January 10: William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1645

The Collect of the Day

William Laud

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness; that, like your servant William Laud, 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.

William Laud

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness; that, like thy servant William Laud, 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 Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 12:5–14
Psalm 73:24–29
Matthew 10:32–39

William Laud was born in 1573 and became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, having been Charles I’s principal ecclesiastical adviser for several years before. He was the most prominent of a new generation of church leaders who disliked many of the more Protestant ritual practices that had developed during the reign of Elizabeth I, and who were bitterly opposed by the Puritans.

Laud believed that the Church of England was in direct continuity with the medieval church, and he stressed the unity of church and state, exalting the role of the monarch as the supreme governor of the church. He emphasized the centrality of the priesthood and the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, and he caused consternation by insisting on reverencing the altar, returning it to its pre-Reformation position against the eastern wall of the church and hedging it about with rails.

As head of the courts of High Commission and Star Chamber, Laud was abhorred for the harsh sentencing of prominent Puritans. His identification with the unpopular policies of King Charles, his support of the war against Scotland in 1640, and his efforts to make the church independent of Parliament all made him widely disliked. He was impeached for treason by the Long Parliament in 1640, and finally beheaded on January 10th, 1645.

Laud’s reputation has remained controversial to this day. Honored as a martyr and condemned as an intolerant bigot, he was compassionate in his defense of the rights of the common people against the landowners. He was honest, devout, and loyal to the king and to therights and privileges of the Church of England. He tried to reform and protect the church in accordance with his sincere convictions. But in many ways he was out of step with the views of the majority of people in his day, especially about the “Divine Right of Kings.”

Laud made a noble end, praying on the scaffold: “The Lord receive my soul and have mercy upon me, and bless this kingdom with peace and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them.”

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

²⁴You will guide me by your counsel, *and afterwards receive me with glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you? *and having you I desire nothing upon earth.

²⁶Though my flesh and my heart should waste away, *God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷Truly, those who forsake you will perish; *you destroy all who are unfaithful.

²⁸But it is good for me to be near God; *I have made the Lord God my refuge.

²⁹I will speak of all your works *in the gates of the city of Zion.

Gospel

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children— “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; ⁶for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.” ⁷Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? ⁸If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. ⁹Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. ¹¹Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. ¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.