The Saint-du-jour was a person born in 1218 to great wealth. Scion of a fabulously rich Norman family, Thomas and his siblings were placed under the control of the Bishop of Winchester for purposes of education.. Thomas (and brother Hugh) were sent to Paris for a first-class education as well as an opulent lifestyle in those years. After graduation, Thomas was ordained a priest, read law at Orleans, and became a canon lawyer. He then returned to England and taught at Oxford. Very soon he was made chancellor there and, in that role, was remembered as a strict disciplinarian, a friend of poor students, and one who cracked down on weapons on campus.
Soon he had progressed to being Chancellor of All England. Later he returned to Paris for a time, and then reclaimed the chancellorship of Oxford. In 1275, Thomas was elected Bishop of Hereford in western England.. He was an exemplary prelate. As bishop he instituted personal austerity, even wearing a hair shirt; became a zealous reforming bishop; and dutifully visited parishes throughout his turf to administer Confirmation. He also was a strong defender of the rights of his Church.
A redhead with temper to match, Thomas strenuously objected to the officious meddling of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, John Pecham, in matters of wills and marriages in his diocese, cases which should have been laid in Hereford courts. The archbishop responded by excommunicating Thomas.
In 1282, Thomas visited the Pope at the pontiff's court in Orvieto, Italy, and Thomas died while there. His body was translated to Winchester, where his shrine soon became the most visited pilgrimage site in the west of England. Thomas has the distinction of being the only Saint of the western Church who was excommunicated at the time of death!
Lessons for us: learn to live simply, do what you do as well as you possibly can, love God and the Church.
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