St Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr is the Patron Saint of
- Exeter College, Oxford;
- Portsmouth;
- Arbroath Abbey;
- Secular clergy
St Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr Life History |
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| Date of Birth | December 21 1119 |
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| Country of Birth | United Kingdom in Europe |
| Profession | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Place of Work | Canterbury, England |
| Date of Death | December 29 1170 |
| Place of Death | Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, Kingdom of England |
| Feast Day | December 29 |
| Canonization | By Pope Alexander III on February 21 1173 at St Peter’s Church in Segni |
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St Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr Life History
Saint Thomas, son of Gilbert Becket, was born in Southwark, England, in 1117. When a youth he was attached to the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him to Paris and Bologna to study law.
He became Archdeacon of Canterbury, then Lord High Chancellor of England; and in 1160, when Archbishop Theobald died, the king insisted on the consecration of St. Thomas in his stead.
St. Thomas refused, warning the king that from that hour their friendship would be broken. In the end he yielded, and was consecrated.
The conflict at once broke out; St. Thomas resisted the royal customs, which violated the liberties of the Church and the laws of the realm.
After six years of contention, partly spent in. exile, St. Thomas, with full foresight of martyrdom before him, returned as a good shepherd to his Church.
On the 29th of December, 1170, just as vespers were beginning, four knights broke into the cathedral, crying: “Where is the archbishop? where is the traitor?” The monks fled, and St. Thomas might easily have escaped.
But he advanced, saying: “Here I am—no traitor, but archbishop. What seek you?” “Your life,” they cried. “Gladly do I give it,” was the reply; and bowing his head, the invincible martyr was hacked and hewn till his soul went to God.
Six months later Henry II. submitted to be publicly scourged at the Saint’s shrine, and restored to the Church her full rights.
Saint Thomas Becket was also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury and also Thomas of London
Today’s Saint Thomas Becket Quote
“Learn from St. Thomas,” says Father Faber, “to fight the good fight even to the shedding of blood, or, to what men find harder, the shedding of their good name by pouring it out to waste on the earth.”
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