BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT THOMAS A BECKET

Saint Thomas a Becket

Also known as

• Thomas Beckett
• Thomas of Canterbury

Memorial

• 29 December
• 7 July (translation of relics)

Profile

Of Norman ancestry. Educated at Merton Priory, the University of Paris, in Bologna, Italy, and in Auxerre, France. Civil and canon lawyer. Soldier and officer. Archdeacon of Canterbury, England, ordained in 1154. Friend of King Henry II. Chancellor of England. Ordained on 2 June 1162 and appointed archbishop of Canterbury on 3 June 1162. Opposed the King‘s interference in ecclesiastical matters which led to his being exiled several times and eventually murdered by supporters of the king. Martyr.

Born

• 21 December 1118 at London, England

Died

• murdered on 29 December 1170 in the Cathedral at Canterbury, England
• some relics enshrined at the Ladyewell Shrine in Lancaster, England

Canonized

• 21 February 1173 by Pope Alexander III

Patronage

• clergy
• Exeter College, Oxford, England
• 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
• crosier with a battle-axe head at the top

Storefront

• medals and pendants

Readings

Hereafter, I want you to tell me, candidly and in secret, what people are saying about me. And if you see anything in me that you regard as a fault, feel free to tell me in private. For from now on, people will talk about me, but not to me. It is dangerous for men in power if no one dares to tell them when they go wrong. – Saint Thomas Becket to a friend on his way to ordination

For our sake Christ offered himself to the Father upon the altar for the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret thoughts, and one day he will give each of us the reward his deeds deserve. It must therefore be our endeavor to destroy the right of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple of the Lord. The harvest is good and one reaper or even several would not suffice to gather all of it into the granary of the Lord. Yet the Roman Church remains the head of all the churches and the source of Catholic teaching. Of this there can be no doubt. Everyone know that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter. Upon his faith and teaching the whole fabric of the Church will continue to be built until we all reach full maturity in Christ and attain to unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Of course many are needed to plant and many to water now that the faith has spread so far and the population become so great. Nevertheless, no matter who plants or waters, God gives no harvest unless what he plants is the faith of Peter, and unless he himself assents to Peter’s teaching. All important questions that arise among God’s people are referred to the judgment of Peter in the person for the Roman Pontiff. Under him the ministers of Mother Church exercise the powers committed to them, each in his own sphere of responsibility. Remember then how our fathers worked out their salvation; remember the sufferings through which the Church has grown, and the storms the ship of Peter has weathered because it has Christ on board. Remember how the crown was attained by those whose sufferings gave new radiance to their faith. The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown. – from a letter by Saint Thomas Beckett