St. Thomas Moore Necklace

Hand painted by Harleigh, 18K Gold Platted Jewelry, Sealed to be water resistant, 18 inch adjustable chain St. Thomas More is most well known for being highly intellectual. Born on February 7th, 1477 in London, England, he was raised well educated and became a lawyer. He was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer, gentleman, father of four children, and chancellor of England. As a deeply spiritual man, he believed highly in the teachings of the Catholic faith, giving lots of study to scripture and Church doctrine. In his early adult years he actually became a monk while also maintaining a legal career. He was drawn to serve in Parliament and left monastic life, marrying and having 4 children himself. While serving English Parliment, he was working under King Henry VIII, and considered "Henry's intellectual courtier," secretary and confidant. In 1523, he was elected speaker of the House of Commons. When Martin Luther published several doctrines rejecting aspects of the Catholic Church and saying that salvation could be obtained by grace alone, he developed documents to refute it along side King Henry VIII  that argued against Luther based on the institution of the Sacraments. However, Thomas quickly turned to Henry’s enemy. He refused to acknowledge King Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon as valid within the Church based on the grounds that Henry wanted a male heir.  Thomas resigned from the House of Commons as Henry declared himself head of the Church of England and married Anne Boylen. King Henry officially broke himself from the leadership of the Pope, Thomas argued the danger of a king and lay leader also being a spiritual leader, which deeply angered the king as he respected Thomas’s input and greatly wanted his approval. Thomas was sent to the Tower of London where he was beheaded on July 6th, 1535 on grounds of treason. He stood up for his deep convictions in his faith despite facing death, and is now considered a martyr of the Reformation period. St. Thomas More, pray that we are able to hold strong to our faith despite challenges from leaders, friends, and those we love. Pray for us to be steadfast in our Faith and continue to educate ourselves to be stronger in our beliefs!