13/05/2026
“She kissed the stake as though it were a crown.”
Cicely Ormes, a godly woman of Norwich, suffered death by fire during the cruel reign of Mary I of England for the testimony of Jesus Christ and the truth of His Gospel.
She was no noblewoman, nor famous scholar, but a simple English believer whose conscience could not bow to the doctrines of Rome.
The bishops and priests labored earnestly to turn her from the faith, charging her to return unto the Mass and to acknowledge the corporal presence in the sacrament. Yet Cicely answered plainly that Christ’s body was in heaven, and that salvation rested not in the inventions of men, but in Christ alone.
For this cause she was condemned as a heretic.
Thus she was led forth unto the place of ex*****on at Norwich in the year of our Lord 1557.
Many expected trembling from a woman so gentle in stature. Yet the Lord strengthened her mightily.
When she came unto the stake and saw the wood prepared for her burning, she neither fainted nor cried aloud, but showed a quiet cheerfulness that astonished the beholders.
Foxe records that she embraced the stake and kissed it.
Then, being chained fast, she exhorted the people standing near that they should remain faithful unto the Gospel and not fear the threats of men, for the fire could consume the body only, but not the soul redeemed by Christ.
The torch was then set unto the wood.
And as the flames compassed her about, this faithful servant of God yielded her life with remarkable constancy, sealing the truth with her blood.
Thus died Cicely Ormes, whose body men burned to ashes, yet whose testimony could not be consumed by the fire.
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