Friday, January 30, 2015

Charles Stuart, King and Martyr



Painting by Ernest Crofts of King Charles
being led to his execution (London, UK, 1901)

“Charles did not want to die; he had much to live for. He was very much in love with his wife, Henrietta Maria, and she with him. He was devoted to her and to his six children-three sons and three daughters. It was a happy family which lived high moral lives in an era when the royal families in Europe lived dissolute lives. The importance of Charles I is the fact that he had a choice. The Puritans had offered to save his life if he would renounce the throne, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Church of England. Charles refused! Instead he lay down his life for the principles in which he believed. By his death he saved the Episcopate, and thus the Church of England.”

- From a paper given to the American branch 
of the Society of King Charles the Martyr in 2002 
by Professor William K. Tinkham

Go HERE to read an Essay on King Charles by Donald Hole, published by the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham in 1941.

Go HERE to read an Address given by Professor David Flint at All Saints’ Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, on this day in 2000.

O God, who by the victory of martyrdom didst exalt thy Servant Charles from his earthly principality to thy kingdom in heaven;grant that we may always enjoy the effectual defence of his prayers, and live in thy peace all the days of our life; Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth one God, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

- Western Rite

O Lord God, who out of thine infinite mercy and goodness didst bring back the captivity of Sion, and in good part restore this then afflicted Church, perfect, we beseech thee, this thy great deliverance. Hedge it about with thy continual protection, with the custody of Angels, with the duty of kings and princes, with the hearts and hands of nobles, and with the affections of all good people. Re-unite all our remaining divisions and reconcile our differences, that with one heart and voice we may serve and praise thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- from the original Office for January 30th,
compiled by Dr. Duppa, Bishop of Winchester 1661



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