You knew, of course, how the story would end: the garden of Gethsemane prepares Jesus for Calvary, but that experience makes possible the glory of Easter Sunday. You foresaw the dissection of Christendom already underway in Germany and now in your beloved England, not to mention the forfeiture of your own head as an enemy of the newly minted head of the English Church. Yet there you were on the chopping block, at once forgiving your executioner and requesting that he not cut your beard, “For that,” you noted, “has not committed treason!”24 What a wonderfully strange quirk of final perseverance!
You were fond of saying to friends, “Pray for me as I will for you, that we may merrily meet in Heaven,”25 especially as your entrance into Paradise drew near. I often conclude letters with that very same line, though I certainly hope to meet the addressee again here on earth before that final encounter. Since I never had the honor of dining with you at Chelsea, I will eagerly await a far more unforgettable banquet, full of mirth and puns and excessive displays of wit, assured that your prayers will help me arrive at the table without incident! And so I finish this missive with that same request: pray for me, good More, that we may merrily meet in heaven.
12. Saint Thomas More (1477–1535) was an English lawyer, writer, husband, father, Renaissance humanist, and theologian. He rose to the rank of Lord Chancellor under King Henry VIII. After refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy and therefore acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England, More was executed. The Catholic Church venerates him as a martyr. Among his best known writings are Utopia and The Sadness of Christ.
13. More, A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, 132.
14. Wegemer, A Portrait of Courage, 11.
15. See Wegemer and Smith, A Thomas More Source Book, 6.
16. Pope Benedict XVI, “Meeting with the Representatives of British Society including the Diplomatic Corps, Politicians, Academics, and Business Leaders,” para. 6.
17. Chesterton, “A Turning Point in History,” In The Fame of Blessed Thomas More, 63–64.
18. Ibid., 64.
19. Ratzinger, “Homily for Mass,” para. 11.
20. More, Sadness of Christ, 17.
21. Ibid., 100.
22. Ibid., 155.
23. Ibid., 35.
24. Froude, A History of England, 276–77.
25. Rogers, St. Thomas More, 258.
Taylor Swift26
Dear Taylor,
The monastery I call home has several young monks who are big fans of yours. Some won’t admit to liking your music, but others heap unabashed praise on your albums, and most of us, if we were playing truth-or-dare, would confess to having celibate monk-crushes on you. After reading such a statement, you’re probably thinking that you should cancel your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, convinced that you cannot possibly achieve greater iconic status in your superstar social life.
My confreres and I lead a pretty different life from what you would consider normal. Our monastic life requires us to live in a community (think of a college dormitory, but with much more silence and an age range of twenty to ninety), wake up early, and pray at various points throughout the day. Unlike many monks, however, we also have a connection to the outside world through our mission of Catholic education. Teaching middle school, high school, and college students keeps us somewhat in tune with the “real world.” It also gives us an excuse to stay in touch with cultural starlets like yourself, and to be aware of what our students are listening to and watching. If nothing else, it allows us to at least pretend to be hip when conversing with our students.
I can give you a few examples of this which, for better or worse, highlight your influence on my monastic and priestly life. There may or may not be a video of me belting out the lyrics of “Love Story” in a car with college students on the way to a campout. And there may or may not be photographic evidence of a monk clad in black and white taking the dance floor at a wedding reception, unable to restrain myself—excuse me, himself—from busting a move when “Shake It Off” began to play. (Please note my preference for anonymity to protect my sources.) There may or may not even be a photo showing that I—I mean, that fellow—was involuntarily crowd-surfed during the song. If you wish to see these jaw-dropping realities, you should actually keep your Facebook active and send me a friend request, since I’m only on Facebook. Looking over this paragraph, I imagine Saint Benedict must be thinking there is no more hope for monasticism.
But back to you, Taylor. In my interactions with high school and college students, it is evident how many of them you have reached with your music. The word that keeps popping up with regard to you, especially among girls, is “relatable.” The lyrics of your songs seem to come straight from your journal entries, because they have a fresh honesty to them that immediately resonates with your listeners. They relate to you in ways other music stars don’t even want their fans to relate to them. I imagine many artists strive to create the soundtrack of a young generation, but your fans feel as though you yourself have gone through the same experiences that have happened to them, and that attracts them to you. Whether they are celebrating, crying, or just happily singing along to your tunes, you have a gift for providing music for the pivotal moments of young lives, and many people process their experiences and emotions by means of your songs.
I have also noticed, at least up until recently, how refreshing your choice of themes can be. No one else writes, credibly at least, about how much they love their mom, or muses on the pains of growing up and leaving childhood behind, or praises friendship as a worthwhile human institution, or dreams about breaking up a jilted lover’s wedding. (Regarding that last item: for all your sweetness, you have always channeled a rather terrifying vengeance, and I am frankly relieved that I will never be an ex-boyfriend of yours.) Although I do grow a bit weary of all your love and heartbreak stuff (I never was a teenage girl, after all), you present even those topics differently from other artists, largely because most mainstream music is little more