Monday, December 29, 2008

5th Day In The Octave Of Christmas

The Same Day Commemoration of St. Thomas Of Canterbury,
In England and Wales
Bishop and Martyr

St. Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is the Martyr of the liberties of the Church, in the XIIth Century. Henry II, king of England, wished him to sanction customs contrary to the liberties of the Church. St. Thomas knew that to make this divine society subservient to the secular power, would be to violate her very constitution, and therefore as Bishop he would willingly suffer death in defense of the Church of Christ. He was slain in his cathedral by the king's soldiers on December 29th, 1170.

(The Roman Missal, 1962)

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