Subj : May 22nd - Bl. John Forest, Martyr To : All From : rich Date : Wed May 20 2020 09:55:23 From: rich May 22nd - Bl. John Forest, Martyr AT the age of seventeen John Forest entered the Franciscan convent of the Strict Observance at Greenwich, and nine years later he was sent to Oxford to study theology. His studies completed, he seems to have returned to his friary with a great reputation for learning and wisdom. Not only was he invited to preach at St. Paul's Cross, but = he was also chosen to be Queen Catherine's confessor when the court wa= s in residence at Greenwich, The close relations into which he was brought with the king and queen and the uncompromising attitude taken up by the Observants with regard to Henry VIII's schemes for divorc= ing Catherine, rendered his position a delicate one. =C2 At a chapter in 1525 he told his brethren that the king was so incensed against them that he had contemplated suppressing them, but that he, John, had succeeded in dissuading him. The relief, however, was only temporary. In 1534, after the pope's decision had been made known, Henry ordered that a= ll Observant convents in England should be dissolved and that the friars should pass to other communities. Captivity was the punishment for such as proved refractory and we know from a legal report that Bl. John was imprisoned in London in the year 1534. How long he remained there is uncertain as we have no record of the next four years. According to the testimony of his enemies he admitted to having made an act of submission =E2=80=9Cwith his mouth but not with hi= s mind=E2=80=9D, which would appear to have gained him his liberty. On the ot= her hand in 1538 we find him living in the house of the Conventual Grey Friars at Newgate, under the supervision of a superior who was a nominee of the crown, in a state of semi-captivity but able to minister to those who resorted to him. Because he was thought to have denounced the oath of supremacy to Lord Mordaunt and other penitents, he was arrested and brought to trial, when he was inveigled or browbeaten into giving his assent to some articles propounded to him; but when they were submitted to him afterwards for him to read and sign, and he realized that one of them would have amounted to apostasy, he repudiated them altogether. He was thereupon condemned to the stake. He was dragged on a hurdle to Smithfield and almost to the last he was offered a pardon if he would conform, but he remained unshaken. Asked if he had anything to say, he protested that if an angel should come down from Heaven and should show him anything other than that which he had believed all his life, and that if he should be cut joint after joint and member after member--burnt, hanged, or whatever pains soever might be done to his body--he would never turn from his =E2=80=9Cold sect [i.e. profession] of this Bishop of Rome=E2=80= =9D. Owing to the wind the flames took a long time in reaching a vital part, but the martyr bore his sufferings with unflinching fortitude. With him was burnt a wooden statue of St. Derfel Gadarn, much venerated in Wales, concerning which it had once been predicted that it would set a forest on fire (see April 5). The best documented account of this martyr is that by J. H. Pollen, contained in LEM., edited by Dom Bede Camm, vol. (1904), pp. 274-326. See also Father Thaddeus, Life of Blessed John Forest. Saint Quote: If the Lord should give you power to raise the dead, He would give much less than He does when he bestows suffering. By miracles you would make yourself debtor to Him, while by suffering He may become debtor to you. And even if sufferings had no other reward than being able to bear something for that God who loves you, is not this a great reward and a sufficient remuneration? Whoever loves, understands what I say. --Saint John Chrysostom Bible Quote And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: =C2 (Acts 2:1-3) <><><><> He that knows God and loves Him, though he be ignorant of what others know, is more learned than all the learned, who know not how to love God From the First Century From The Saints What do we know? Do we know how to love God? Can we tell and show our children and our neighbour how to love God? Our spare time--to whom do we give it; to God Who is the most loveable and will not accept half-love, nor unrequited love, or to...? 28. St. Alphonsus de Liguori (The 'Useful' Doctor, 1696-1787) -"St. Alphonsus' Devout Reflections", [Burns & Oates, 1901, p.19]: "Blessed is he who has received from God the science of the Saints. The science of the Saints is, to know how to love God. How many in the world are well versed in literature, in mathematics, in foreign and ancient languages! But what will all this profit them, if they know not how to love God? 'Blessed is he, said St. Augustine, who knows God, even if he knows nothing else.' "He that knows God and loves Him, though he be ignorant of what others know, is more learned than all the learned, who know not how to love God. "O my true and perfect lover, where shall I find one who has loved me as much as Thou hast loved me? In the past I have lost my time in learning many things which have profited my soul nothing; and I have thought little of knowing how to love Thee. I see that my life has been lost." --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .