The collect for today, the commemoration of Hugh Latimer (1485-1555), Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley (c. 1500-1555), Bishop of London, Reformation Martyrs (source [1]):
Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like thy servants Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14 [2]
The Gospel: St. John 15:20-16:1 [3]
[4]
Two leaders of the English Reformation were burned at the stake in Oxford on this day in 1555. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, were removed from their positions and imprisoned after Queen Mary ascended the throne in 1553. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533, was deposed and taken to Oxford with Latimer and Ridley.
The three were tried for heresy, convicted, and condemned to death. Cranmer was forced to watch the burning of Latimer and Ridley and was burned at the stake five months later on 21 March 1556.
The burnings were carried out just outside the walls of Oxford. The location is marked by a cobble-stone cross set in the middle of Broad Street. Around the corner, at the south end of St Giles, the Martyrs’ Memorial [5] was placed in their honour in 1841.
As Ridley was being tied to the stake, he prayed [6]: “Oh, heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks, for that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of England, and deliver the same from all her enemies.”
As the flames rose, Latimer encouraged Ridley with these famous words [7]: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”
Artwork: “Burning of Latimer and Ridley”, woodcut, John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (1563).