I kept telling myself to relax. Mary is a goddess and I am a feminist. Pray to a female deity -very nice. Between the Witnesses and the larger Anglican church, I was shocked by how I could just could not pray wholeheartedly. I did not stand up and scream "Vipers!" I'd much prayer pray to a mother goddess than a male god. I was not making any theological point. Only how we are shaped by our upbringing and culture no matter how sophisticated we seem in our ideal brain.
I know the history of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth, from church history, Eng. const'l history, and an obsession with Henry's wives. Tudor history seems to be peaking right now in terms of number of books and sales. Antonia Fraser with the many wives, and the recent Wolf Hall about Cromwell are my favorites. I paid for Showtime just long enough to see the Tudors. I knew hardly anything when I started. For an American, I know so much. Compared to a Britsh citizen, I know hardly anything. Many books, TV shows, and films have stated the claim that Henry was a true Catholic at heart. He ruthlessly suppressed Protestants. Henry VIII reigned at the same time Lutheranism swept Europe like a wildfire. What is interesting is that he knew many of his court favorites were secret Protestants. I constantly read about these noble ladies translating the Bible into English on their own. It appears if you were in his court and did things secretly, he would look the other way. The claim that Anne Boleyn was a Protestant (true) was one of the factors in her death.
The whole point of Anglo-Catholicism and the English missals used was that Henry disapproved of Luther. This church does not use the Book of Common Prayer from any year. The only documents used are English translations of Latin missals ordered by Henry. The first Prayer Book was not Lutheran but had hints of Lutheranism. The hints were enough for Anglo=Catholicism to thrive. In NY, they pray for reunion with Rome immediately, not a vague statement as most Anglicans pray.
There is a correlation between Druid shrines to female goddesses and Marian shrines in England. I don't know if this is true in France. It makes sense. We celebrate Christmas when Saturnalia was celebrated. I doubt the first converts understood that Mary was very different.
I have a neutral view towards what I witnessed. The history exhilirates me. Compared to the KH, there was so much ceremony and fasscinating background. King Henry VIII is much more of a character than Pastor Russell. It seems that the Anglican church is such a tent religion today and the most liberal of mainstream religions because its beginning was so over the top bloody. Standing or kneeling could lead to an execution. Wow - Popes, Luther, a king with many wives, torture, development of the Br. constn'n. Not boring topics. KH - Boring. The Tower, Westminster, Whitehall vs. Columbia Heights.
If Catholics in general were totally outraged, why did they continue to deal with Henry on diplomatic and marriage treaties? It seems as tho the Pope had little power.
Also, the Catholic church of the time was much more corrupt than now. Indulgences. In English legal history, I learned that any criminal who escaped to ecclesiastical jurisdiction could "read the clergy" and the local and king's men could not touch the thug. All a criminal had to do was recite 3 or 4 Latin words. It was a very different world.