Saturday, 29 December, 2007
5th Day in the octave of Christmas (II)

Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Don in the flesh may set us free, who are held by the bondage under the yoke of sin. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Epistle: Bl. Paul the Apostle to Titus, 3:4,7.
Gospel: Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke, 2:15-20.

St. Thomas of Canterbury, Bishop, Martyr (Comm.)
England and Wales
"Saint Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is the Martyr of the liberties of the Church, in the XIIth century. Henry II, king of England, wished him to sanction customs contrary to the liberties of the Church. St. Thomas knew that to make this divine society subservient to the secular power, would be to violate her very constitution, and therefore as Bishop he would willingly suffer death in defence of the Church of Christ. He was slain in his cathedral by the King’s soldiers on December 29th, 1170."

Collect: O God, for the sake of whose Church the glorious Bishop Thomas fell by the sword of ungodly men: grant, we beseech Thee, that all who implore his aid, may obtain the good fruit of their petition. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Epistle: From Bl. Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, 5:1-6.
Gospel: Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. John, 10:11-16.

Remarks are abstracted from The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, from Editio Typica of the Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962
(Baronius Press Limited, London, 2004, in conjunction with the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, www.baroniuspress.com)