{"id":84590,"date":"2014-12-29T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-29T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=84590"},"modified":"2016-12-28T15:49:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T23:49:45","slug":"a-happy-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-happy-death\/","title":{"rendered":"A Happy Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

E<\/span>ach year on this, his feast day, I write a short article about Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2012: Becket and Chaucer<\/a>
\n(A meditation on pilgrimage)<\/p>\n

2011: Saint Thomas Becket<\/a>
\n(G.K. Chesterton on Becket\u2019s martyrdom)<\/p>\n

2010: Becket<\/a>
\n(Becket, More, and Henry VIII (that jerk))<\/p>\n

2009: Saint Thomas Becket<\/a>
\n(Becket’s martrydom, an eyewitness account)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last year, for some reason, I failed to post anything. Perhaps I was still digesting the idea of pilgrimage <\/em>from the year before. Perhaps I just had nothing new to say.<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, I’d like to call your attention to a short biography, rather too long to be a sketch and too short to be comprehensive: St. Thomas Becket<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In particular, read the account of his martyrdom and what transpired after. The denouement:<\/p>\n

Within three years of his death the archbishop had been canonized as a martyr. Though far from a faultless character, Thomas Becket, when his time of testing came, had the courage to lay down his life to defend the ancient rights of the Church against an aggressive state. The discovery of his hairshirt and other evidences of austerity, and the many miracles which were reported at his tomb, increased the veneration in which he was held. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thomas’ life was far from exemplary, and yet in the end he had what every Christian should pray for: the grace of a happy death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s something worth contemplating today. No one is past redemption. God loves every human being and desires them to attain heaven. <\/p>\n

All we have to do is ask.<\/p>\n

Pray for a happy death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord,
\nthat in the hour of our death
\nwe may be refreshed by Thy holy Sacraments
\nand delivered from all guilt,
\nand so deserve to be received with joy
\ninto the arms of Thy mercy.
\nThrough Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n

Amen. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Saint Thomas Becket, pray for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each year on this, his feast day, I write a short article about Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons. Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket: 2012: Becket and Chaucer (A meditation on pilgrimage) 2011: Saint Thomas Becket (G.K. Chesterton on Becket\u2019s martyrdom) 2010: Becket (Becket, More, and Henry VIII (that jerk)) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-m0m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89224,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/becket-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":0},"title":"Becket","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy fifth day of Christmas! Today the Church celebrates the martyrdom of the splendid Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name \"Thomas\", I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons. Each year, I try to write something about the saint here. Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket: 2016: On Obedience and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Saints"","block_context":{"text":"Saints","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/saint\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106063,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/fifth-day-of-christmas-becket-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":1},"title":"The Fifth Day of Christmas: Saint Thomas Becket","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today the Church celebrates the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. Even the White House has released a proclamation for the day. While the history is good, its conclusion - drawing a straight line from Becket to Magna Carta to the U.S. Constitution - is, to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34205,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/34205\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":2},"title":"Becket and Chaucer","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Each year on this, his feast day, I write a short article about Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name \"Thomas\", I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons. Last year, I quoted a small passage from G.K. Chesterton on the matter of Becket's martyrdom. This year, I'd like to focus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saint Thomas Becket","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/saintthomasbecket.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":109279,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-fifth-day-of-christmas-the-holy-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":3},"title":"The Fifth Day of Christmas: the Holy Family","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, the Church usually celebrates the memorial of\u00a0Saint Thomas Becket. Because it's the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, it is instead the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Holy Family, God gives us a living icon of family life: child, mother, father. Russian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110147,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-fifth-day-of-christmas-thomas-and-henry\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":4},"title":"The Fifth Day of Christmas: Thomas and Henry","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/St-Thomas-Becket.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100737,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/fifth-day-of-christmas-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":84590,"position":5},"title":"The Fifth Day of Christmas: the Holy Family","author":"Thom","date":"29 December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we celebrate the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Holy Family, God gives us a living icon of family life: child, mother, father. Russian Icon of the Holy Family And more than that, this being an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Holy-Family-e1363717547408.jpg?fit=778%2C1021&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Holy-Family-e1363717547408.jpg?fit=778%2C1021&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Holy-Family-e1363717547408.jpg?fit=778%2C1021&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Holy-Family-e1363717547408.jpg?fit=778%2C1021&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84590"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88021,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84590\/revisions\/88021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}