November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day. While many Libertarians and anarchists like to use Fawkes' likeness to represent their hatred of government, learning of his likeness in the movie "V For Vendetta," I don't think many people realize who this man is.
Guy Fawkes was a Catholic convert from England. After fighting to defend Catholic kingdoms from Muslim and Protestant invasions, he returned to Protestant England and saw all that was happening there. In 1586, the same year Fawkes converted, Margaret Clitherow was arrested for hiding priests in her house. As punishment, she was crushed to death. In honor of her Christian modesty, the courts allowed her to remain clothed, as the normal punishment included being stripped naked. The person was then made to lie down on a heavy, wooden door where they were tied in place. Another door was placed on top of them and then massive weights until the person was dead. This was just one of many instances of cruel and unusual punishment that was used throughout England and Europe at the time.
Eventually, the cruelty and discrimination was too much for some Catholics in England, as it was illegal to even practice the Catholic faith in those days. In early 1605, several Catholic conspirators (including Fawkes) bought a cellar beneath the British Parliament. The cellar was filled with 1,800 pounds of gunpowder with the hope that the entire building would be blown up, killing the entire British government, including King James I. After the government was destroyed, a Catholic king would be proclaimed and the United Kingdom would once again be a Catholic nation.
Concerned with the members of Parliament that were known to be underground Catholics, an anonymous letter was sent to Lord Monteagle in late October, warning him to stay away because Parliament was going to "receive a terrible blow." Concerned, he showed the letter to King James, who decided to investigate. Shortly after midnight on November 5, Guy Fawkes was caught leaving the gunpowder-filled cellar. He was tortured over three to four days, refusing to divulge the names of any of the other conspirators in the "Gunpowder Plot." Eventually, the other conspirators armed themselves and arrived in public to be charged. They were all tried, which I'm sure was fair, and were sentenced to death by hanging, drawn, and quartering. This was a lovely torture reserved for people convicted of treason. A person would be dragged to the gallows and then hung by the neck. Before they died, the person would be cut down and then tied down to a table. Their genitals would be cut off, their stomachs sliced open, and their insides pulled out. While you were still alive, your genitals and insides would be set on fire in front of you. Then they'd cut your head off, which would be sent to the Tower of London as a trophy, while the rest of you was cut into four pieces and sent to other areas of the kingdom to be put on display so others could learn what would happen to you if you went against the king.
As they led Guy Fawkes up the gallows to be hung, he jumped head first, breaking his neck and thus avoiding the horrible torture that awaited him. Up until recent times, on November 5 the cities of New England would celebrate Pope Day, where straw effigies of Guy Fawkes, the devil, and the Pope would be paraded around the city and then burned in a big bonfire at the end of the night. To this day, November 5 is celebrated in England as Bonfire Night - probably because the Brits needed yet another reason to stumble around drunk and pantless.
Obviously, I am not holding Guy Fawkes up to be a hero. Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of its source. However, this man lived in a time where being Catholic could mean certain death. We don't really have a grasp on what that means today. Even in colonial times, most of the colonies declared a freedom of religion "except for the romanish faith." Only Pennsylvania and Maryland had true religious freedom where Catholics could openly worship without fear. Eventually the other colonies followed, but for a long time, it was not good to be Catholic in any British lands.
King James went on to have the first official English translation of the Bible dedicated to him. The King James Bible is still widely used to this day. Also, under King James, the British colonization of North America took place, which led to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and the founding of the Jamestown colony. The world has never been the same since, so a lot can be attributed to this king that was almost assassinated by Guy Fawkes.
In closing, it is amazing that the Lord continues to work His wonders. If the Lord has welcomed Guy Fawkes into His kingdom, Fawkes can cry tears of joy at the recent news of the Anglican constitution being released by the Vatican, which paves the way for traditional Anglicans to covert to Catholicism under an Anglican Rite. The blood of the martyrs, who suffered torture and death under Protestant England, can praise the Lord for this wonderful path of unity.
So, this November 5, please pray for Guy Fawkes and the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot. Although they were fighting to defend the Church, they were misguided and the Lord thankfully stopped them from being murderers. Their penance was torture and death, but we must pray that the Lord shows them mercy. Their world was much different than our own and thankfully we no longer live in a world where Catholics and Protestants are willing to kill one another for political reasons. Let us thank the Lord for bringing Catholics and Anglicans closer together and opening a door for reconciliation. As for Guy Fawkes, may the Lord show him mercy because of his love for the Lord's Church and may he enter the Lord's Kingdom as we all hope to do through His mercy.
