LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

Blessed William Laud, Archbishop and Martyr

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were tumultuous ones in England, with intense religious controversies between the Anglican Church of England and the Puritans.

Born in 1573, William Laud was a brilliant and outspoken leader of the Church and emphasized its identity as being in direct continuity with the medieval Church. This meant the exaltation of the Sacraments, the Episcopate and Priesthood, and the importance of reverencing the Altar and all connected with it. He also stressed the unity of the Church and State, all bitterly rejected by the Puritans.

Laud tried to reform and protect the Church but he was out of step with many of his countrymen. In particular, his efforts to make the Church independent of Parliament proved to be the last straw and he was impeached for treason in 1640 and finally beheaded on January 10, 1645.

On the scaffold, he prayed “Lord, receive my soul, and have mercy on me. Bless this kingdom with peace and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them.”

The Collect for the Feast of Blessed William Laud

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servant William Laud, and aided by his prayers, 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. Amen.

[Based on “Lesser Feasts and Fasts” and other sources – A. T. K. Z.+]

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To learn more about the Blessed William Laud from Wikipedia.org, click here.

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM