Greetings.
I’m Fr.
Kevin Mannara, a member of the Congregation of St. Basil, the founders of St. John Fisher College.
We'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about the man for whom our College is
named, and how we got that name because today is the feast day of St. John Fisher.
John Fisher was born in Beverly, Yorkshire, on October 19, 1469.
He was the eldest son of a merchant named Robert Fisher, who died when John was 8, and
his wife Agnes.
John began his education locally.
He was very bright and in 1484 was moved to Michael House at Cambridge University.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1487, and Master of Arts in 1491.
He was ordained a priest later that year on Dec. 17, and was named a fellow of the college.
John Fisher served as a parish priest for 3 years and then became proctor of Cambridge
University.
In 1497, he was appointed confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort.
With Fisher’s guidance, Lady Margaret founded Christ College and St. John’s College at
Cambridge.
In 1504 Fisher was named president of Queen’s College.
Lady Margaret also made him her grandson’s tutor.
Her grandson grew up to become King Henry VIII.
John Fisher was a disciplined and austere man as well as an acclaimed scholar and administrator.
He created scholarships, introduced Greek and Hebrew into the Cambridge curriculum,
and was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology in 1501.
In 1504, he became Bishop of Rochester, England, and Chancellor of Cambridge.
His episcopal motto was, “I will make you fishers of men,” taken from St. Matthew’s
gospel.
Rochester was the poorest diocese in England, and was often a stepping stone to advancing
in Church appointments.
But by his own choice, Fisher remained there among the poor for the rest of his life.
Fisher was also an excellent preacher, and was chosen to preach at the funerals of King
Henry VII and Henry's mother, Lady Margaret, in 1509.
John Fisher remained faithful to the Church’s definition of marriage, and from 1527 on,
he actively opposed the King's divorce proceedings against Catherine, and resisted the
encroachment of Henry on the Church.
Fisher refused to take the oath of succession and he was imprisoned in the tower of London
in April 1534.
The next year he was made a Cardinal by Pope Paul III, and Henry retaliated by having Fisher
beheaded.
A half hour before his execution on June 22, 1535, John Cardinal Fisher opened his New
Testament for the last time and he read from St. John's Gospel: "Eternal life is this:
to know You, the only true God, and Him Whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.
I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do.
Do You now, Father, give me glory at Your side".
These very words are carved into the front of our own Kearney Hall, on the exterior of
the office of every president from Fr. Murphy, Fr.
Lavery, and on up to Dr. Rooney today.
John Fisher was martyred at the Tower of London at the order of King Henry VIII.
Now remember, Fisher had been Henry’s personal tutor when he was young as well as his grandmother’s confessor
and collaborator in advancing higher education in England.
John Fisher was canonized a saint in 1935 and is honored by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican
communion.
At his canonization was a young bishop from Salt Lake City named James E. Kearney.
Two years later, Kearney was named bishop of Rochester in America.
He later arranged for St. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester in England to be the patron
saint of our Diocese of Rochester in America.
In 1948, Bishop Kearney invited the Basilian Fathers to found a college, and he gave it
the name St. John Fisher.
My congregation thought it was very appropriate, because certainly John Fisher embodied goodness, discipline,
and knowledge, which is our congregation’s motto and the motto of the new college.
We inherit his honorable legacy of academic scholarship, dedication to justice, concern
for the poor, and commitment to religious conviction.
His final words, read from scripture, are etched in stone here at our college.
It has been the hope of the Basilian Fathers that that legacy will resound through all
of our graduates, the College named for St. John Fisher.