Solemnity of Thomas Becket
This Sunday, the 29th of December, we in Canterbury will be celebrating the Solemnity of Thomas Becket rather than the Feast of the Holy Family. This is because our parish is dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury. The readings for this Sunday’s Mass are from the Common Book of Martyrs, and we will be singing Vespers in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral at 8pm.
What is the significance of Thomas Becket? As Archbishop of Canterbury, he championed the rights of the Church against encroachments by the monarchy. His conflict with King Henry II arose over the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), a set of laws intended to reduce ecclesiastical privileges and bring clergy under royal authority.
Becket’s refusal to accept these reforms symbolised the struggle between Church and State in medieval Europe. It was during the early evening of 29th December 1170 that he was set upon by four knights loyal to King Henry II who had interpreted King Henry’s frustration with Becket as a call to action. They came upon the Archbishop in a side chapel of the Cathedral and demanded the absolution of bishops that Thomas had excommunicated – but he refused. It seems that the knights left the Cathedral for a short time then returned with a band of armed men and tried to drag the Archbishop outside but could not manage it. They eventually killed him where he stood.
Becket is said to have died like a true saint. According to his cross bearer Edward Grim, who was an eyewitness to the crime and was himself wounded in the struggle, Becket commended his cause to God and accepted death ‘for the name of Jesus and in defence of the Church’. His death was seen as a sacrifice for the independence of the Church and made him a symbol of resistance to tyranny.
His shrine in Canterbury Cathedral became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in medieval Europe, and he remained one of the most popular English saints until Henry VIII, during the Protestant Reformation, desecrated his shrine, destroyed his bones, and ordered that all mention of his name be obliterated.
Becket was immortalised in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and his story has inspired countless works of art, literature, and drama, including T.S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral. St. Thomas is venerated as a patron saint of clergy, secular priests and those who face persecution for their faith. He is also patron of our Archdiocese of Southwark. The bottom left quarter of our Diocesan Crest shows three Cornish Choughs as seen on the crest of St Thomas of
Canterbury. In heraldry, choughs are known as ‘beckits’.
In our Martyr’s Chapel, we are fortunate to retain the relic of a piece of finger bone (presented in 1953) which originated in the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny where St Thomas stayed during his years of exile. An additional relic was obtained in the late 19th century and consists of a further fragment of bone and a piece of Becket’s vestment.
O God, our strength and our salvation, you called your servant Thomas Becket to be a shepherd of your people and a defender of your church; Keep your household from all evil and raise up faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ, the shepherd of our souls, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
