Also
known as
Thomas
Beckett
Thomas
of Canterbury
Memorial
29
December
Profile
Our saint
is probably the most famous saint from the Middle Ages. He is also is one
of my 13 personal protectors. Thomas was a deacon but not really too
serious about it. He was educated as a civil and canon
lawyer. His real avocation at the time was to hang out with his
drinking buddy, King Henry II of England; Thomas was in the King’s inner circle
and even called him by his informal nickname “Hal.” Eventually Hal
named Tom Chancellor of England.
When the
position of the Archbishop of Canterbury became vacant, The King figured he
could expand his power base over the church by having his pal Tom, appointed to
the post. Back in the day it was common for deacons to be made bishops,
even Popes (Sixtus II comes to mind offhand among others). Deacons
were the “Eyes and Ears” of the bishop so they generally knew the inner
workings of their diocese so it was a natural succession.
So this
lowly deacon and man’s man was reluctantly ordained on 2 June 1162 as a bishop,
and appointed archbishop of Canterbury on 3 June 1162.
Unfortunately for King Hal the Holy Spirit had other plans and
Thomas took his vows and new job very very seriously. He
opposed the King's interference in ecclesiastical matters. King Hal was not at
all pleased.
On 29
December 1170 the King muttered “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest”
a man at arms nearby overheard this and took it as an official
request. Tom was murdered after vespers in the Cathedral at
Canterbury by a bunch of king’s men. The area where Tom was offed
is marked in the cathedral to this day.
Following Becket's death,
the monks prepared his body for burial and discovered that he had worn a
hairshirt under his archbishop's garments a sign of penance.
Not long after, the faithful throughout Europe
began venerating Becket as a martyr, and in 1173 barely three years after his
death he was canonized by Pope Alexander III.
The following year, July 1174, King Henry
humbled himself with public penance at Saint Thomas's tomb in Canterbury as
well as at the church of Good Saint Dunstan's.
As an interesting footnote here,
my late brother in law, Beek-Bop-o-Roo, was into genealogy. He was bored one day….So he started looking
at The Whip’s family tree. It turns
out she is related to King Edward I of England. Edward I was the son of King Henry III, who
was the son of King John, who was the brother of Richard the Lionhearted, who
was the son of King Henry II…the guy who had Tom Beckett killed…..The Whip’s
family offed my saint……
Born
21
December 1118 at London, England
Died
murdered
on 29 December 1170 in the Cathedral at Canterbury, England
Canonized
21
February 1173 by Pope Alexander III
Patronage
clergy
Exeter
College Oxford
Portsmouth,
England
secular
clergy
Representation
archbishop
with a wounded head
archbishop
holding an inverted sword
archbishop
kneeling before his murderers
archbishop
being murdered in church
archbishop
with a sword through his head
crosier
with a battle-axe head at the top
The
excommunication scene from the movie Becket…..I get chills, and a little
scared:
Thomas
a Becket: Lord Gilbert, Baron of England by the grace of his
majesty, King Henry II, seized upon the person of a priest of the Holy Church
and unlawfully did hold him in custody. Furthermore, in the presence of Lord
Gilbert, and by his command, his men seized upon this priest when he tried to
escape and put him to death. This is the sin of murder and sacrilege. In that
Lord Gilbert has rendered no act of contrition or repentance, and is at the
moment, at liberty in the land, we
do, here and now, separate him from the precious body and blood of Christ, and
from the society of all Christians. We exclude him from our Holy Mother Church
and all her sacraments, in heaven, or on Earth. We declare him excommunicate and
anathema. We cast him into the outer darkness. We judge him damned with the
devil and his fallen angels and all the reprobate, to eternal fire and
everlasting pain!
[slams
candle to the ground]
Monks: [chanting]
So be it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9efh_EOHqU
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