious persecution
Four years earlier, in 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring King Henry VIII the "Supreme Head" of the Church of England, severing it from the Pope’s authority. What followed is well known: the King of England, estranged from Rome due to the Pope’s refusal to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, sought to establish total control and systematically eliminate all loyalty to the Catholic faith.
In 1535, Henry VIII ordered inspections of monasteries to assess their condition and value their properties. These inspections were overseen by Thomas Cromwell, the king's chancellor and private secretary, who would later sign Friar John Stone's death sentence.
As history has since revealed, the reports on monastic life were filled with slander against the friars, exaggerating their faults or relying on gossip and fabrications that began with land seizures and ended in executions.
Between 1536 and 1540, the dissolution of monasteries was carried out, eradicating the freedom of communal religious life and confiscating the assets of Catholic religious institutions in England, Wales, and Ireland.
The scandals documented during this period, magnified by a constant wave of protests and Henry VIII’s direct conflict with Rome, led to harsher measures. Parliament was pressured to approve the infamous Suppression Acts during this ominous period, which authorized the dissolution of monasteries with annual incomes under 200 pounds. By 1539, this measure was extended to include all monasteries, regardless of their income.
The properties and revenues seized through bloodshed were transferred to the Crown, which was embroiled in costly military campaigns across the globe. Many properties were sold to the aristocracy and rural nobility, while other valuables, such as gold and silver, were reserved for the Crown.
Some enclaves of religious and cloistered life at that time attempted to resist, but after the murder of three abbots, most surrendered. Monks and nuns were displaced and, in some cases, assigned roles within the new Anglican Church or retired with lifelong pensions. Most accepted the bribes.
Saint John Stone did not.
“The king cannot be the head of the Church of England”
Our friar was at the Augustinian friary in Canterbury when, on December 14, 1538, an agent of Henry VIII arrived with orders to close the house. Friar John was the only member of the community who dared to say aloud, “The king cannot be the head of the Church of England,” declaring his willingness to face death in defense of the Catholic faith.
He was immediately arrested and taken before Chancellor Cromwell. By then, Friar John’s piety and devotion were already well known, but the trial life had in store for him would prove that sometimes injustice is signed with a silver-tipped quill.
Cromwell, as he interrogated Friar John in endless and excruciating sessions at the Tower of London for over a year, became increasingly determined to break John’s will. He tried to persuade him in countless ways, offering everything imaginable to make him change his stance and accept the king’s authority over the Church. However, Stone remained steadfast in his conviction that only the Pope could be the head of the Church.
During his imprisonment, Stone voluntarily added penances to his suffering, as recorded in historical sources that bear witness to his unwavering faith and devotion to the Catholic Church.
Despite the pressures and persuasion attempts, Stone did not yield. His fellow Augustinians tried to convince him to give his assent to the new regulations, but neither they nor anyone else could sway him.
Finally, he was tried for treason and sentenced to death.
On December 27, 1539, 485 years ago, he was dragged to a hill in the city of Canterbury, known as Dane John, where he was hanged and then quartered, as was the fate of anyone who dared oppose the king’s will.
His loyalty to the Catholic Church and his refusal to submit to earthly powers made him a martyr.
Beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII, he was canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970.
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