Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?December_29th_=E2=80=93_St=2E_Thomas_Becket?= To : All From : rich Date : Sat Dec 28 2019 08:51:34 From: rich December 29th =E2=80=93 St. Thomas Becket (A.D.1118-1170) Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, martyr to the freedom of the Church, is venerated on December 29. His feast is within the Octave of Christmas because that was the date of his death. But it is also appropriate to commemorate him soon after the birth of Christ the King, for he died in defense of the Kingdom that is not of this world. Becket was a Londoner of upper middle-class stock, the son of the sheriff of London. He started to work as a merchant's clerk, but th= en, with a view to a clergy career, he joined the household of Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury, England's primatial see. He may also have studied at Bologna, Italy. Prizing Thomas' talents, Archbishop Theobald subsequently chose him as his chief counselor and representative. With good reason: this tall, handsome, vigorous, extroverted young man was highly intelligent and competent. On Theobald's recommendation, the young king Henry II appointed Becket, then thirty-six, as his chancellor. Thomas proved more than equal to the task. Henry not only appreciated his talent but also his company, and the two became closely attached socially. This was all the easier in the sumptuous royal court because Thomas, though a cleric, shared the King's devotion to banqueting and hunting. He li= ved magnificently, even on a regal scale. In 1159, clad in armor, he led 700 of his own knights in combat in the siege of Toulouse. Wearing secular garb troubled him little. The prior of Leicester, meeting him at Rouen, properly exclaimed, =E2=80=9CWhat do you mean by dressing like th= at? You look more like a falconer than a cleric.=E2=80=9D Becket was certainly worldly and ambitious, impetuous and harsh. Yet there was in him an idealistic and devout and pure side that would show itself more and more as he matured. King Henry was meanwhile laying plans to gain complete control over church as well as state in his kingdom. When Archbishop Theobald died, Henry foisted Thomas on the see of Canterbury, thinking that his boon companion would assist him in subjugating the Church. Thomas declined the position. He knew only too well the King's motives, and he was cleric enough to realize that what he had done as chancellor he could not in conscience do as archbishop. He warned the King about this, but Henry did not believe him. On being consecrated a bishop, Thomas resigned the chancellorship. After his installation, Thomas changed his life style to one of order, prayer and penance. The break in the royal friendship came only gradually. Conflict peaked in 1164, when Henry declared his intention to revive certain unspecified =E2=80=9Croyal customs=E2=80=9D. Thomas was at first willing to go along. Then, when the King presented a list of three =E2=80=9Ccustoms=E2=80=9D, he saw that he could not support= them. Among them were the demand that clergy be subject to trial in civil courts as well as church courts; that the king had a right to the income from empty clerical benefices; that no prelate could appeal from the king to the pope, or even travel to Rome, without royal consent. Thomas refused to accept. Henry stormed. Trial for treason being in the offing, the Archbishop fled to France, seeking shelter in the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny. Even from afar, Henry lashed out at Thomas by persecuting his relatives and the local Cistercian monks. But Becket did not hesitate to excommunicate the bishops who sided with the crown against the Church. In July 1170, monarch and archbishop met in France and patched up an agreement, but without discussing the principal issues. When Thomas returned to England on December 1, the people greeted him triumphantly. Three bishops whom he had suspended for breaking church law, now appealed their cases to the King, still in France. In one of his famous rages, Henry cried out, =E2=80=9CWill nobody rid me of this pestilent cleric?=E2=80=9D Four knights who took the King at his word, left= at once for England, rode to Canterbury, and murdered Thomas in his cathedral. All Europe was shocked at this sacrilegious assassination. Miracles were soon reported at Becket's tomb. The pope excommunicated King Henry, who retracted his anti-church legislation and did public penance. Thomas was canonized in 1173. Ever since then the Church has celebrated his feastday as a martyr on December 29th. He had made up for his early failings by reforming his ways, but most of all, by sacrificing his life for the liberty of the Church. =E2=80=93Father Robert Saint Quote: 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. =E2=80=93 Saint Thomas Becket Saint Thomas Becket's patronage: Clergy; secular clergy; Exeter College Oxford; Portsmouth, England. <><><><> Reflection: VERY quickly will there be an end of you here; take heed therefore how it will be with you in another world. To-day man is, and to-morrow he will be seen no more. And being removed out of sight, quickly also he is out of mind. O the dullness and hardness of man's heart, which thinketh only of the present, and looketh not forward to the future. you oughtest in every deed and thought so to order thyself, as if you wert to die this day. If you hadst a good conscience you wouldst not greatly fear death. It were better for you to watch against sin, than to fly from death. If to-day you art not ready, how shalt you be ready to-morrow? To-morrow is an uncertain day; and how knowest you that thou shalt have a to-morrow? --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .