IN TRANSLATIONEM SANCTI THOM CANTUARIENSIS

EPISCOPI ET MARTYRIS

Feast of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury

Bishop & Martyr

ASPRGES Asprges me. Dmine, hysspo, et mundbor: lavbis me, et super nivem dealbbor. Miserre mei, Deus, secndum magnam misericrdiam tuam. P.Glria Patri, et Flio, et Spirtui Sancto. S. Sicut erat in princpio, et nunc, et semper, et in scula sculrum. Amen. Asprges me. Dmine, hysspo, et mundbor: lavbis me, et super nivem dealbbor. P. Ostnde nobis, Dmine, misericrdiam tuam. S. Et salutre tuum da nobis. P. Dmine, exudi oratinem meam. S. Et clamor meus ad te vniat. P. Dminus vobscum. S. Et cum spritu tuo. P. Ormus. Exudi nos, Dmine sancte, Pater omnpotens, trne Deus, et mttere dignris sanctum Angelum tuum de clis, qui custdiat, fveat, prtegat, vsitet, atque defndat omnes habitntes in hoc habitculo. Per Christum Dminum nostrum. S. Amen Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall become whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy. [Psalm 50] P.Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. P. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy. S. And grant us Thy salvation. P. O Lord, hear my prayer. S. And let my cry come unto Thee. P. The Lord be with you. S. And with thy spirit. P. Let us pray. Hear us, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, and vouchsafe to send Thy holy Angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit and defend all that are assembled in this place: Through Christ our Lord. S. Amen

INTROIT Psalm 138. 17. Gaudemus omnes in Dmino, diem festum celebrntes sub honre beti Thomae Martyris: de cujus passine gaudent Angeli, et colludant Filium Dei. Ps. 32:1 Exsultte, justi, in Dmino: recotos decet collaudtio. V. Glria Patri... Gaudemus omnes... COLLECT Deus, qui nobis Translationem beati Thomae, Martyris tui atque Pontificis, celebrare concedis: te supplices exoramus; ut ejus meritis et precibus a vitiis ad virtutes et a carcere transferamur ad regnum. Per Dominum. EPISTLE Hebrews 5: 1-6 Lctio Epstol beti Pauli Apstoli ad Hebros. Fratres: Omnis Pntifex e homnibus assmptus, pro homnibus constititur in iis, qu sunt ad Deum, ut fferat dona, et sacrifcia pro pecctis: qui condolre possit iis, qui ignrant, et errant: quniam et ipse circmdatus est infirmitte: et proptrea debet, quemdmodum pro ppulo, ita tiam et pro semetpso offrre pro pecctis. Nec quisquam sumit sibi honrem, sed qui voctur a Deo tamquam Aaron. Sic et Chrlstus non semetpsum clarificvit ut pntifex feret: sed qui loctus est ad eum: Flius meus es tu, ego hdie gnui te. Quemdmodum et in alio loco dicit: Tu es sacrdos in trnum secndum rdinem Melchsedech. GRADUALE Ecclus. 44: 16 Ecce sacrdos magnus, qui in dibus suis placuit Deo. V. Non est invntus smilis illi, qui conservret legem Exclsi. Allelja, allelja. V. (John 10: 14) Ego sum pastor bonus: et cognsco oves meas, et cognscunt me me. Allelja. GOSPEL St. John 10: 11-16 In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus pharisis: "Ego sum pastor bonus. Bonus pastor nimam suam dat pro vibus suis. Mercenrius autm, et qui non est pastor, cujus non sunt oves prpri, videt lupum venintem, et dimttit oves, et fugit: et lupus rapit et disprgit oves: mercenrius autem fugit, quia mercenrius est, et non prtinet ad eum de vibus. Ego sum pastor bonus: et cognsco Meas et cognscunt Me Me. Sicut novit Me Pater, et ego agnsco Patrem: et

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival-day in honor of the blessed martyr Thomas: at whose martyrdom the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God. (Ps. 32: 1) Rejoice in the Lord, ye just; praise becometh the upright. v. Glory be... Repeat Let us all rejoice... O God, by whose leave we celebrate the Translation of thy blessed martyr bishop Thomas, we humbly beseech thee that by his means and prayers we may be lifted up from vice to virtue, and from prison to a throne. Through Our Lord...
Lesson from the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews. Brethren, every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err, because he himself also is compassed with infirmity; and therefore he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might be made a high priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech.

Behold a great priest, who in his days pleased God. V.There was not found the like to him, who kept the law of the Most High. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (John 10: 14) I am the good shepherd: and I know My sheep, and Mine know Me. Alleluia. At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and flieth; and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling, and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know Mine, and Mine know Me. As the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father; and I lay

nimam Meam pono pro vibus Meis. Et lias oves hbeo, qu non sunt ex hoc ovli: et illas oprtet me addcere, et vocem Meam udient, et fiet unum ovle, et unus pastor."

down My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."

OFFERTORY Psalm 20: 4-5 Posusti, Dmine, in capite ejus cornam de Thou hast set on his head, O Lord, a crown of lapide pretiso: vitam ptiit a te, et tribusti ei. precious stones: he asked life of thee, and thou Allelja. hast given it to him. Alleluia. SECRET Deus, qui panem et vinum in corpus tuum et sanguinem caelesti benedictione convertis: concede nobis per merita beati Thomae, Martyris tui atque pontificis; ut, ad tuam misericordiam revertentes, tuo beneplacito conformemur. Per Dominum. PREFACE Of The Most Holy Trinity Vere dignum et justum est, aquum et salutre, nos tibi semper et ubque grtias gere: Dmine sancte, Pater omnpotens, trne Deus. Qui cum unignito Flio tuo, et Spritu Sancto, unus es Deus, unus es Dminus: non in unus singularitte persn, sed in unus Trinitte substnti. Quod enim de tua glria, revelnte te, crdimus, hoc de Flio tuo, hoc de Spritu Sancto, sine differntia discretinis sentmus. Ut in confessine ver sempiternaque Deittis, et in persnis propretas, et in essntia nitas, et in majestte adortur qulitas. Quam laudant ngeli, atque Archngeli, Chrubim quoque ac Sraphim: qui non cessant clamre quotdie, una voce dicntes: God, who by thy heavenly blessing changest bread and wine into thy body and blood; grant, for the sake of thy blessed martyr bishop Thomas, that in turning once more to thy mercy, we may conform ourselves to thy good pleasure. Who liveth and reigneth...
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God. Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one Substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the angels and archangels, the cherubim also and seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:

COMMUNION ANTIPHON John 10: 14 Ego sum pastor bonus: et cognsco oves meas, I am the good shepherd, and I know My sheep, et cognscunt Me Me. and Mine know Me. POSTCOMMUNION COLLECT Deus, qui beatum Thomam, Martyrem tuum God, who didst move thy blessed martyr bishop atque Pontificem, a suppliciis ad gaudia Thomas from torment into joy, we pray thee transtulisti: tribue quaesumus; ut, qui grant that we who on earth celebrate his Translationem ejus veneramur in terris, per ejus Translation may be his advocacy be lifted up patrocinium ad caelestia transferamur. Per into the bless of heaven; through Our Lord... Dominum. TODAY'S REFLECTIONS
Today is the feast of the translation of Thomas Becket. It commemorates the translation of the martyrs relics on 7 July, 1220, from the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral to their shiny new shrine at the East end of the cathedral proper (from whence they were removed and subsequently destroyed by everyones favourite art lover, Henry VIII and cronies).[1] Becket, for those who dont know or need reminding, was murdered in the cathedral on 29 December 1170 (the morrow of Holy Innocents) by three knights

who may or may not have been acting on the orders or at least wishes of Henry II. Among much else, this act produced one of the most recognizable motifs of later medieval religious art. Although Beckets martyrdom was by now 50 years in the past, this was but a short time in the memory of the English church and the wider English political community, for whom both the event and the anniversary were invested with high symbolism. The date of the translation had been fixed at least two years in advance by Archbishop Stephen Langton, not to fall fifty calendar years from the martyrs death, but on the more providential jubilee. It was calculated, in the words of Anne Duggan, according to the details given in Leviticus [to fall] on the tenth day of the seventh month after seven-times-seven years from the event; and for good measure, the day was Tuesday, corresponding with the special Tuesdays in Beckets life, the date was the anniversary of Henry IIs inhumation in 1189, and 1220 was a leap-year, a time of good fortune.[2] Thus, the martyrs translation signified much more than a liturgical event and an opportunity for Canterbury to increase its already burgeoning pilgrim trade. It was also a political moment, and even a diplomatic one. Coming at the end of a period of civil strife and upheaval traceable at the least from Magna Carta and the death of King John through the turbulent early years of Henrys minority,[3] it was attended by the young Henry III, who had been re-crowned only seven weeks earlier by Langton in a symbolic ceremony of royal and ecclesiastical reconciliation at Westminster. Also in attendance were the powerful chief justiciar, Hubert de Burgh, and the papal legate, Pandulf, two men who were among the main architects of Henrys grip on power after the disastrous final months of King Johns reign.[4] Langton probably intended it as a seal on the preceding seven weeks of symbolic rapprochement, with the luminaries present both as participants and witnesses to authenticate the occasion. With the benefit of our historical perspective, we know how short-lived this period of calm turned out to be, but in 1220, perhaps those present truly felt that in celebrating the anniversary of the old kings burial and the translation of his rival, they were also interring the remains of their conflict. However, the ghost of Becket continued to cast a shadow over the Angevins, just as the spectre of conflict over the liberties and limitations of kingship also continued to hover. In 1231, Henry III is said to have exclaimed on the death of William Marshall the younger, Woe is me! Is not the blood of the blessed martyr Thomas fully avenged yet?[5] These words, attributed to the king by the monastic chronicler Matthew Paris, might represent true royal superstition that the curse of the martyred archbishop would continue to haunt the Angevin dynasty until his spirit was placated; equally, or also, it might represent Matthews idea of what a king of England ought to feel and say on such an occasion. In either case, it demonstrates Thomas continuing potency as a symbol of the wrongs of kings, the power of holy retribution to punish and constrain them, and the position of the church at the centre of the maelstrom that was the debate over the nature of kingship in high medieval England. Thomas murder was a political and personal act embedded in an ecclesiastical context. His conflict with his old friend and king orbited the twin suns of Thomas resolve to uphold the independence and liberties of the English church in the face of Henrys equally steely resolve to subject it to his law and will, and the kings deep affront and sense of betrayal at what he perceived to be Thomas ungrateful intransigence. It ought to come as no surprise then, that, commemorated by a church still feeling the pressure of royal demands, the figure of Thomas remained a politicized one with provocative potential. The feast of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury provides a handy opportunity to reflect on that.
[1] Sherry L. Reames, Reconstructing and Interpreting a Thirteenth-Century Office for the Translation of Thomas Becket, Speculum, 80 (2005), 118-70. [2] Anne J. Duggan, The Cult of St Thomas Becket in the Thirteenth Century, in St Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford: Essays in His Honour, ed. by Meryl Jancey (Hereford, 1982), pp. 21-44 (pp. 38-9). [3] Henry ascended the throne at the age of nine, and officially assumed his personal rule in 1226. For the minority, see D. A. Carpenter, The Minority of Henry III (London: Methuen London, 1990). [4] Richard Eales, The Political Setting of the Becket Translation of 1220, in Martyrs and Martyrologies, ed. by Diana Wood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 127-139. [5] Matthaei Parisiensis, monachi Sancti Albani, chronica majora, ed. by H. R. Luard, Rolls Series, 7 vols. (London: Longman, 1876) III, p. 201, as translated in Louise J. Wilkinson, Eleanor de Montfort: A Rebel Countess in Medieval England (London: Continuum, 2012), p.37.