Gospel in Art: Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr

Saint Thomas Becket in Exile, Stained-glass windows in Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, created and installed between 1215-1225 © Chartres Cathedral / Wikimedia Commons

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 29 December 2025
Luke 22:24-30

At that time: A dispute also arose among the Apostles, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And Jesus said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

'You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'

Reflection on the early Stained Glass Window

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Thomas Becket (1118-1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in his own cathedral on 29 December 1170. At the age of just thirty-six, Thomas was appointed Chancellor of England by his close friend, King Henry II. For a time, their friendship flourished, until the king began to assert control over the Church and sought to curtail its freedoms.

At first, Thomas hesitated. Under pressure, he momentarily assented to the Constitutions of Clarendon, which would have stripped clergy of the right to be tried in Church courts and prevented direct appeal to Rome. But conscience prevailed. Thomas withdrew his approval, stood firm in defence of the Church's liberty, and was forced into exile in France for his own safety. Years later, he returned to England fully aware that doing so might cost him his life. When he refused to lift censures imposed on bishops favoured by the king, Henry II, in a moment of rage, famously exclaimed: "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?" Taking the king's words as a command, four knights rode to Canterbury and murdered Thomas at the altar of his cathedral.

Thomas Becket thus became a martyr, and later the patron saint of Roman Catholic diocesan clergy. His life reminds us that sainthood is rarely straightforward. It is often forged through inner struggle, hesitation, conversion, and ultimately courage. Thomas learned, painfully and gradually, that fidelity to truth sometimes demands to give everything... even one's life.

His powerful legacy is captured in the magnificent stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral, installed a mere 45 years after his death, a vivid sign of how rapidly his influence spread across Europe. Rising nearly nine metres high, the window contains four great circular scenes from his life. The detail we are contemplating (now over 800 years old) depicts Thomas's exile: a figure wielding a club forces him from England toward a tree symbolising France. Thomas appears in full episcopal vestments, with mitre and cross, encircled by a red halo, already marked as a martyr.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-22-24-30-2025/