Today the Episcopal Church
remembers one of the Archbishops of Canterbury, William Laud, who served as
archbishop under King Charles I, and who died at the hands of the Puritans in
1645.
Laud was born on the 7th
of October 1573 in Reading. His father
was a cloth merchant. Laud went to
university at St. John’s College in Oxford and he was ordained a priest in
1601. He was a defender of apostolic
succession.
In 1630, Laud was elected as
Chancellor of the University of Oxford and became much more closely involved in
the running of the university than many of his predecessors had been. Laud was
instrumental in establishing Oxford's Chair of Arabic and took an interest in
acquiring Arabic manuscripts for the Bodleian Library. His most significant
contribution was the creation of a new set of statutes for the university, a
task completed in 1636. Laud served as the fifth Chancellor of the University
of Dublin between 1633 and 1645.
Laud became Archbishop of
Canterbury when he was 60 years old. Laud
brought an end to reforms within the Church which he believed had already gone
too far by the early 1630s. This approach angered the Puritans who believed
that Laud was too Catholic in his approach. Laud’s instruction that wooden
communion tables should be replaced with stone altars infuriated Puritans who
say this as being a blatant move towards Catholicism. Laud’s main priority was “decent order” and
unity within the Church. He described Puritanism as a “wolf held by the ears”
and he believed that their very existence threatened the stability of the
Church.
Ultimately Laud paid for his beliefs
with his life. He was arrested and sent
to the Tower of London. Laud was put on trial for trying to subvert the laws of
England and endangering the Protestant faith. These charges were never proved
so Parliament introduced a Bill of Attainder to prosecute Laud. He was beheaded
at Tower Hill on this day in 1645. At
the scaffold, Laud prayed: "The
Lord receive my soul, and have mercy on me, and bless this kingdom with peace
and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst
them."
Let us pray: Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and
zealous in witness, that, like your servant William Laud, we may live in your
fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.
CALENDAR
REMINDERS
17 January 2013:
Seaside Seniors at St. Augustine.
21 January 2013: MLK
Day at St. Vincent’s House: Noon day prayers and celebration.
Please remember
everyone on our Prayer List, especially Robert Hacker’s mother and family, Lee
Runion and Randy Furlong.
Your servant in Christ,
The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal
ChurchGalveston, Texas 77550
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