Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury


Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 29 December 2016 - 15:08:54 | by admin

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Stained glass image of St. Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral.

I've mentioned before how St. Thomas Becket has been one of my heroes in the Catholic Faith since the days when I used to pray beneath his image, in a disused chapel at Ushaw seminary, in the late 1990's.

Indeed, on this feast-day last year, I posted up a more full treatment of St. Thomas' life story and the development of his cult throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.
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The sword-damaged pavement where St. Thomas was martyred in Canterbury Cathedral, on this day in 1170 AD.

I also spoke, on last year's feast, about a pilgrimage that Angie and I had made in 2013 to pray before the actual sword-damaged pavement where St. Thomas was martyred, in Canterbury Cathedral, on this 29th day of December in 1170.

At that hallowed spot, a place which was once a major European pilgrimage centre, we prayed for the reconversion of England, the defence of Holy Matrimony and the building of a Culture of Life in these isles.

As a martyr for the rights of Christ and His Church, St. Thomas remains one of the most important and inspiring saints in the whole history of England, Europe and Western civilization in general.
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During the summer of 2013, I fulfilled a long-held ambition to pray in the ancient Trinity Chapel at Canterbury. A lone candle now marks the original site of St. Thomas' medieval shrine; like so many others, it was sadly destroyed during the turbulent reign of King Henry VIII...

The beautiful shrine of St. Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral's Trinity Chapel was once a site of much prayer and countless healings. Throughout the 364 years following after St. Thomas' death, the shrine drew many thousands of pilgrims from all over Europe. This grace-filled period ended abruptly with the depradations launched during the troubled reign of King Henry VIII. The solitary flickering candle pictured above is all that now marks the spot where St. Thomas' jewel-embellished shrine originally stood.

Perhaps St. Thomas' martyrdom offers two models of Catholic heroism: When the knights of King Henry II first attacked him, he initially defended himself, and the episcopal dignity of his office, by physically seizing Richard FitzUrse by his coat of mail and dashing him to the ground. He also announced to his murderers that he was prepared to die to defend the rights of God and His holy Church. St. Thomas was a true man. 

Having made this initial bold defence, St. Thomas next imitated the humility of Christ by going silently before the High-Altar to pray. He there commended his soul to Our Lady, St. Denis and St. Alphege. As the knights repeatedly struck his head with their swords, the dying St. Thomas murmured: ''For the Name of Jesus, and defence of the Church, I embrace death.'' St. Thomas was a true priest.

Hugh Mauclerc, nick-named the ''Evil Clerk'', placed his foot on St. Thomas' neck, inserted his sword into one of St. Thomas' head wounds and scattered his brains onto the pavement with the words, ''Let us go knights, this fellow shall arise no more!''

Mauclerc was wrong, for an apparition of St. Thomas was seen that very night by one of the monks, resplendent in dazzling vestments of red and white to represent both martyrdom and purity, approaching the High-Altar as if to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In 1174, four years after the brutal murder, King Henry II did public penance at St. Thomas' tomb in the cathedral. The four repentant knights received absolution from their excommunication; on condition that they each serve fourteen years in the Holy Land by way of penance.
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Our St. Thomas key-fob: A daily reminder of this great saint's heroic life and witness. May he inspire us all in these days of trial for the Church.

Whilst at Canterbury in 2013, we purchased this key-fob for our car-keys. Although it is now looking a little battered, chipped and scratched after more than 3 years of use, this still provides us with a daily reminder of St. Thomas' remarkable life and witness.

I am not sure what St. Thomas would make of the fact that heavily armed police have since been brought in to patrol the cathedral precincts, following the Islamist terrorist attacks in Europe during the summer of 2016. Talk about a cultural indicator...

Let us conclude with a brief story regarding an exchange that took place between St. Thomas and King Henry II during their intense and stormy friendship.

One day, in Northampton, King Henry asked the saint why it was that he would not do the king's bidding in Church-State relations; especially given that the regent had raised the saint from poverty and lowliness to the very summit of rank and honour.

With great courage and simplicity of heart, St. Thomas, the Archbishop of Canterbury, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and king's friend, answered with the words found in Acts 5:29: ''We must obey God rather than men''.

May this be a message that we all take to heart for the times ahead.

St. Thomas of Canterbury - pray for us!


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