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THE SACRAMENT OF
MARRIAGE
MARRIAGE IS A SACRAMENT AT THE
SERVICE OF COMMUNION
—CCC, NOS. 1601-1666
A MARRIED MAN: GOD’S SERVANT
ABOVE ALL
St.Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478, to a middle-class
family. His father, John More, was a knight and local judge.As a young boy,
Thomas was placed in the service of the Archbishop of Canterbury John
Morton—who was also Chancellor of England. More went on to study at
Oxford University and then to study law in London. He mastered Greek and
enjoyed the company of important figures of the Renaissance culture such
as Desiderius Erasmus.
His attraction to a deeper spirituality led him to a close relationship
with the Franciscans at Greenwich and with the London Carthusians,
another religious community with whom he lived for a time. Called to mar-
riage, More wed Jane Colt in 1505. They had four children before Jane
died in 1511. After her death, Thomas married Alice Middleton, a widow.
Their home was open to their entire family, friends, and many acquain-
tances. More continued his quest for virtue and union with Christ while
fostering the faith of his family.
He was elected to Parliament in 1504. This began a political career
that saw him knighted in 1521, elected Speaker of the House of Commons
in 1523, and finally made Lord Chancellor of England on October 25, 1529,
the first layman to hold the position. King Henry VIII, reigning at that time,
was desperate to bear a male heir to the throne. Blaming his wife, Queen
Catherine of Aragon, for their lack of a son, Henry VIII sought an annul-
ment so that he might marry Anne Boleyn instead, whom he had fancied