The Fifth Day of Christmas: Thomas and Henry
Happy fifth day of Christmas! Today, the Church celebrates the anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. Over the years, I’ve written many articles on this, one of my favourite saints. I’ve provided links to them below. Many of these articles focus on the saint himself, his life and martyrdom, and others on his legacy to the Church, particularly as pertains to Christian pilgrimage, and even to the Saint’s liturgy.
Saint Thomas was murdered while praying Vespers, most probably on the orders of King Henry II. After Becket’s martyrdom, Henry was famously sorrowful and penitent over the death of his former friend. We can argue (and many have) over whether or not this was genuine sorrow or a political calculation.
Three hundred years later, however, a very different King Henry was determined to erase what he considered an insult to the monarchy and a dangerous threat to his new policy of Royal Supremacy over the Church. This king was, of course, Henry VIII (that bum). He not only “dissolved” the monasteries and seized their lands for his friends, but he was also resolute in his determination to obliterate the legacy and even memory of Saint Thomas Becket.
The King decreed,
Thomas Becket, sometime archbishop. of Canterbury, shall no longer be named a saint, as he was really a rebel who fled the realm to France and to the bishop of Rome to procure the abrogation of wholesome laws, and was slain upon a rescue made with resistance to those who counselled him to leave his stubbornness. His pictures throughout the realm are to be plucked down and his festival shall no longer be kept, and the services in his name shall be razed out of all books. Westminster, 16 Nov. 30 Hen. VIII
King Henry (that cad) ensured that his edict was ruthlessly carried out. The saint’s shrine at Canterbury was an object of pilgrimage rivaling those of Europe’s other great sites, including Santiago de Compostela, Rocamadour, and even Rome itself1. So Henry (that bounder) had it destroyed. It was stripped of its gold and gems, and the very stone was broken up and ground to dust. There’s a contemporary story that one of the gems, a ruby donated by King Louis VII of France in 1179, was made into a thumb-ring that Henry (that knave) wore at court.
The saint’s bones were burned.
The Church, now dominated by the King’s men, strove to obliterate the memory of Thomas Becket, even censoring his name and feast from the Missals.
But the saint had the last laugh. After the death of the tyrant Henry (that rotter), Saint Thomas was slowly rehabilitated. Today, there’s a new (if severely understated) shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. Although nowhere near as popular as it was before the Reformation, it still draws pilgrims today.
And the Saint’s name and feast were gradually added back into the Missals, breviaries, and Books of Hours from which it had been expunged. Today, you may find his feast day kept in the various editions of the Anglican Missal worldwide.
And of course, he was never removed from the Catholic Missal or Hours, even though his feast falling during the Octave of Christmas causes some complications in celebrating it.
Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket:
2022: Saint Thomas Becket and His Liturgical Celebration
(How we celebrate the Saint’s feast – repeated in 2023 because I was ill)
2021: Saint Thomas Becket, Obedience, and the Sacred Liturgy
(Obedience, freedom, and Traditionis Custodes)
2020: Saint Thomas Becket
(The saint’s treasured “little book” found at last)
2018: Becket
(On martyrdom and liberty, with some help from Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B.)
2016: On Obedience and Confusion
(Ruminations on obedience as the greatest freedom, touching on both the saint and Amoris Lætitia)
2015: On Pilgrimage
(A deeper look into pilgrimages and why we do them)
2014: A Happy Death
(Thoughts on the saint’s martyrdom and the grace of a happy death)
2012: Becket and Chaucer
(A meditation on pilgrimage)
2011: Saint Thomas Becket
(G.K. Chesterton on Becket’s martyrdom)
2010: Becket
(Becket, More, and Henry VIII (that jerk))
2009: Saint Thomas Becket
(Becket’s martrydom, an eyewitness account)
Some years, I failed to post anything. That’s going to happen from time to time. In 2019 and 2024, his feast was trumped by the Sunday feast of the Holy Family. I encourage you to peruse the past articles and see if you can’t watch the magnificent film, Becket.
O God, who gave the Martyr Saint Thomas Becket
the courage to give up his life for the sake of justice,
grant, through his intercession,
that, renouncing our life
for the sake of Christ in this world,
we may find it in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.Amen.
Saint Thomas Becket, pray for us.