Saint Edward the Confessor

With the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II still fresh in our minds, it is worth turning our attention to her saintly predecessor, Edward the Confessor, whose feast day is today.

He was the son of the unfortunate King Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. Being the King’s seventh son, he never expected that he himself would reign, and he took a vow of perpetual virginity. After living a life in exile, he returned to England to rule as its penultimate Anglo-Saxon king from 1042 until 1066.

As King, Edward rebuilt Westminster Abbey to the glory we still see today, and it was dedicated just a week before his death.

Although he died in January, his feast is kept today, for it was on October 13, 1163 that his incorrupt body was translated to its current resting place by Saint Thomas Becket in the presence of King Henry II.

This is the lesson from today’s Office of Matins:

Edward, called the Confessor, nephew of St. Edward the King and Martyr, was the last of the Saxon Kings. When he was ten tears old the Danes who were devastating England sought to kill him. He was forced to go exile at the court of his uncle, the duke of Normandy. There the innocence of Edward’s life was the admiration of all. 

With the destruction of the tyrants, who had killed his brothers and usurped their kingdom, he was called back to his own country, where he devoted himself to wiping out all traces of the enemy’s occupation. He began with the restoration of the churches. 

Famous for the gift of prophecy, he foresaw in a heavenly way a great deal about the future state of England. He was wonderfully devoted to John the Evangelist, and on the day which the Evangelist predicted to him, January 5, 1066, he died a most holy death.

Saint Edward, pray for us!

O God, Who hast set upon the head
of thy blessed Confessor King Edward
a crown of everlasting glory,
grant unto us, we beseech thee,
so to use our reverence for him here upon earth,
as to make the same a means whereby
to come to reign with him hereafter in heaven.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord,
Who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
ever one God, world without end.
Amen.