Today, December 29, is the memorial of Saint Thomas Becket.
Thomas was born around 1118 in London. Gilbert and Matilda were his parents. He took up Canon Law and became a trusted assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Later, Thomas was ordained deacon.
That time, Henry II ascended to the throne. He and Thomas clicked well, so much so that the king promoted and appointed him chancellor of England.
When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, Thomas was asked to replace him. So, Henry II had Thomas ordained priest to fill the vacant spot. Thomas changed his lifestyle as well as his principles in life when he became archbishop. He tried to follow Christ’s teachings as closely as possible, engaging himself in charitable works and defending the poor.
By this time, Thomas and the king were disagreeing over the rights and privileges of the Church. Henry II became so frustrated that he was heard by his knights saying, “Will I never be rid of this priest?”
Soon enough, the king’s followers assassinated Thomas in the Canterbury cathedral, accusing him of being a traitor. Thomas replied, “I am not a traitor, but an archbishop and priest of God.”
They killed Thomas by splitting his head; the upper part of his head separated from the rest of his body. One account wrote, “… his crown (upper portion of the head), which was large, separated from his head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red from the blood…” Thomas Becket died on December 29, 1170 at the age of 50 or 51.
He was beatified and canonized, in 1173, by Pope Alexander III.