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Also known as: Thomas a
Beckett; Thomas of Canterbury
Profile
Of Norman ancestry. Educated at Merton Priory, Paris, Bologna, and Auxerre.
Civil and canon lawyer. Soldier and officer. Archdeacon of Canterbury.
Friend of King Henry II. Chancellor of England. Archbishop of Canterbury.
Opposed the King's interference in ecclesiastical matters. Exiled several
times. Martyr.
Born: 1118 at London, England
Died: murdered in 1170 in the Cathedral at Canterbury, England
Canonized: 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; crosier with a battle-axe head at the top
Readings
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 knows 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 in
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
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt09.htm
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