English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era

Latimer’s Pulpit, you can touch the wood.

On May the 4th the Church of England celebrates the witness of the Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era. What is significant about this day is that we are not simply remembering ‘our own’ martyrs, those like Cramner, Ridley and Latimer, who died for maintaining adherence to the Church of England in the face of Roman Catholic persecution. We are also remembering those Roman Catholics who died at the hands of Protestants for maintaining their Faith and allegiance. We are recognizing that there was true Godliness and great courage in martyrs on both sides of that divide, and therefore also recognizing that there was terrible error and great evil committed by those who ordered the martyrdoms on both sides! It is a salutary lesson in humility; personal humility as one stands in awe of the holiness and courage of those who witnessed unto the point of death, but also corporate humility, humility and repentance for the Church as an Institution as we remember how Christians have turned so swiftly from being oppressed to becoming oppressors.

To mark this day I am reposting, a little in advance, two sonnets; Latimer’s Pulpit which celebrates Hugh Latimer a Martyr associated with my own church of St. Edwards, and The Gathered Glories, a sonnet from Sounding the Seasons, which celebrates the many unknown saints who have passed through their great tribulation and now shine in glory around the throne of the Lamb.

Here first is a preliminary note about the pulpit described in the first poem:

Ours is known as Latimer’s Pulpit,  for Hugh Latimer the great Saint and Martyr preached there often, and it was in this pulpit that he preached the famous sermon of the card, to which my sonnet alludes.

In that sermon he imagines that we are losing a card game with the devil. One after another he lays out the black suit of our sins, he holds all the cards and is ready to take the ‘trick’ of our souls, but Christ leans forward and lays on top of all those sins the trump card that wins us back; the king of hearts, for in a universe where God is love, then love is always trumps. At the end of the sermon he exhorts his hearers to do for others what Christ has done for them. When people deal you cards of malice, hate, or envy always and only reply by trumping hate with love. His great love, even of his enemies, shone through when he was burned at the stake for his faith in 1555. It is an extraordinary experience to touch the wood, and to stand in that pulpit and preach as I do each week.

And here are the poems, as always you can hear it by pressing the ‘play’ button if it appears or by clicking on the title:

Latimer’s pulpit

Latimer’s pulpit, you can touch the wood,
Sound for yourself the syllables of grace
That sounded and resounded through this place;
A quickened word, a kindling for good
In evil times; when malice held the cards
And played them, in the play of politics,
When knaves with knives were taking all the tricks,
When Christendom was shivered into shards,
When King and Queen were pitched in different camps,
When burning books could stoke the fire for men,
When such were stacked against him –even then
Latimer knew that hearts alone are trumps.
He gave the King of Hearts his proper name,
He touched this wood, and kindled love to flame.

//

The Gathered Glories

Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards

Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,

It glances from the eyes, kindles the words

Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright

With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,

The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.

Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing

He weaves them with us in the web of being

They stand beside us even as we grieve,

The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,

Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above

The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,

To triumph where all saints are known and named;

The gathered glories of His wounded love.

‘Each shard still shines’ image by Margot Krebs Neal

This sonnet is drawn from my collection Sounding the Seasons, published by Canterbury Press here in England. The book is now back in stock on both Amazon UK and USA and physical copies are shortly to be available in Canada via Steve Bell. The book is now also out on Kindle. Please feel free to make use of these sonnets in church services and to copy and share them. If you can mention the book from which they are taken that would be great.

12 Comments

Filed under christianity, imagination, literature, St. Edward's

12 responses to “English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era

  1. Sr Judith

    Thank you for this Malcolm, we’ll also be celebrating the feast on May 4….It is encouraging that we can celebrate it together as an ecumenical feast.

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  3. Oliver Low CSM

    Cool. 🙂
    “He gave the King of Hearts his proper name”
    Like St Paul and the shrine to the unknown god.
    Peace be with you, brother.

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  5. Andrew Thabe

    These are mortal men but their faith was; is heavenly directed and may we never forget less we betray the reformation era

  6. Rupert Marks

    I’m using Mr Guite’s two poems for a cathedral stillness in Winchester Catherdral, which I hope will be all right. The full text is as follows:

    Cathedral Stillness 28th February 2018

    Today is the day we commemorate the Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era for the Winchester Diocese, but I couldn’t find anything pacific on the Winchester Saints and Martyrs, but came across a couple of poems about English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era in general by author Malcolm Guite. Latimer’s Pulpit is on page two, but I thought The Gathered Glories was more appropriate for today.

    The Gathered Glories

    Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards
    Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,
    It glances from the eyes, kindles the words
    Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright
    With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,
    The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.
    Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing
    He weaves them with us in the web of being
    They stand beside us even as we grieve,
    The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,
    Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above
    The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,
    To triumph where all saints are known and named;
    The gathered glories of His wounded love.

    Latimer’s Pulpit

    Latimer’s pulpit, you can touch the wood,
    Sound for yourself the syllables of grace
    That sounded and resounded through this place;
    A quickened word, a kindling for good
    In evil times; when malice held the cards
    And played them, in the play of politics,
    When knaves with knives were taking all the tricks,
    When Christendom was shivered into shards,
    When King and Queen were pitched in different camps,
    When burning books could stoke the fire for men,
    When such were stacked against him –even then
    Latimer knew that hearts alone are trumps.
    He gave the King of Hearts his proper name,
    He touched this wood, and kindled love to flame.

    .

  7. Pam Spychal

    I write a short monthly article for our parish magazine, highlighting some of the commemorations and feasts in the Anglican calendar. Please may I quote from your explanation of the “English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era” for the May issue? I will add a link to your blog which will be of interest to our readers, I am sure.

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