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Catholic sprouts

The Daily Podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Greetings, young Squires,outs. Today is the 22nd day in the six-month and the year of our Lord, 2024. My name is Sir Roland Paterlot, and you're listening to Saturdays with

Sir Rowland on Catholic Sprouts, where every Saturday we discuss the art of dragon slain.

Today is the feast day of Saints John Fisher and

St. Thomas More, who were executed in the early 1500s in England because of their witness and

standing firm in their Catholic faith. During the 1400s, the Catholic Church thrived in England.

Magnificent churches were built, monasteries thrived, clergy-wield influence influence, religious holidays were nationalized, and the Catholic Church collaborated with the state and union with Rome.

However, all that changed in the early 1500s when King Henry VIII sought to annul his marriage so that he could marry another woman.

When the Pope contended that his current marriage was valid and it could not be annulled, he broke ties with the Catholic Church and began the Church of England in one of the saddest times in church history.

Under threat of violence from opposition, most of the priests and bishops and laity of England caved to the king's request and pledged loyalty to this new church.

But St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More were exceptions.

John Fisher was a bishop, and he was arrested and treated harshly for not supporting the king's

break with the church. He was imprisoned for 14 months before his death. The Pope even declared him

a cardinal during that time to show support, but that just angered King Henry even more, and St. John

Fisher was martyred. Much like St. John the Baptist, he was killed for speaking out against an unlawful

marriage of those in authority. St. Thomas Moore was actually one of the king's closest advisors,

and served him for years, which makes his witness even more inspiring. He was beheaded two weeks after

St. John Fisher, and they share this feast day together. In today's episode, let's take a look at the

spiritual work of mercy that these two saints got martyred for. Both of them were actually trying to

help King Henry, the man who got them martyred, by practicing one of the most challenging

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