ABRAHAM


Yahweh appeared to him at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. "My lord," he said, "I beg you, if I find favor with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch
a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant's direction." They replied, "Do as you say." Genesis 18:1-5, Jerusalem Bible


MELCHIOR


The "three Kings of Orient" probably were not kings at all but dubbed that by later tradition to fit the prophecy in Psalm 72:11, "All kings will do him homage." Rather, the "wise men from the East" were Magi, the priest class of Persia who were the "keepers of the sacred things, the learned of the people, the philosophers and servants of God," who also practiced the art of divination, soothsaying and astrology. During the Persian empire, they were advisers of kings, educators of princes, and were held in highest reverence.

The names of the three wise men are not mentioned in the Bible but appear to have arisen or been passed down through tradition. Eighth-century British historian Bede was the first to record their names as we know them today. Melchior signifies "king of light"; Caspar may come from the name of the Indian king Gondophares whom the apostle Thomas converted; Balthazar is the Chaldean name for Daniel.


KING ARTHUR


Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved
And honour'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth
And bring the Queen...
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint,
Chief of the church in Britain, and before
The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King
That morn was married, while in stainless white,
The fair beginners of a nobler time,
And glorying in their vows and him, his knights
Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy....
And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake:
"Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world
Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee,
And all this Order of thy Table Round
Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King!"

Alfred Lord Tennyson
"The Coming of Arthur"
Idylls of the King


THOMAS BECKET


Serving two masters proved impossible for Thomas Becket. As friend and lord chancellor to King Henry II of England, he warned him he could not also serve as archbishop. "Should God permit me to be the archbishop of Canterbury," he said, "I would soon lose your Majesty's favor, and the affection with which you honor me would be changed into hatred." Upon becoming archbishop, therefore, he resigned his post as chancellor. Having been assigned the highest office of the Roman Church in Britain, answerable to the pope alone, he fulfilled it meticulously. When Henry's wishes clashed with the interests of the Church, Thomas refused to grant them. He was later forced to flee to France where he entered a monastery. But after the French king arranged a reconciliation between Thomas and his king, the archbishop returned home, remarking to the bishop of Paris, "I am going to England to die.

"After a tumultuous welcome by the British people, he returned to Canterbury. But the inevitable clash with Henry took place when he refused to rescind his excommunication of three rebellious bishops. Upon hearing of this the king went into a rage and is said to have demanded, "Will
no one rid me of this traitor Becket!" Whereupon, Dec. 29, 1170, four of his knights journeyed to Canterbury where they brutally murdered the defenseless Becket as he prayed in the cathedral. Within three years of his death, Becket was canonized, miracles abounded and pilgrims came from far and wide until his tomb was destroyed and his veneration interdicted in 1538 by Henry VIII.


THOMAS MORE, 1478-1535


Omnium horarum homo, the Dutch humanist Erasmus labeled him. Later the phrase was rendered in English "a man for all seasons." Lawyer, judge, statesman, man of letters, author, poet, farmer, lover of pastoral life, ascetic, husband and father, champion of women's education, humanist and saint, Thomas More was outstanding among the avant-garde of the English Renaissance.

His talents attracted the attention of King Henry VIII. In 1529 Henry appointed him chancellor of England, a post he fulfilled faithfully until the king determined to divorce Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to produce a male heir, and marry Anne Boleyn. He resigned his chancellorship in 1532 rather than openly oppose the king, but Henry would not allow his foremost servant to withdraw from the controversy. When Thomas' opposition extended to refusal to sign the Act of Succession, as it implied rejection of the pope's supremacy, he was thrown in the Tower and later charged with treason. The jury convicted him based on the perjured testimony of the solicitor general Richard Rich. The sentence directed he be drawn, hanged and quartered, but the king changed it to beheading. Thomas was executed July 6, 1535, affirming himself "the king's good servant, but God's first."


AKBAR THE GREAT (1542-1605)


Questing the truth in all religions, embodying a true spirit of ecumenism, Akbar caused to be erected at the side of his great palace at Fatehpur Sikri a building called the Ibadat Khana, meaning "house of worship." He decreed that on Thursday nights, "all orders and sects
of mankind, those who searched after spiritual and physical truth and those of the common public who sought for an awakening, and the inquirers of every sect, should assemble in the precincts of the holy edifice and bring forward their spiritual experiences, and their degrees of knowledge of the Truth in various and contradictory forms in the bridal chamber of manifestation.


THOMAS MOORE (1779-1852)


Capturer of the soul not only of the Irish but of all freedom-loving peoples, Thomas Moore belongs in the pantheon of the world's great poets. A poet distills the essence of a people's longing, and that is precisely what his Irish Melodies did. While his celebrity in Ireland, England and America during the early nineteenth century is well known, his popularity in Eastern Europe, especially Poland and Russia, is not. Many peoples have since caught the fire of his poetry that sang already in their blood. His haunting songs with words that pull the heartstrings, such as "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" and "The Harp That Once through Tara's Halls," still evoke tender memories of bygone days.

This Thomas who had survived two Henrys awakened his people through more than music and poetry. His political satire and parodies were in the same vein as today's political cartoons. His aim in recording the History of Ireland was to interest his people in their past and to awaken the British to their errors in governing the nation.