Proclamation on 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket

 The Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

"All the strength of the Pontiffs and Pastors of the Church consists in their imitation of Jesus. It is not enough that they have in them the character of His Priesthood. They must also be ready, like Him, to lay down their lives for their sheep. The Shepherd who thinks more of his own life than of the salvation of his flock, is a hireling. He is not a shepherd: he loves himself, and not his sheep. His flock has a claim upon his shedding his blood for them and if he will not, he is no longer an image of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. See how calmly Saint Thomas lays down his life! He bows down his head to receive the blows of his executioners, as though he were simply acquitting himself of a duty, or paying a debt. After the example of Jesus, he gives his blood for the deliverance of his people, and no sooner has the sword done its work than the Church over which God had him, is set free: his blood has brought peace (Colossians i. 20). He withstood the wolf that threatened destruction to his flock. He vanquished him. The wolf himself was turned into a lamb, for the king visited the tomb of his victim and sought in prostrate supplication the Martyr’s blessing. (...)  

Speak for us to the Infant Jesus — to Him that is to bear the Cross on His shoulders, as the insignia of His government (Isaias ix. 6) — and tell Him that we are resolved, by the assistance of His grace, never to be ashamed of His cause or its defenders: that, full of filial simple love for the Holy Church which He has given us to be our Mother, we will ever put her interests above all others for she alone has the words of eternal life, she alone has the power and the authority to lead men to that better world, which is our last end, and passes not away, as do the things of this world: for everything in this world is but vanity, illusion and, more frequently than not, obstacles to the only real happiness of mankind.

    But, in order that this Holy Church of God may fulfill her mission and avoid the snares which are being laid for her along the whole road of her earthly pilgrimage has need, above all things else, of Pastors like you, O Holy Martyr of Chris ! Pray, therefore, the Lord of the vineyard, that He send her labourers who will not only plant and water what they plant, but will also defend her from those enemies that are at all times seeking to enter in and lay waste, and whose character is marked by the Sacred Scripture, where she calls them, the wild boar (Psalm lxxix. 14) and the fox (Canticles ii. 15). May the voice of your blood cry out more suppliantly than ever to God, for, in these days of anarchy, the Church of Christ is treated in many lands as the creature and slave of the State." (Dom Prosper Guéranger: In Lumine de Fidei).