Photograph of a statue of Saint Edmund created by artist Rodney Munday and erected in 2007. It is located on the grounds of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, England.
Photograph of a statue of Saint Edmund created by artist Rodney Munday and erected in 2007. It is located on the grounds of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, England.
Saint Edmond
Archevêque de
Cantorbéry (+ 1240)
ou Edme, évêque de Cantorbery,
Les parents de saint Edme (ou Edmond) vivaient près d'Oxford et n'avaient pas grande fortune. Ils étaient d'une grande piété et sa mère éleva seule ses enfants, ayant accepté que son époux se fasse religieux. Edme était l'aîné. Elle l'envoya étudier à Paris avec son frère Robert, restant toujours en relation avec eux, ne serait ce que pour leur envoyer du linge neuf. Ayant appris que sa mère était gravement malade, il retourna en Angleterre et, à sa mort, revint à Paris achever ses études. Puis il y enseigna les "belles-lettres" et les arts libéraux durant 6 années, soignant dans le même temps ses étudiants malades et aidant les plus pauvres. Ses contemporains l'avaient en haute estime, le voyant lire assidûment la Sainte Bible et se rendant quotidiennement à l'église Saint Merry pour y chanter Vêpres et Matines.
Parmi ses écoliers, se trouvait Etienne de Lexington, fondateur du collège des Bernardins à Paris en 1245 et futur abbé de Clairvaux. De retour en Angleterre, il enseigne à Oxford. Nommé archevêque de Cantorbery en 1234 par le Pape Grégoire IX (1227-1241), il se montre inflexible dans la défense des droits de l'Eglise, il s'attire la haine du roi. En ces circonstances, il ne fut soutenu ni par les autres évêques anglais, ni par son chapitre qui allait même jusqu'à l'injurier.
En 1240, suivant l'exemple de son prédécesseur, saint Thomas Beckett, il prend la résolution de se réfugier en France et se retire d'abord à l'abbaye de Pontigny, puis au monastère de Soisy, près de Provins, où il meurt le 16 novembre 1240. Il fut inhumé à Pontigny, le 20 novembre, en la fête de saint Edmond, martyr.
Les pèlerinages à saint Edme durèrent jusqu'à la Révolution. Nous avons de lui plusieurs écrits adressés à ses contemporains.
Près de Provins dans la région parisienne, en 1240, le trépas de saint Edmond
Rich, évêque de Cantorbéry, qui, pour la défense de son Église, fut envoyé en
exil, vécut parmi les moines cisterciens de Pontigny et mourut chez des
chanoines réguliers.
Martyrologe romain
"C'est un devoir pour vous, mes enfants, d'aimer la paix, puisqu'un Dieu en est l'auteur, qu'il nous l'a recommandée, qu'il est venu pacifier le ciel et la terre et que de cette paix du temps dépend celle qui est éternelle ... Vivez en paix avec tous les hommes autant qu'il en dépendra de vous, exhortez vos paroissiens à n'être qu'un même corps en Jésus-Christ par l'unité de la foi et le lien de la paix."
(A ses prêtres - Constitutions de 1236)
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/150/Saint-Edmond.html
Edmund
Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, reconciling Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of
Pembroke, and Henry III. Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, XIII sec. British
Library, Royal 14 C VII f. 122v
Эдмунд
Рич, архиепископ Кентерберийский примиряет Гилберта Маршала, 4-го графа
Пембрука, и короля Генриха III. Миниатюра из «Истории Англии» Матвея
Парижского. Британская библиотека, Royal 14 C VII f. 122v
Avant de s'en aller en
Terre-Sainte pour y finir ses jours dans la prière et la pénitence, le roi
Athelstan9 choisit son neveu Edmond, fils de
Ealhere, ealdorman de Kent, et descendant des anciens rois saxons d'Est-Anglie
pour gouverner ses Etats10. Edmond était né à Norbury, près de
Croydon, dans le Surrey. Edmond fut, à quatorze ans, le jour de la Noël 854,
élu roi, par les clercs et les nobles du Norfolk assemblés à Attleborough,
élection acceptée par les habitants du Suffolk.
Lorsqu'il débarqua sur la
terre de son royaume, Edmond se prosterna pour une longue prière et, quand il
se releva, douze fontaines sourdirent de terre.
Edmond qui voulut
terminer ses études dans la résidence royale d'Attleborough, ne fut couronné
dans l'église de Bures (Suffolk) qu'à la Noël 856, par Humbert, ancien
conseiller de son prédécesseur et évêque d'Hulme. « Pourvu de cette triple
consécration, je décidai d'être utile à la nation des Angles, plutôt que de la
commander, en négligeant de faire courber les têtes sous un autre joug que
celui du Christ ». Ainsi, Edmond est le premier des saints rois à
faire de la sainteté son programme de gouvernement. Abbon parle de « ce
que fut sa bonté pour ses sujets, sa rigueur pour les méchants », ajoutant
qu'il « était pour les indigents d'une magnifique libéralité, pour les
orphelins et les veuves un père plein d'indulgence » ; très attentifs aux
affaires de gouvernement, « s'il connaissait mal une affaire, il apportait
tous ses soins à l'examiner ; sur la voie royale où il marchait, il ne se
détournait ni à droite pour se prévaloir de ses mérites, ni à gauche en
s'abandonnant aux défauts de la faiblesse humaine. »
Souverain d'un petit
royaume, à côté de ceux de Mercie et du Wessex, exposé aux invasions normandes,
il employa son règne à négocier les lourds tributs qu'il devait verser aux
pirates et qui, au bout de quinze ans, avaient ruiné son Etat et ses sujets. A
partir de 865, les Danois, ne recevant plus les lourdes rançons qu'ils
exigeaient, entreprirent la conquête du royaume. Chassés en 866, les Danois
ravagèrent la Northumbrie et la Mercie, mais revinrent en East en 869 : le
wiking Iva envahit l'Est-Anglie, mit le pays à feu et à sang et Edmond fut
vaincu à la bataille de Thetford (20 novembre 870) puis massacré. Le royaume
d'Est-Anglie passa tout entier sous la domination danoise.
Très vite le roi Edmond,
mort en combattant les païens, fut l'objet d'un culte populaire ; un siècle
après sa mort, le bénédictin Abbon, futur abbé de Fleury
(Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), alors qu'il était à l'abbaye de Ramsey (de l'automne
985 au printemps 987), recueillit, à la demande des moines, les pieux éléments
de la tradition populaire et le témoignage de saint Dunstan, archevêque de
Cantorbéry, qui, dans sa jeunesse, à la cour du roi Athelstan (925-939) avait
entendu raconter la mort d'Edmond par un vieillard qui avait été l'écuyer du
Roi.
Abbon raconte que
le wiking Ivar envoya un ambassadeur pour proposer au roi Edmond de lui laisser
son royaume s'il voulait se reconnaître son vassal et lui donner son trésor ;
Edmond répondit que sa foi lui interdisait de se soumettre à un païen et qu'il
préférait mourir. Ivar fit attaquer le palais ; « afin que ne périsse pas
la nation tout entière, le saint roi Edmond dans son palais, en digne
membre du Christ, jette ses armes et se laisse prendre. Il sait qu'il va
comparaître devant le chef impie, comme le Christ devant le gouverneur Pilate,
tant il désire suivre les pas de celui qui s'est immolé en victime pour nous.
Garrotté dans des liens étroits, il subit toutes sortes de moquerie et, pour
finir, on le bâtonne, puis on le conduit près d'un arbre voisin auquel on
l'attache et fort longtemps on le maltraite à coups de fouet, sans qu'il
s'avoue vaincu. » On l'attacha ensuite à un autre arbre, on le perça
de flèches comme saint Sébastien, et on le décapita avant de jeter son cadavre
dans la forêt. « C'est ainsi que, le vingt novembre, en holocauste très
agréable à Dieu, Edmond, éprouvé au feu de la souffrance, portant la palme de
la victoire et la couronne de la justice, entra, roi et martyr, vers la Cour
céleste. »
Quand les fidèles, après
avoir récupéré le corps, voulurent trouver la tête, ils crièrent dans la forêt
: Où es-tu ? et la voix du roi Edmond leur répondait : Her ! her
! her ! jusqu'à ce qu'ils la trouvassent entre les pattes d'un énorme loup
qui la gardait contre les atteintes des autres bêtes. La dépouille du roi
Edmond d'abord été enterrée à Hoxne, sur la rivière Waweney, à une trente
kilomètres à l'est de Thetford, fut, en 903, déposée dans l'église du monastère
de Beodricsworth11 (aujourd’hui Bury).
Outre l'œuvre d'Abbon, on
connaît une Vie de saint Edmond le roi, poème anglo-normand composé vers
1180 par Denys Piramus, que reprendra, au siècle suivant, Matthieu Paris.
De nombreux miracles dont
deux résurrections, sont attribués à saint Edmond : un paralytique qui dormait
près de son tombeau, l’en vit sortir pour marquer ses membres du signe de la
Croix et fut guéri ; un chevalier du Lindsey qui, paralysé, le vit apparaître
dans sa chambre pour lui toucher la tête et le haut du corps, puis lui ordonner
d’aller prier sur son tombeau, fut guéri en chemin ; il sortit de son tombeau
pour tuer d’un coup de lance le roi Sven qui exploitait les East-Angliens ; il
fit mourir deux conseillers d’Edouard III qui voulaient monnayer les métaux
précieux de sa châsse (1341 et 1345) ; en 1173, en compagnie de saint Thomas
Becket, il délivra deux prisonniers politiques d’Henri II ; il délivra un
prisonnier de guerre, un bailli seigneurial et un meunier emprisonnés
injustement et qui l’avaient invoqué ; il délivra des navigateurs des dangers
de la mer (tempêtes, naufrages, noyades).
La Passion écrite
par Abbon eut un énorme succès et l'abbaye Beodricsworth, devenue, vers 1065,
Bury-Saint-Edmond, fondée vers 1020, devint un des plus grands monastères
d'Angleterre12 ; le roi Cnut le Grand (1014-1035)
accorda une charte de liberté très étendue (exemption de l’Ordinaire et juridiction
civile sur tout le territoire) et fit commencer la construction d'une belle
église en pierre (1021) qui fut consacrée par l'archevêque Agelmothus de
Cantorbéry, le 18 octobre 1032.
Saint Edouard le
Confesseur13 qui visita l’abbaye en 1044, lui
octroya le droit de libre élection, la pleine juridiction sur un territoire qui
couvrait près d’un tiers du grand comté de Suffolk, lui abandonna les taxes sur
les habitants de la ville qui s’était créée à l’ombre du pèlerinage, et lui
conféra le privilège de battre monnaie (1065). Dès Guillaume le Conquérant qui
fit reconstruire l’abbaye et jeta les fondements d’une nouvelle église, les
rois normands confirmèrent les privilèges d’Edmondbury. Il faut dire que,
depuis 1065 jusqu’à 1097, l’abbé de Saint-Edmond était le chartrain Baudouin,
moine de Saint-Denys, qui servit à Guillaume le Conquérant de médecin
et d’intermédiaire auprès du haut clergé. En 1095, l’abbé Baudouin fit la
translation solennelle des reliques de saint Edmond dans la nouvelle église.
Sous l’abbé Ording (1148-1156), l’abbaye fut presque entièrement détruite par
un incendie, mais l’église ne fut pratiquement pas touchée.
C'est dans cette abbaye
que les comtes et les barons révoltés contre le roi Jean Sans Terre14 lui firent signer la Grande Charte
d'Angleterre (1215)15. « Un jour, les Vingt-Cinq16 vinrent à la Cour du Roi pour rendre
un jugement. Le Roi17 était au lit, malade, au point de ne
pouvoir marcher. Il pria les juges de venir conférer dans sa chambre. Ils s'y
refusèrent, cela étant contraire à leur droit, et mandèrent au Roi que, s'il ne
pouvait se tenir sur ses pieds, il n'avait qu'à se faire porter. Le Roi se fit
porter dans la salle où les Vingt-Cinq avaient pris séance : pas un ne se leva
au moment de son entrée, parce que cela aussi était contre leur droit. Tels
sont les actes orgueilleux et les outrages dont ils l'accablaient chaque jour.18 »
Or, quand la Grande
Charte d'Angleterre fut cassée par le pape Innocent III19 (24 août 1215), les barons prirent les
armes, mirent le roi Jean hors la loi et résolurent de changer de dynastie en
appelant sur le trône anglais l'héritier de France, fils de Philippe II Auguste,
Louis20, dont la femme, Blanche de Castille, était
la nièce de Jean Sans Terre21. A l'automne 1215, ils entamèrent des
négociations avec Philippe II Auguste qui, retenant vingt-quatre
otages à Compiègne, permit à Louis d'aller prendre la couronne d'Angleterre.
Encore qu'Innocent III
excommunia les rebelles et suspendit l'archevêque de Cantorbéry, non sans avoir
fait dresser par les légistes français un mémoire justificatif destiné à
prouver que le trône d'Angleterre était vacant depuis le jour où les Pairs de
France avaient condamné Jean Sans Terre pour le meurtre d'Arthur22, Louis partit vers l'Angleterre.
Avec douze cents
chevaliers, Louis débarqua le 21 mai 1216 à Stonor, dans l'île de Thanet, marcha
sur Londres et fut reconnu comme roi d'Angleterre à Westminster où, après avoir
reçu les hommages, il confirma les privilèges de la Grande Charte d'Angleterre
; cependant, lui-même étant excommunié, puisque le Pape considérait
l’Angleterre comme fier du Saint-Siège, et l'archevêque de Cantorbéry étant
retenu à Rome, il ne se fit pas couronner et ne prit pas le titre royal. A part
Lincoln, Windsor et Douvres, toute l'Angleterre s'était ralliée au prince Louis
lorsque Jean Sans Terre mourut (19 octobre 1216) de chagrin à
Newark-Castle pour avoir perdu son trésor, englouti par des sables mouvants.
Le successeur d’Innocent
III23, Honorius III24, continua sa politique et soutint la
légitimité d'Henri25, jeune fils de Jean Sans Terre, sous
le conseil de régence dirigé par un légat, le cardinal Galon. Le cardinal Galon26 fit couronner Henri III à Glocester
(29 octobre 1216), lui fit jurer les articles de la Grande Charte d'Angleterre
et réputa croisade la guerre contre les rebelles. Onze évêques abandonnèrent le
parti du prince Louis qui, alors qu'il était revenu en France pour chercher de
l'argent et des renforts, finit par perdre la plupart des barons anglais. La
ville de Londres avait beau rester attachée au prince de France, les défections
s'accentuèrent et une bonne partie de l'armée franco-anglaise fut
surprise dans Lincoln et mise en déroute (19 mai 1217).
Comme Robert de Courtenai
venait de s'embarquer avec une armée de secours, les marins des cinq ports (Douvres,
Sandwich, Romney, Hastings et Hythe) coulèrent ses navires et le firent
prisonnier (27 août 1217). Louis, assiégé dans Londres, « voyant qu'il
n'avait plus de secours à attendre ni par terre ni par mer », traita avec
le légat et le grand-maréchal d'Angleterre et signa le traité de Lambeth (11
septembre 1217) où il abandonnait l'entreprise contre une indemnité de guerre
de dix mille marcs, la libération des prisonniers, l'amnistie pour ses
partisans et la restitution des héritages et libertés confisqués par Jean Sans
Terre.
Le prince Louis, pendant
qu'il était en Angleterre, se fit remettre, « par offre gracieuse ou par
fait de guerre », la dépouille du saint roi Edmond qu'il ramena en France.
Ainsi, quand, en 1539, « les envoyés d’Henry VIII se rendirent à
Edmondbury pour ouvrir la châsse du saint martyr, en retirer les reliques et
les brûler, ils ne les y trouvèrent pas ; mais seulement quelques rognures
d’ongles et de cheveux. »
Les traditions
toulousaines affirment que le prince Louis confia le corps de saint Edmond aux
chanoines de Saint-Sernin de Toulouse pendant la croisade contre les Albigeois27 : « C'est une chose démontrée que
Louis VIII, après son retour d'Angleterre, vint en 1219 assiéger Toulouse et fut
contraint de lever précipitamment le siège et d'abandonner son camp qui fut
pillé par les assiégés : c'est ainsi que, degré ou de force, les reliques du
saint Roi que Louis VIII auraient emportées avec lui d'Angleterre, purent
tomber entre les mains des Toulousains. » Toujours est-il que les
Capitouls de la ville de Toulouse firent, en 1631, le vœu solennel d'offrir à
saint Edmond une châsse d'argent pour y enfermer ses reliques si, par son
intercession, la ville était délivrée de la peste qui désolait ses habitants
depuis 1628. Des fêtes solennelles eurent lieu en 1644 pour l'accomplissement
de ce vœu. En juin 1901, une partie des reliques de saint Edmond fut envoyée au
pape Léon XIII28 qui la donna au cardinal Vaughan29 pour qu’on la conservât dans la
nouvelle cathédrale de Westminster.
A Paris, au
faubourg Saint-Jacques, saint Edmond était le patron de l’église des
Bénédictins anglais. Chassés d’Angleterre par Elisabeth I°, les moines
bénédictins s’étaient dispersés en Espagne et en Italie, mais quelques uns
d’entre eux s’étaient réfugiés à Dieulouard, en Lorraine, à Saint-Malo et à
Douai (1607). En 1621, quand Marie de Lorraine, abbesse de Chelles30, les appela pour diriger son monastère, ils
s’établirent à Paris, au collège de Montaigu, pour y faire des études et
préparer des missions en Angleterre.
Le P. William Gifford31 loua pour eux une maison de la rue de
Vaugirard, puis, lors de la construction du palais du Luxembourg, une maison
rue d’Enfer ; en 1632, ils s’établirent rue Saint-Jacques, en face du
couvent des Carmélites, où, dans une maison jadis habitée par des
Feuillantines, saint François de Sales les visita, en compagnie de la princesse
de Savoie, Christine de France32, dont il était l’aumônier.
Le 15 décembre 1640,
François La Bossu, bourgeois de Paris, acheta pour eux, aux héritiers de Pierre
de Cossy, la maison de la Trinité, tout près du Val-de-Grâce (actuel n°
269 de la rue Saint-Jacques), où l’archevêque de Paris autorisa leur
installation (14 janvier 1642). Grâce aux libéralités de la reine Anne
d’Autriche, ils construisirent un couvent dont le prieur, dom Joseph Shirburn,
fit démolir et reconstruire les bâtiments, en 1674. La première pierre de la
chapelle, mise sous le titre de Saint-Edmond, bénie par l’abbé Walter
Montaigu, fut posée le 29 mai 1674, jour anniversaire de la naissance du roi
Charles II d’Angleterre, par Marie-Louise d’Orléans33, nièce de Louis XIV, fille d’Henriette
d’Angleterre et du duc Philippe d’Orléans ; la chapelle bénite le 28
février 1677, par l’abbé Louis-Antoine de Noailles, depuis évêque de Cahors,
puis de Châlons-sur-Marne, mort cardinal et archevêque de Paris. On y déposa le
corps du roi Jacques II Stuart34 (17 septembre 1701), insigne
bienfaiteur de la chapelle35, et de sa dernière fille Louise-Marie (20
avril 1712).
Les révolutionnaires arrêtèrent les Bénédictins anglais, confisquèrent leurs biens et mirent le couvent sous séquestre (7 septembre 1793) ; la chapelle dut pillée et saccagée, le cercueil de Jacques II Stuart fut violé (7 novembre 1793) et son corps, retrouvé intact, disparut36. Après avoir été transformé en prison37 (9 octobre 1793), le couvent fut vendu (30 août 1799) puis rendu aux Bénédictins anglais (1803). De 1808 à 1900, il fut successivement occupé par une manufacture de coton, des établissements d’éducation, une école préparatoire à l’Ecole polytechnique ; depuis il est le siège de la Schola Cantorum fondée par Vincent d’Indy en 1896.
9 Athelstan
fut le huitième roi d’Est-Anglie de 925 à 939. il était le beau-frère de Othon
I° le Grand, de Charles III le Simple et de Hugues le Grand.
10 Vers
450, les Jutes, les Angles, les Saxons et les Danois débarquent en Bretagne que
les Romains ont abandonnée, et repoussent les Bretons dans le Pays de Galles,
en Cornouailles, en Ecosse et en Armorique. Ils fondent sept états : Kent
(Jutes), Northumbrie, Mercie et East-Anglie (Angles), Essex, Sussex et Wessex
(Saxons).
11 Le
monastère fut fondé, vers 633, par Sigebert, roi de l’Anglie orientale, qui le
confia à des prêtres séculiers. Après que la dépouille de saint Edmond y fut
déposée, l’évêque d’Elmhan, ancien moine de l’abbaye d’Ely, confia le monastère
à une vingtaine de Bénédictins venus des abbayes d’Ely et de Hulme, sous la
conduite d’Uvius, prieur de Saint-Benoît de Hulme, qui reçut la bénédiction
abbatiale de l’évêque de Londres.
12 La
plupart des moines de l'abbaye d’Edmondbury furent sécularisés de force par
Henry VIII (1535) et l’abbaye, séquestrée (4 novembre 1538), fut détruite en
1539.
13 Saint
Edouard le Confesseur fils du roi Aethelred II et d’Ema, fille du duc
Richard de Normandie, né en 1003, vécut plus de vingt-cinq ans en Normandie où
il avait trouvé refuge pendant l’invasion danoise. Retourné en Angleterre
(1041), il fut reconnu par Hartacnut, fils de Cnut le Grand, comme son
successeur et monta sur le trône d’Angleterre en 1042 ; il est le dernier roi
de la vieille lignée anglo-saxonne. Son règne apparaît comme une sorte d’âge
d’or. Il mourut en odeur de sainteté le 5 janvier 1066, après avoir désigné
comme successeur son beau-frère Harold, au détriment de Guillaume, duc de
Normandie, à qui il avait promis sa couronne (1051). Harold II fut battu et tué
à la bataille d’Hastings (14 octobre 1066) contre Guillaume le Conquérant,
duc de Normandie, qui devint roi d’Angleterre.
14 Jean,
dernier fils et préféré d’Henri II Plantagenêt, était le frère et le successeur
de Richard Cœur de Lion, roi d’Angleterre de 1199 à 1216. Jean était
surnommé Sans Terre parce que, contrairement à ses frères, il n’avait
pas reçu d’apanage.
15 Nous
avons en premier lieu confirmé par la présente charte, pour nous et nos
héritiers et à perpétuité, que l’Eglise d’Angleterre sera libre et conservera
intégralement ses droits et ses libertés. Aucun impôt ne sera établi dans notre
royaume si ce n’est par le commun conseil de notre royaume, excepté pour
racheter notre personne, pour armer notre fils aîné chevalier ou pour marier
une première fois notre fille aînée. La cité de Londres conservera ses antiques
libertés et toutes ses libres coutumes, tant sur terre que sur eau. En outre,
nous voulons et accordons que les autres cités, bourgs et ports, sans
exception, jouissent de leurs libertés et libres coutumes. Et, pour avoir le
commun conseil du royaume, en vue d’établir une aide en dehors des trois cas
susdits, nous ferons convoquer les archevêques, évêques, abbés, comtes et
grands barons au moyen de lettres scellées de notre sceau ; et, en outre, nous
ferons convoquer d’une manière générale, par l’intermédiaire de nos vicomtes et
de nos baillis, tous nos vassaux directs pour un jour fixé, à savoir d’avec
délai d’au moins quarante jours, et en un lieu déterminé ; et dans toutes nos
lettres nous donnerons le motif de la convocation. Aucun homme libre ne sera
arrêté, emprisonné ou privé de ses biens, ou mis hors la loi, ou exilé, ou lésé
de quelque façon que ce soit, sauf en vertu d’un jugement légal de ses pairs,
conformément à la loi du pays.
16 Surveillants
de la Grande Charte d'Angleterre.
17 Jean
sans Terre.
18 Histoire
des rois d'Angleterre et des ducs de Normandie.
19 Innocent
III élu à l’unanimité le jour de la mort de Célestin III (8 janvier 1198)
mourut le 16 juillet 1216.
20 Fils
de Philippe II Auguste et d’Isabelle de Hainaut, Louis, né en 1187,
devint roi de France (Louis VIII le Lion) le 14 juillet 1223 (sacré le 6
août) et mourut, au château de Montpensier, le 8 novembre 1226. C’est le père
de saint Louis qui lui succéda.
21 Henri
II Plantagenêt (mort en 1189) avait eu de son épouse, Aliénor d’Aquitaine, cinq
enfants : Henri (mort en 1183), Geoffroy, duc de Bretagne (mort en 1186),
Richard Cœur de Lion (mort en 1199), Jean Sans Terre (mort
en 1216) dont descendent les rois d’Angleterre, et Aliénor qui épousa le roi
Alphonse VIII de Castille (mort en 1214) dont elle eut Blanche, femme de Louis
VIII (mort en 1226) et mère de saint Louis (mort en 1270).
22 Arthur
I°, duc de Bretagne, (1187-1203), fils posthume de Geoffroy II le Beau,
duc de Bretagne (troisième fils d’Henri II Plantagenêt) et de Constance (fille
de Conan IV, duc de Bretagne), il disputa le trône d’Angleterre à son oncle,
Jean Sans Terre, qui le fit emprisonner à Rouen et le fit peut-être noyer.
23 Mort
le 16 juillet 1216.
24 Elu
à l’unanimité (18 juillet 1216) deux jours après la mort d’Innocent III, il
mourut le 18 mars 1227. Il fit pression sur la France pour qu’elle renonçât à
l’invasion de l’Angleterre et aida Henri III, fils mineur de Jean Sans
Terre, à obtenir la couronne anglaise qu’il porta de 1216 à 1272.
25 Né
en 1207, mort en 1272.
26 Jacques
Guala de Bicchieri (1150-1227), chanoine régulier de Pavie, cardinal diacre au
titre de Santa Maria in Porticu (1204) puis cardinal prêtre au titre
de Saint-Martin (1211), fut légat pontifical en France (1208-1209),
en Ombrie (1210), puis de nouveau en France (1216) et en Angleterre (1216). Il
fulmina l’excommunication contre le prince Louis et Jean Sans Terre lui
confia son fils Henri à qui il conquit la couronne anglaise en excommuniant à
tour de bras.
27 Le
prince Louis mit le siège devant Toulouse le 14 juin 1219 jusqu’au 1° août
suivant : Ramond VI de Toulouse avait battu les Français à Basiège, en
Lauraguais, et son fils, de 1219 à 1221, reprenait les pays perdus.
28 Elu
le 20 février 1878, mort le 20 juillet 1903, Léon XIII eut un souci tout
particulier pour la conversion de l’Angleterre (lettre Ad Anglos du
14 avril 1895).
29 Archevêque
de Westminster de 1892 à 1903, il succède à Newman ; le cardinal Vaughan
édifia la cathédrale de Westminster qui fut inaugurée à Noël 1903.
30 Marie
de Lorraine, nommée par le Roi abbesse de Chelles en 1579, le resta jusqu’à sa
mort en 1627.
31 Plus
connu sous le nom de Gabriel de Sainte-Marie, Willam Gifford, né en 1554 dans
le Hampshire, réfugié à Louvain, puis en France, fut envoyé à Rome où il fut
ordonné prêtre (1582). Théologien et prédicateur célèbre, il fut pendant onze
ans doyen du chapitre Saint-Pierre de Lille (1595-1606) et entra chez les
Bénédictins anglais (1608). Collaborateur du cardinal de Guise, archevêque de
Reims, à partir de 1616, il fut nommé évêque in partibus d’Arcadiopolis
(1617) et administrateur apostolique de Reims dont il devint archevêque (1623).
Il mourut en 1629.
32 Fille
d’Henri IV et de Catherine de Médicis, née en 1606, morte en 1663, femme de
Victor-Amédée I° (né en 1587, mort en 1637), duc de Savoie (1630).
33 Née
à Paris le 27 mars 1662, filleule de Louis XIV et de la reine d’Angleterre
(baptisée le 21 mai 1662 dans la chapelle du Palais-Royal), elle épousera le
roi Charles II d’Espagne (1679) et mourra à Madrid le 12 février 1689.
34 Ses
entrailles furent partagées entre l’église de Saint-Germain-en-Laye et le
collège anglais de Saint-Omer, son cerveau fut remis au collège des Ecossais,
son cœur fut donné aux Filles de Sainte-Marie de Chaillot et un de ses bras fut
confié aux Augustines, la plus ancienne communauté anglaise de Paris. Il ne
reste que les entrailles de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, déposées dans le mausolée
construit par le prince-régent de Grande-Bretagne (1818) et que fut restaurer
la reine Victoria (1857).
35 Alors
qu’il était encore en Angleterre, Jacques II fit venir quelques uns de ces
moines à Saint-James, pour desservir la chapelle de sa femme,
Marie-Béatrix d’Este. Chassé de son trône par son gendre, Guillaume III
d’Orange, il fut accueilli par Louis XIV à Saint-Germain-en-Laye et consacra la
presque totalité de la pension que la France lui accordait en faveur du couvent
qu’il visitait souvent et où il faisait des retraites spirituelles.
36 On
dit que le corps du Roi ne fut pas profané et qu’il fut inhumé dans un endroit
qui reste ignoré, malgré les recherches faites en 1840 par ordre du roi Georges
IV d’Angleterre.
37 C’est
là que furent enfermés l’astronome Cassini, Mme. de Tourzel et sa fille, la
femme de Beaumarchais et celle de La Bourdonnaie.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/11/16.php#edmond
16 novembre : Saint
Edmond de Cantorbéry
Né vers le 20 novembre 1174 à
Abingdon-on-Thames, au sud d’Oxford, fils d’un riche marchand, il fut éduqué
par sa mère alors que son père s’était retiré avec l’accord de cette dernière
dans un monastère. Par la suite, il fut formé à l’abbaye d’Abingdon, et, dès
l’âge de 12 ans, il discerna sa vocation et fit vœu de chasteté à Oxford.
Vers 1195, il alla
poursuivre ses études à Paris. Quelques années plus tard, il devint professeur
de mathématiques et de dialectique à Oxford et à Paris, et contribua à la
redécouverte des œuvres d’Aristote. Vers 1205, il entama des études de
théologie, puis fut ordonné prêtre et obtint son doctorat. Il devint rapidement
un théologien et un prédicateur réputé.
Vicaire de la paroisse de
Calne, dans le sud-ouest du pays, et trésorier du diocèse de Salisbury en 1222,
il prêcha la sixième croisade par toute l’Angleterre en 1227. Il accompagnait
ses prédications d’une grande austérité et d’une charité exemplaire. En 1233,
il fut nommé archevêque de Cantorbéry par le pape Grégoire IX ; son
sacre eut lieu le 2 avril 1234.
Il choisit pour
chancelier saint Richard de Chichester. Il travailla à restaurer une
ascèse rigoureuse du clergé et des fidèles, et rencontra l’opposition du roi
Henri III, de plusieurs monastères et de prêtres de sa cathédrale.
Henri III demanda même au pape de lui envoyer un légat, avec lequel il
conspira pour s’opposer à l’archevêque, qui fut plusieurs fois désavoué.
Edmond chercha toujours à
défendre les droits de l’Eglise contre Henri III, et fit un voyage à Rome
entre fin 1237 et début 1238 pour y plaider sa cause, mais le pape lui demanda
de se soumettre. De retour en Angleterre, il voulut retourner à Rome en 1240
mais, tombé malade en chemin à l’abbaye de Pontigny, il mourut le
16 novembre 1240 à Soisy-Bouy. Il fut canonisé par Innocent IV le
16 décembre 1246.
SOURCE : https://reinformation.tv/16-novembre-edmond-cantorbery-calendrier/
Saint Edmond
Évêque de
Cantorbéry († 1240)
Le père de saint Edmond,
Raynald Rich, était un marchand de médiocre fortune, établi à Abingdon, petite
ville voisine d’Oxford. De sa femme Mabile il avait eu plusieurs enfants,
lorsqu’il se résolut à renoncer au monde et à se faire moine dans l’abbaye
d’Evesham. Mabile avait consenti à cette séparation; pour elle, elle demeura dans
le monde, toute consacrée à l’éducation de ses deux fils, Edmond et Robert, et
de ses filles. C’était une personne de haute vertu, adonnée à la prière et à la
pénitence rigoureuse, portant un cilice. Elle éleva ses enfants dans les mêmes
habitudes et les vit avec bonheur les adopter généreusement.
Edmond surtout, doué
d’une nature douce, aimable et docile, avait cependant pour son corps des
sévérités étranges à son âge. Sur le conseil de sa mère, il récitait, les
dimanches et les jours de fête, tout le psautier à genoux, avant de prendre
aucune nourriture; les vendredis, il vivait de pain et d’eau, plusieurs fois
par semaine, il se revêtait d’une chemise de crin. Avec son frère Robert, il
fut envoyé à Oxford d’abord, puis à Paris, pour faire ses études. Son
intelligence vive et pénétrante faisait l’admiration de ses condisciples, mais
plus encore la pureté de ses mœurs, l’assiduité de sa prière et la grâce de son
commerce.
Jésus et Marie trouvaient
en lui Leur charme. Un jour il s’était éloigné de quelques camarades, fuyant
des propos qui lui semblaient trop légers; il se promenait en priant, lorsqu’un
adolescent de son âge s’offrit à ses yeux et lui dit:
«Bonjour, ô très aimé!»
Surpris, Edmond le regarde: «Ne me reconnais-tu pas?» continua l’inconnu.
— Ni je ne vous connais,
ni, à mon avis, vous ne me connaissez.
— Comment cela! Je suis
sans cesse près de toi, même sur les bancs de l’école. Regarde-Moi: sur Mon
front tu liras Mon nom. Et Edmond lut en effet: Jésus de Nazareth, roi des
Juifs.
«Grave ce nom dans ton
cœur, reprit l’Enfant divin. Grave-le aussi chaque soir sur ton front. Et toi
et ceux qui t’imiteront, vous serez préservés de la mort subite.»
La dévotion à la Sainte
Vierge était singulièrement chère au jeune étudiant. Pour la mieux satisfaire,
il fit ouvrer deux anneaux d’argent où était gravée la salutation angélique;
puis se rendant aux pieds d’une statue de Marie, il lui passa au doigt l’une de
ces bagues, mit l’autre à son propre doigt et se lia par le vœu d’une
perpétuelle chasteté à Celle que depuis il nommait avec ferveur «sa souveraine,
sa gardienne, son épouse, sa mère».
Cependant Mabile tomba
malade et, se sentant près de la mort, elle demanda près d’elle son fils aîné.
Elle bénit en lui et avec lui tous ses enfants, lui confia spécialement
l’avenir de ses filles, et remit alors avec paix son âme à Dieu. Edmond eut la
consolation de voir ses sœurs désireuses de vouer leur vie au cloître. Il les
fit entrer dans l’abbaye pauvre, mais très fervente, de Catisby, où elles
furent admirées pour leur sainteté et moururent après y avoir successivement
rempli la charge de prieure.
Edmond, de retour à
Paris, continua ses études; il s’était adonné surtout aux sciences exactes, et,
ayant pris le grade de maître ès arts, commença d’enseigner les mathématiques.
Certes il n’oubliait ni la piété ni la pénitence; loin de là, sa vie devenait
de plus en plus mortifiée: toutes les nuits il prenait part à l’office dans
l’église Saint-Merry, puis prolongeait sa prière jusqu’à la messe, à laquelle
il assistait; il jeûnait fréquemment, même au pain et à l’eau; il portait sur
sa chair le douloureux cilice qu’il avait hérité de sa mère; il ne dormait que
peu d’heures, étendu sur la terre nue ou même assis sur un banc. Sa charité
s’exerçait à l’égard des pauvres et surtout de ses disciples dénués de
ressources; pour eux il vendit jusqu’à ses livres; pendant de longues semaines
il recueillit et soigna jour et nuit l’un d’eux gravement malade. Mais son
amour pour la science était extrême, et Dieu jugea qu’il faisait tort à Son
service. Il lui envoya, en songe, sa mère Mabile: elle regardait les livres
savants de son fils et les figures géométriques qui les remplissaient. Et après
lui en avoir demandé le sens, elle lui prit la main, y traça trois cercles
concentriques, symbole de la sainte Trinité, et ajouta: «Voilà, mon fils, les
figures que désormais il faut que tu étudies uniquement.»
Edmond comprit, à partir
de ce moment, il se livra tout entier à la théologie, se fit ordonner prêtre et
recevoir docteur. Alors il recommença à professer, la science sacrée cette
fois. Sa ferveur en prit un nouvel accroissement. Son enseignement devint une
prédication: les cœurs de ses disciples s’enflammaient pour la sainteté; en un
jour sept d’entre eux se décidèrent à entrer au monastère de Cîteaux.
En 1219 il revint à
Oxford, où il enseigna la logique d’Aristote; mais en même temps il prêchait
avec un grand zèle la parole de Dieu; il donna même de nombreuses missions dans
les comtés de Glocester et de Worcester et convertit beaucoup de pécheurs, en
particulier Guillaume Longue Épée, comte de Salisbury, qui dorénavant ne songea
plus qu’à son progrès dans la vertu. Sa réputation d’orateur s’établit même au
point que, en 1227, le pape Grégoire IX le choisit pour prêcher la croisade
qu’il projetait de faire conduire contre les Turcs par l’empereur Frédéric II.
Cependant l’archevêque de
Canterbury, Étienne Langton, était mort le 9 juillet 1228. Les moines de la
grande abbaye de cette ville, à qui appartenait le droit d’élire son
successeur, nommèrent plusieurs personnages qui ne parurent pas au Pape mériter
qu’il les acceptât. Et enfin Grégoire IX se décida à présenter lui-même à leur
choix Edmond, qui depuis quelques années était trésorier de la cathédrale de
Salisbury. Les électeurs furent unanimes pour accepter le candidat qui leur
était ainsi proposé. Mais leurs députés, quand ils vinrent offrir la mitre à
l’élu, se heurtèrent à son refus obstiné. Trois jours ils durent lutter; il ne
se rendit que sur l’affirmation qu’il devait se soumettre sous peine de pécher
mortellement. Alors en pleurant il inclina la tête sous l’onction sainte. Elle
lui fut donnée le 2 avril 1234.
Ce qu’il fut comme évêque
se peut résumer d’un mot: avant tout, un père. Sa charité ne connaissait point
de bornes, non pas même celles de ses ressources. Ce n’était point pour son
usage, mais pour les besoins des pauvres, des orphelins, des filles sans dot,
des malades sans secours, que son église avait des revenus. Mais il avait plus
de souci des âmes: toujours prêt à leur offrir son aide, quand en voyage
quelqu’un demandait à être entendu en confession, il descendait de cheval sans
hésiter et lui donnait son ministère. Il avait horreur des présents, condamnait
vivement les juges et tous les supérieurs qui osaient en provoquer, et même en
recevoir, et plaisamment faisait remarquer qu’il n’y a qu’une lettre de
différence entre pendre et prendre, «ce qui montre, disait-il, que celui-là est
près de la potence qui accepte des dons.»
Cependant il rencontra
des oppositions. Bon, il était zélé aussi et ne consentait pas à tolérer les
abus; les réformes qu’il imposa à certains monastères, les canons synodaux
qu’il publia choquèrent plus d’un esprit et suscitèrent des mécontentements.
Puis comme le roi Henri III, pour subvenir aux besoins de sa cour, levait de
lourds subsides sur le clergé du royaume et, dans le but de toucher les revenus
des évêchés et des bénéfices vacants, tardait souvent à leur nommer des
titulaires, l’archevêque de Canterbury crut devoir s’en plaindre au Pape et
obtint de lui le droit de pourvoir au gouvernement d’une église quand le siège
aurait vaqué six mois. Le roi s’en plaignit; le Pape crut devoir céder. Et de
là encore des difficultés, des heurts dont l’âme pacifique du prélat souffrait
outre mesure.Il résolut donc de quitter son diocèse et sa patrie. Il vint en
France et, après un bref séjour à la cour du roi Louis IX il se retira près
d’Auxerre, à l’abbaye de Pontigny. Pendant quelque temps il y vécut dans la
prière et l’étude, prêchant et composant des œuvres pieuses destinées à
l’édification des moines. Mais bientôt sa santé s’altéra. Les médecins
l’obligèrent à chercher un climat plus favorable, et, au grand chagrin de ses
hôtes, il quitta Pontigny pour demander un asile aux chanoines réguliers de
Soissy, non loin de Provins. La maladie pourtant ne cessa de s’aggraver.
Bientôt il sentit sa fin prochaine, il demanda l’extrême-onction. Quand on lui
apporta le saint viatique, il étendit les mains vers le Sauveur caché sous
l’hostie et, avec une foi si vive qu’on aurait dit qu’il le voyait: «C’est
Vous, Seigneur, Lui dit-il, que j’ai cru, Vous que j’ai prêché; Vous m’êtes
témoin que je n’ai cherché que Vous sur la terre!» Depuis lors il voulut avoir
toujours sous les yeux, dans les mains, avec les images de Marie et de saint
Jean, le crucifix dont il ne cessait de baiser les plaies sacrées. Et c’est en
le faisant qu’il expira doucement le 20 novembre 1240.
Réflexion pratique:
L’archevêque de Cantorbéry recommandait de prier surtout avec le cœur: «Cinq
mots du cœur, disait-il, valent mieux que des milliers de paroles froides.» Si
la ferveur soutient notre attention, sans parler beaucoup nous prierons
beaucoup.
Père René Moreau , S.J.,
Saints et Saintes de Dieu, Lectures quotidiennes, Tome II, Paris, Maison Alfred
Mame et fils, 1925.
SOURCE : https://virgo-maria.net/2022/11/20/saint-edmond-eveque-de-cantorbery/
High
Altat Statue of Saint Edmund of Abingdon, St. John the
Evangelist Church, Logan, Ohio
Also
known as
Edmund of Abingdon
Edmund of Canterbury
Edme of….
Eadmund of….
Profile
Born to a wealthy and
pious family, the son of Reinald and Mabel Rich; his father retired
to become a monk,
his two sisters became nuns. Studied at Oxford, England,
and Paris, France.
At Oxford he
received a vision of
the Child Christ. Priest. Professor of art, mathematics, philosophy and theology at Oxford.
Known for his scholarship, piety, and skill as a preacher and writer. Canon of
Salisbury, England in 1222. Preached the Sixth Crusade in England in 1227.
Consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, England on 2 April 1234.
Advisor to King Henry
III. Presided over Henry’s ratification of the Magna Carta in 1237.
Assisted in his public dealings by Saint Richard
of Chichester. Prevented civil war in Wales.
His support for monastic discipline
put him in conflict with his own order, King Henry
III, and the papal legate.
He died while
on a trip to Rome to
gain the support of the Pope.
Born
20 November 1175 at Abingdon,
Berkshire, England
16 November 1240 at
Soissy, Burgundy, France of
natural causes
interred at
the church of Pontigny
Abbey in Pontigny, France
shrine behind
the high altar in
the Cistercian abbey at Pontigny
1247 by Pope Innocent
IV
in England
Brentwood,
city of
Canterbury,
city of
Portsmouth, diocese of
in France
archbishop making
a vow before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary
embracing the Child Jesus
placing a ring on the finger
of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary
receiving a lamb from
the Blessed
Virgin Mary
with Saint Richard
of Chichester
with Saint Thomas
a Becket
Works
Speculum Ecclesiae
(Mirror of the Church)
Provincial Constitutions
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saint
Edmund of Canterbury, by Father William
Le Grave
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
Saint Edmund
Parish, Oak Park, Illinois
Saint
Edmund’s Chapel, Dover, England
Saint Wilfrid Parish, Bognor Regis
images
videos
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
Readings
I have sought nothing
else but you, O God. – Saint Edmund
on his death bed
MLA
Citation
‘Saint Edmund
Rich‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 28 February 2024. Web. 7 May 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-rich/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-rich/
Waldsassen
( Oberpfalz ). Stiftsbasilika: Altar des heiligen Bernhard von Clairvaux ( 1701
) - Heiliger Edmund von Abingdon von Martin Hirsch
Waldsassen
( Upper Palatinate ). Abbey church: Altar of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux ( 1701
) - Saint Edmund of Abingdon by Martin Hirsch.
Book of Saints
– Edmund of Canterbury
Article
(Saint) Bishop (November
16) (13th century) The eldest son of Reynold Rich, a tradesman of Abingdon in
Berkshire, who having studied at Oxford and Paris, taught Philosophy in the
former University from A.D. 1219 to A.D. 1226. He became successively Canon of
Salisbury and Archbishop of Canterbury, governing the Church in England with
gentleness, but with all Apostolic vigour. He corrected many abuses and bravely
upheld the rights of the Church against the usurpation of Henry III and his
advisers. Driven into exile to Pontigny in France (where his body yet rests),
he died at Soissy, November 16, A.D. 1242, and four years later was canonised
by Pope Innocent IV.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Edmund of Canterbury”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 22
November 2012.
Web. 7 May 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-edmund-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-edmund-of-canterbury/
St.
Edmund Rich
Feastday: November 20
Patron: of Abingdon, Oxfordshire; Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth; St Edmund's College, Cambridge
Birth: 1175
Death: 1240
Archbishop
of Canterbury England,
who battled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in
Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris,
France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and
was ordained. He spent eight years teaching theology and became Canon and
treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral. An eloquent speaker, Edmund preached a crusade
for Pope Gregory
IX and was named archbishop of
Canterbury. He became an advisor to King Henry III and presided in 1237 at
Henry’s ratification of the Great Charter. When Cardinal Olt
became a papal legate with
the patronage of King Henry, Edmund protested. A long-lasting feud between
Edmund, the king, and his legate led
him to resigning his see in 1240. He went to Pontigny, France, where he became
a Cistercian. He died at Soissons, on November 16. Edmund was canonized in 1246
or 1247. A hall in Oxford bears
his name.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3048
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Edmund Rich
Article
Confessor, Archbishop of Canterbury,
born Abingdon, England, 1180; died Soissy, France, 1240.
He taught with
great success at Oxford and Paris, and in 1227 was
commissioned to preach the Sixth
Crusade in England.
In 1234 he
became Archbishop of Canterbury and
firmly defended the rights of Church and
State against Henry III, but appeals were carried to Rome over his head and
Henry adroitly managed by the authority of the legate to nullify Edmund’s
power. The archbishop then
withdrew to France and died shortly
afterwards. He practised severe penance throughout his life, and was remarkable
for his gentleness and charity. Represented embracing the Child Jesus, and
receiving a lamb from the Virgin Mary. Canonized, 1249.
Relics at Pontigny. Feast, 16
November.
MLA Citation
“Saint
Edmund Rich”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 18
December 2012.
Web. 7 May 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-edmund-rich/>
SOURCE :
https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-edmund-rich/
Edmund Rich B (RM)
(also known as Edmund or
Edme of Abingdon)
Born in Abingdon,
Berkshire, England, on November 30, c. 1170-1180; died near Pontigny c. 1242;
canonized 1246 or 1247 (no one agrees exactly on any of these dates).
Born into a prosperous
family, Edmund Rich studied at Oxford and Paris. He taught art and mathematics
at Oxford, received his doctorate in theology, and was ordained. He taught
theology for eight years and about 1222 became canon and treasurer of Salisbury
Cathedral.
He was an eloquent and
popular preacher, preached a crusade against the Saracens at the request of
Pope Gregory IX in 1227, was elected archbishop of Canterbury in 1233 (after
Pope Gregory rejected three other candidates), and was consecrated in 1234
against his wishes. He was an adviser to King Henry III, undertook several
diplomatic missions for the king during his seven-year episcopate, and in 1237
presided at Henry's ratification of the Great Charter.
Edmund was reputed to be
a man of very virtuous life who experienced heavenly visitations. Saint Gregory
was essentially a preacher and teacher, a man of study and prayer.
To lighten the burden of
public affairs with which he reluctantly, but resolutely, had to deal, he chose
as his chancellor Master Richard of Wich, known to later ages as Saint Richard
of Chicester.
Immediately after his
consecration Saint Edmund was successful in averting civil war in the Welsh
marshes, and he brought about a reorganization of the government. His
uncompromising stand in favor of good discipline, monastic observance, and
justice in high quarters soon brought him into conflict with King Henry III
over discrepancies between church law and the English common law, with several
monasteries, and with his own chapter.
Edmund protested Henry's
action in securing the appointment of a papal legate, Cardinal Otto, to England
as an infringement of his episcopal rights. A rebellion by the monks of Christ
Church at Canterbury, supported by Henry, to eliminate his rights there caused
him to go to Rome in 1237, and on his return he excommunicated 17 of the
monks--an action that was opposed by his suffragans, Henry, and Cardinal Otto
who lifted the excommunications.
Edmund then became
involved in a dispute with Otto over the king's practice of leaving benefices
unoccupied so the crown could collect their revenues. When Rome withdrew the
archbishop's authority to fill benefices left vacant for six months, he left
England in 1240 and retired to the Cistercian abbey at Pontigny. He died at
Soissons, France, on Nov. 16 and was canonized in 1247 by Pope Innocent IV.
Saint Edmund was a
learned and holy man, and a good if not great bishop. On his deathbed he called
God to witness, 'I have sought nothing else but you.' He was buried in the
abbey church at Pontigny, where his body still lies; locally there he is called
Saint Edme.
Very little of his
writing has survived, but his Mirror of Holy Church makes it clear that he is
entitled to an honorable place among the English medieval mystics. In this
treatise he sets out at various levels the contemplative's way to God.
The only surviving
medieval hall at Oxford, Saint Edmund's, is named in his honor, and according
to tradition it was built on the site of his tomb (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Lawrence).
Saint Edmund is portrayed
in art as an archbishop making a vow before a statue of the Blessed Virgin as
the Christ-Child appears to him. Sometimes Saint Thomas of Canterbury appears
to him (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1116.shtml
St. Edmund Rich
Archbishop of Canterbury, England,
born 20 November, c. 1180, at Abingdon,
six miles from Oxford; died 16 November, 1240, at Soissy, France.
His early chronology is
somewhat uncertain. His parents, Reinald
(Reginald) and Mabel Rich, were remarkable for piety.
It is said that his mother constantly wore hair-cloth, and attended almost
every night at Matins in
the abbey church.
His father, even during the lifetime of his mother, entered the monastery of Eynsham in
Oxfordshire. Edmund had two sisters and at least one brother. The two
sisters became nuns at
Catesby. From his earliest years he was taught by his mother to
practise acts of penance, such as fasting on
Saturdays on bread and water, and wearing a hair shirt. When old enough he was
sent to study at Oxford. While there,
the Child Christ appeared to him while he was walking alone in
the fields. In memory of what passed between him
and Christ on that occasion, he used every night to sign his forehead
with the words "Jesus of Nazareth", a custom he recommended
to others. Anxious to preserve purity of mind and
body, Edmund made a vow of chastity,
and as a pledge thereof he procured two rings; one he placed on the finger
of Our
Lady's statue in St.
Mary's Oxford, the other he himself wore.
About 1195, in company
with his brother Richard, he was sent to the schools of Paris.
Thenceforward, for several years, his life was spent between Oxford and Paris.
He taught with success in both universities.
After having devoted himself to the study of theology, Edmund acquired
fame as a preacher, and was commissioned to preach the Sixth
Crusade in various parts of England.
All this time his austerities were very great. Most of the
night he spent in prayer,
and the little sleep he allowed himself was taken without lying down.
Though thus severe to himself, he was gentle and kind towards others,
especially to the poor and sick, whom sometimes he personally
attended. In 1222 Edmund became treasurer of Salisbury cathedral.
Ten years later he was appointed to the Archbishopric
of Canterbury by Gregory
IX and consecrated 2
April, 1234.
Notwithstanding the
gentleness of his disposition, he firmly defended the rights of Church
and State against the exactions and usurpations of Henry III. He
visited Rome in
1237 to plead his cause in person. This fearless policy brought him into
conflict, not only with the king and his party, but also with the monks of Rochester and Canterbury. Determined opposition
met him from all sides, and constant appeals were carried to Rome over
his head. In consequence, a papal
legate was sent to England,
but Henry adroitly managed the legate's authority
to nullify Edmund's power. Unable to force the king to give over the
control of vacant benefices,
and determined not to countenance evil and injustice, Edmund saw
he could not longer remain in England.
In 1240 he retired to the Cistercian Abbey
of Pontigny. Here he lived like a simple religious till the
summer heat drove him to Soissy, where he died. Within six years he
was canonized,
and numerous miracles have
been wrought at his shrine. Notwithstanding the devastation that from time to
time has overtaken Pontigny,
the body of St. Edmund is still venerated in
its abbey church.
Important relics of
the saint are
preserved at Westminster
Cathedral; St. Edmund's
College, Ware; Portsmouth Cathedral, and Erdington Abbey.
The ancient proper Mass of St. Edmund, taken from
the Sarum Missal,
is used in the Diocese
of Portsmouth, of which St. Edmund is patron. In September,
1874, 350 English pilgrims visited St.
Edmund's shrine. The community, known as Fathers of St.
Edmund, were forced to leave their home at Pontigny,
by the Associations law. The "Speculum Ecclesiae", an ascetical treatise,
and the "Provincial Constitutions" are the most important of St.
Edmund's writings.
Sources
Besides the three ancient
lives of St. Edmund by MATTHEW PARIS, ROGER BACON, and ROGER RICH, there is a
fourth ascribed to BERTRAND OF PONTIGNY in MARTENE AND DURAND, Thesaurus
Ancedororum. For a complete account of the MSS. records, the reader is referred
to WALLACE, St. Edmund of Canterbury (London, 1893), 1-18, and to DE
PARAVICINI, St. Edmund of Abingdon (London, 1898), xiii-xlii;
BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, 16th Nov.; S. Edmund Archp. of Canterbury
(London, 1845) (Tractarian); WARD, St. Edmund Archbp. of
Canterbury (London, 1903); ARCHER in Dict. of Nat. Biog., s.v.
Edmonds, Columba.
"St. Edmund Rich." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 16 Nov. 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05294a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to
the memory of St. Edmund Rich.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2026 by New Advent LLC.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05294a.htm
Wall-mounted
monument in the south chapel of the Roman Catholic church of Our Lady and St
Edmund, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire), commemorating Edmund Rich,
St Edmund of Abingdon
St. Edmund, Archbishop of
Canterbury, Confessor
His life is accurately
written by several hands: by his own brother Robert, who accompanied him in his
journeys to Rome. (MS. in Bibl. Cotton, incipit B. Edmundus Cantuar.) Also by
Bertrand, the saint’s companion and secretary in his exile, and after his death
a monk, and at length prior of Pontigny, published by Dom Martenne (Thesaur.
Anecdot. t. 3,) with curious dissertations and remarks. See also Matthew Paris,
Nicholas Trivet, Annal. 6 Regum: Wood, Hist. et Antiq. Oxon. p. 9, 61. Godwin
Præsul. Angl. p. 130. Also Testimonia plurium, de sanctitate Edmundi Cant. MS.
in Bibl. Coll. Corp. Christi Oxon. n. 154.
A.D. 1242.
ST. EDMUND RICH was the
eldest son of Reynold Rich, a tradesman of Abington in Berkshire, and his wife
Mabilia. His parents were but slenderly provided with the goods of this world,
but possessed abundantly the true riches of virtue and divine grace. Reynold from
the sale of his stock, leaving a moderate competence for the education of his
children, and for a foundation for their industry to work upon, committed them
to the care of his prudent and virtuous consort; and with her free consent made
his religious profession in the monastery of Evesham, where he finished his
mortal course with great fervour. Mabilia, who remained in the world, was not
behindhand with him in aspiring ardently to Christian perfection. To accomplish
the course of her penance, and to tame her flesh she practised great
austerities, and constantly wore a rough hair cloth: she always went to church
at midnight to matins, and by her own example excited her children to the
heroic practice of virtue. Our saint in his childhood, by her advice, recited
the whole psalter on his knees every Sunday and holiday, before he broke his
fast, and on Fridays contented himself with only bread and water. How zealous
soever the mother was in inspiring into the tender minds of her children a
contempt of earthly things, and the greatest ardour in the pursuit of virtue,
and in suggesting to them every means of attaining to the summit of Christian
perfection, Edmund not only complied joyfully with her advice, but always went
beyond her directions, desiring in all his actions to carry virtue to the
greatest heights; though in all his penances and devotions he studied secrecy
as much as possible, and was careful to shun in them the least danger of
attachment to his own sense. For that fundamental maxim of virtue he had always
before his eyes, that even devotion infected with self-will and humour, becomes
vicious, and nourishes self-love and self-conceit, the bane of all virtue and
grace in the heart. As for our young saint he seemed to have no will of his
own, so mild, complying, and obliging was he to every one, and so dutiful and
obedient to his mother and masters. And the sweetness and cheerfulness
wherewith he most readily obeyed, and seemed even to prevent their directions,
showed his obedience to be the interior sacrifice of his heart, in which the
essence of that virtue consists: for a mere exterior compliance accompanied
with reluctance, and, much more, if it break out into complaints and murmuring,
is a miserable state of constraint and compulsion, and a wilful and obstinate
slavery to self-will, that domestic tyrant, which it fosters, arms, and
strengthens, instead of subduing it. How grievously are those parents the
enemies and spiritual murderers of their own children, who teach them to place
their happiness in the gratification of their senses; and by pampering their
bodies, and flattering their humours and passions, make their cravings and
appetites restless, insatiable, and boundless, and their very bodies unfit for,
and almost incapable of, the duties of penance, and even of the labours of
civil life. Abstemiousness and temperance were easy and agreeable, and a
penitential life, which appears so difficult to those who have been educated in
sloth, softness, and delights, was, as it were, natural to our saint, who had,
from his cradle, under the direction of his prudent and virtuous mother, inured
his senses to frequent privations, his body to little severities, and his will
to constant denials, by perfect meekness, humility, charity, and obedience, so
that it seemed as naturally pliant to the direction of reason and virtue, as a
glove is to the hand, to use the expression of one of his historians; and he
was always a stranger to the conflicts of headstrong passions.
The saint performed the
first part of his studies at Oxford, in which he gave very early indications of
a genius above the common standard. It is indeed easy to understand with what
ardour and perseverance a person of good abilities, and deeply impressed with a
sense of religion, always applies himself to study, when this becomes an
essential part of his duty to God. An uncommon fervour and assiduity in all
religious exercises, and a genuine simplicity in his whole conduct, discovered
his internal virtues, and betrayed the desire he had of concealing them.
Retirement and prayer were his delight, and he sought no companions but those
in whom he observed the like pious inclinations. He was yet young when Mabilia
sent him and his brother Robert to finish their studies at Paris. At parting
she gave each of them a hair shirt, which she advised them to use two or three
days in a week, to fortify their souls against the love of pleasures, a
dangerous snare to youth. It was her custom never to send them any linen,
clothes, or other things, but she made some new instrument of penance a part of
her present, to put them in mind of assiduously practising Christian
mortification. Edmund had spent some time in that seat of arts and sciences,
when his mother falling sick of a lingering illness, and perceiving that she
drew near her end, ordered him over to England that she might recommend to him
the care of settling his brother and his two sisters in the world. Before she
died she gave him her last blessing. The saint begged the same for his brother
and sisters, but she answered: “I have given them my blessing in you: for
through you they will share abundantly in the blessings of heaven.” When he had
closed her eyes, and paid her his last duties, he was solicitous where to place
his sisters, and how to secure them against the dangers of the world,
particularly as they were both extremely beautiful. But they were yet far more
virtuous, and soon put him out of this pain, by declaring that it was their
earnest desire to live only to God in a religious state. The saint was, in the
next place, perplexed where to find a sanctuary, in which they might most
securely attain to that perfection to which they aspired. Many preferred those
religious houses which seem to hold a rank in the world, and are richly
founded; a thing very absurd in persons who renounce the world, to profess a
state of abjection and poverty; though it may be often a part of prudence to
choose a retreat which is free from the moral danger of distraction and
anxiety, too apt to disturb the mind when under the pressure of extreme want.
St. Edmund had no views to temporal advantages in this inquiry; all his care
was to find a nunnery, out of which the world was banished, and where the
manner of life, regularity, example, and reigning maxims breathed the most perfect
spirit of the holy institute. “To embrace a religious state,” says the saint, 1 “is
the part of perfection: but to live imperfectly in it, is the most grievous
damnation.” A fear of entangling himself, or others in any danger of sin, made
him shun all houses in which a fortune was exacted for the admission of
postulants, which the canons condemn as simony in monasteries sufficiently
founded; for though presents may be received, nothing can be asked or expected
for the admission, which is something spiritual: nor for the person’s
maintenance, which the house in those circumstances is able and obliged to
afford. After a diligent inquiry and search, the saint placed his two sisters
in the small Benedictin nunnery of Catesby, in Northamptonshire, 2 famous
for strictness of its discipline, where both served God with great fervour,
were eminent for the innocence and sanctity of their lives, and died both
successively prioresses.
St. Edmund had no sooner
settled his sisters, but he went back to Paris to pursue his studies. Whilst he
lived at Oxford he had consecrated himself to God by a vow of perpetual
chastity, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, in whom, under God, he
placed a special confidence; and this vow he observed with the utmost fidelity
his whole life, shunning, with the most scrupulous care, all levity in the
least action, every dangerous liberty of his senses, and all company that could
be an occasion of temptation. In his study he had an image of the Mother of God
before his eyes, round which were represented the mysteries of our redemption;
and, in the midst of his most profound studies, his frequent ejaculations to
God were so ardent, that in them he sometimes fell into raptures. How desirous
soever he appeared to become learned, his zeal to become a saint was much
greater. By virtue he sanctified all his studies, and the purity of his heart
replenished his soul with light, which enabled him to penetrate, in them, the
most knotty questions, and the most sublime truths. By his progress in learning
he was the admiration of his masters, and for the purity of his life he was
regarded as a miracle of sanctity. He constantly attended at the midnight
office in St. Martin’s church, and after that was over, spent some hours there
in prayer, early heard mass in the morning, and then repaired to the public
school, without taking food or rest. He went to vespers every day; studies, works
of charity, holy meditation, and private prayer, took up the rest of his time.
He fasted much, and every Friday on bread and water; wore a hair shirt, and
mortified his senses in every thing. Allowing very little for his own
necessities, he employed in alms the rest of the money which he received for
his own uses. He seldom ate above once a day, and then very sparingly, slept on
the bare floor, or on a bench, and for thirty years never undressed himself to
sleep, and never lay down on a bed, though he had one in his room, decently
covered, in order to conceal his austerities. After matins, at midnight, he
usually continued his meditation and prayer till morning, and very rarely slept
any more: if he did, it was only leaning his head against the wall, as he knelt
or sat a little while. Many years before he was in holy orders, he said every
day the priest’s office, with salutations of the wounds of our Divine Redeemer,
and a meditation on his sufferings. After he had gone through a course of the
liberal arts and mathematics, and had taken the degree of master of arts, he
was employed six years in teaching those sciences, especially the mathematics.
Though, to avoid the danger of the distraction of the mind from heavenly
things, to which these studies generally expose a soul, he used, as a
counterbalance, much prayer and meditation, to nourish constantly in his heart
a spirit of devotion. Yet this at length suffered some abatement; and he seemed
one night to see his mother in a dream, who pointing to certain geometrical
figures before him, asked him what all that signified? and bade him rather make
the adorable Trinity the object of his studies. From that time he gave himself
up entirely to the study of theology, and though out of humility he was long
unwilling, he suffered himself to be overcome by the importunity of his
friends, and proceeded doctor in that faculty, though whether this was at
Paris, or Oxford, after his return to England, authors disagree. He interpreted
the holy scriptures some time at Paris: it was his custom always to kiss that
divine book out of religious respect, as often as he took it into his hands. As
soon as he was ordained priest, he began to preach with wonderful unction and
fruit. Even the lectures which he delivered in school, and his ordinary
discourse were seasoned with heavenly sentiments of the divine love and
praises, and breathed a spirit of God which extremely edified all who were
present. Several of his auditors and scholars became afterwards eminent for
sanctity and learning. Seven left his school in one day to take the Cistercian
habit; one of whom was Stephen, afterwards abbot of Clairvaux, and founder of
the monastery of the Bernardins at Paris.
Returning to England, he
was the first who taught Aristotle’s logic at Oxford, 3 where
he remained from 1219 to 1226; but in frequent missions travelled often through
all Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire, preaching the word of God
with great fruit and zeal. After having refused many ecclesiastical
preferments, he at length accepted of a canonry, with the dignity of treasurer
in the cathedral of Salisbury; but gave far the larger part of the revenue to
the pool, leaving himself destitute the greatest part of the year. He had not
been long in this post, when the pope sent him an order to preach the crusade
against the Saracens, with a commission to receive an honorary stipend for his
maintenance, from the several churches in which he should discharge that
office. The saint executed the commission with great zeal; but would receive no
honorary stipend, or any kind of present for his maintenance. As he was
preaching in the open air near the church at Worcester, a heavy shower fell all
round the place, but the saint having given his blessing, and bade the people
not to disperse, not a single drop touched any of them, or fell on the spot where
they stood. When he preached, the words which came from his inflamed heart were
words of fire, which powerfully converted souls. Persons the most profoundly
learned were moved to tears at his sermons, and many became imitators of his
penance and virtues. William, surnamed Longspear, the famous Earl of Salisbury,
who had lived a long time in the neglect of the essential duties of a
Christian, and without ever approaching the sacraments, was so entirely
converted by hearing a sermon which the saint preached, and by conversing some
hours with him, that from that time he laid aside all other business to make
the salvation of his soul his whole employment. The saint formed many excellent
men of prayer, and was himself one of the most experienced doctors of an
interior life, and most enlightened contemplatives in the church. What he
chiefly inculcated was a sincere spirit of humility, mortification, and holy
prayer; and he was principally solicitous to teach Christians to pray in
affection and spirit. “A hundred thousand persons,” says the saint, 4 “are
deceived in multiplying prayers. I would rather say five words devoutly with my
heart, than five thousand which my soul does not relish with affection and
understanding. Sing to the Lord wisely. 5 What
a man repeats by his mouth, that let him feel in his soul.” A late French
critical author 6 of
a book entitled the Tradition of the Church concerning Contemplation, says of
St. Edmund: “He applied himself from his youth to the contemplation of eternal
truths: and so well united in himself (which is very rare) the science of the
heart with that of the school, the mystical theology with the speculative, that
by letting into his heart the lights of his understanding, he became a perfect
contemplative, or mystic theologian; and he has no less enlightened the church
by the sanctity of his life, than by the admirable spiritual tract, called, the
Mirror of the Church, in which are found many excellent things relating to
contemplation.”
The see of Canterbury had
been long vacant, when Pope Gregory IX. pitched upon Edmund to fill it. The
chapter of Canterbury was unanimous in his favour, King Henry III. gave his
consent, and the election was confirmed by his holiness. Matters were gone thus
far, when a deputation was sent to Salisbury, to give notice to the saint of
his election, and to conduct him to his flock. Edmund, who was till then a
stranger to these proceedings, protested loudly against the violence that was offered
him. The deputies thus repulsed by him, applied to the bishop of Salisbury, who
exerted his authority to compel the saint to acquiesce. Edmund submitted after
much resistance, but had not quite conquered his fears and difficulties when he
was consecrated, on the 2d of April, 1234. This dignity made no alteration in
the humble sentiments or behaviour of our saint. He had still the same mean
opinion of himself, and observed the same simplicity and modesty in his dress,
notwithstanding the contrary fashions of the bishops of that age. His chief
employment was to inquire into and relieve the corporal and spiritual
necessities of his flock, and he soon got the reputation of a primitive pastor.
His revenues he chiefly consecrated to the poor, and had a particular care to
provide portions for young women, whose circumstances would have otherwise
exposed them to great dangers. He gave vice no quarter, maintained church
discipline with an apostolic vigour, and was most scrupulously solicitous and
careful that justice was impartially administered in all his courts, abhorred
the very shadow of bribes in all his officers, and detested the love of filthy
lucre, especially in the clergy. For the reformation of abuses, he published
his Constitutions in thirty-six canons, extant in Lindwood, Spelman Wilkins,
Johnson, and in Labbe’s edition of the Councils. 7
Amidst a great corruption
of manners, and decay of discipline, his zeal could not fail to raise him
adversaries. Even the children of his own mother, the monks of his chapter, and
many of his clergy, who ought to have been his comfort and his support, were
the first to oppose him, and defeat his holy endeavours, for restoring
regularity, the purity of Christian morals, and the true spirit of our divine
religion, which its founder came from heaven to plant amongst men. Mr. Johnson says, 8 “Archbishop
Edmund was a man of very scrupulous notions.” Scrupulosity is a great defect
and weakness, often a grievous vice, always contrary to perfect virtue: though
a passing state of scrupulosity which is humble, always ready to obey, and
attended with unaffected simplicity of heart, is a usual trial of persons when
they first begin to serve God in earnest; but this is easily cured. A
scrupulosity which arises from constitution, is a severe trial of patience, but
that which is founded in self-love and the passions, and is accompanied with
wilful obstinacy, is a most dangerous and vicious disorder. But a timorousness
of conscience differs infinitely from scrupulosity, and is the disposition of
all who truly desire to be saved. In this path all the saints walked, with holy
Job, fearing all their actions, with constant watchfulness over themselves, and
attention to the general rules of the gospel, from which they never suffered
custom, example, or the false maxims of the multitude to turn them aside. Upon
this principle, Edmund guided himself by the rules of Christ and his Church,
and opposed abuses that seemed authorized by custom, and had taken deep root.
There, perhaps, was never
a greater lover of charity and peace than our saint; yet he chose to see his
dearest friends break with him, and turn his implacable enemies and
persecutors, rather than approve or tolerate the least point which seemed to
endanger both his own and their souls. And, from their malice, he reaped the
invaluable advantage of holy patience. For their bitterness and injustice
against him never altered the peace of his mind, or his dispositions of the
most sincere charity and tenderness towards them; and he never seemed sensible
of any injuries or injustices that were done him. When some told that he
carried his charity too far, he made answer: “Why should others cause me to
offend God, or to lose the charity which I owe and bear them? if any persons
were to cut off my arms, or pluck out my eyes, they would be the dearer to me,
and would seem the more to deserve my tenderness and compassion.” He often used
to say, that tribulations were a milk which God prepared for the nourishment of
his soul, and that if ever they had any bitterness in them, this was mixed with
much sweetness, adding, that they were, as it were, a wild honey, with which
his soul had need to be fed in the desert of this world, like John Baptist in
the wilderness. He added, that Christ had taught him by his own example to go
to meet and salute his persecutors, and only to answer their injuries by
earnestly recommending their souls to his heavenly Father. The more the saint
suffered from the world, the greater were the consolations he received from
God, and the more eagerly he plunged his heart into the ocean of his boundless
sweetness, in heavenly contemplation and prayer. Nicholas Trivet, a learned
English Dominican, in his accurate history of the reigns of six kings from
Stephen, 9 tells
us, that St. Edmund had always some pious and learned Dominican with him
wherever he went, and that one of those who lived to be very old, assured him
and many others, that the saint was found in a wonderful ecstacy: “One day,”
says he, “when the saint had invited several persons of great quality to dine
with him at his palace, he made them wait a long while before he came out to
them. When dinner had been ready some time, St. Richard, who was his
chancellor, went to call him, and found him in the chapel, raised a
considerable height above the ground, in prayer.” St. Edmund, while he was
archbishop, kept a decent table for others; but contrived secretly to practise
at it himself the greatest abstemiousness and mortification.
The saint’s trials grew
every day heavier, and threatened to overwhelm him; yet he was always calm, as
the halcyon riding on the waves amidst a violent tempest. King Henry III. being
by his bad economy, and the insatiable thirst of his minions, always needy, not
content to exact of his subjects, both clergy and laity, exorbitant sums, kept
bishoprics, abbeys, and other benefices, a long time vacant, only that, under
the title of protecting the goods of the church, he might appropriate the
revenues to his own use; and, when he nominated new incumbents, preferred his
own creatures, who were usually strangers, or at least persons no ways
qualified for such posts. St. Edmund, not bearing an abuse which was a source
of infinite disorders, obtained of Pope Gregory IX. a bull, by which he was
empowered and ordered to fill such vacant benefices, in case the king nominated
no one, within six months after they fell vacant. But, upon the king’s
complaint, his holiness repealed this concession. The zealous prelate, fearing
to injure his own conscience, and appear to connive at crying abuses which he
was not able to redress, passed secretly into France, thus testifying to the
whole world how much he condemned such fatal enormities. Making his way to the
court of France, he was graciously received by St. Lewis, all the royal family,
and city of Paris, where his virtue was well known. Thence he retired to
Pontigny, a Cistercian abbey in Champagne, in the diocess of Auxerre, which had
formerly harboured two of his predecessors, St. Thomas, under Henry II., and
Stephen Langton, in the late reign of King John. In this retreat the saint gave
himself up to fasting and prayer; and preached frequently in the neighbouring
churches. His bad state of health obliging him, in compliance to the advice of
physicians, to change air, he removed to a convent of regular canons at Soissy
or Seysi. Seeing the monks of Pontigny in tears at his departure, he told them
he should return to them on the feast of St. Edmund the Martyr; which was
verified by his body, after his death, being brought thither on that day. His
distemper increasing, he desired to receive the viaticum, and said in presence
of the holy sacrament: “In Thee, O Lord, I have believed; Thee I have preached
and taught. Thou art my witness, that I have desired nothing on earth but Thee
alone. As thou seest my heart to desire only Thy holy will, may it be
accomplished in me.” After receiving the holy sacrament, he continued that
whole day in wonderful devotion and spiritual jubilation, so as to seem
entirely to forget, and not to feel his distemper; tears of joy and piety never
ceased trickling down his cheeks, and the serenity of his countenance
discovered the interior contentment of his holy soul. This, his joy, he
expressed by alluding to a proverb then in vogue, as follows: “Men say that
delight (or sport) goeth into the belly: but I say, it goeth into the heart.” 10 This
inexpressible interior comfort which his soul enjoyed, wonderfully discovered
itself by a cheerfulness and glow which cannot be imagined, but which then
appeared in his cheeks, which were before as pale as ashes. The next day he
received the holy oils, and from that time always held a crucifix in his hands,
kissing and saluting affectionately the precious wounds, particularly that of
the side, keeping it long applied to his lips with many tears and sighs,
accompanied with wonderful interior cheerfulness and joy to his last breath.
From his tender years he had always found incredible sweetness in the name of
Jesus, which he had constantly in his heart, and which he repeated most
affectionately in his last moments; in his agony he did not lie down but sat in
a chair, sometimes leaning upon his hand, and sometimes he stood up. At length,
fainting away, without any contortions or convulsions he calmly expired, never
seeming to interrupt those holy exercises which conducted his happy soul to the
company of the blessed, there to continue the same praises, world without end.
St. Edmund died at Soissy, near Provins in Champagne, on the 16th of November,
1242, according to Godwin, having been archbishop eight years. His bowels were
buried at Provins; but his body was conveyed to Pontigny, and, after seven
days, deposited with great solemnity. Many miraculous cures wrought through his
intercession proclaimed his power with God in the kingdom of his glory, and the
saint was canonized by Innocent V. in 1246. In 1247 his body was taken up, and
found entire, and the joints flexible; it was translated with great pomp, in
presence of St. Lewis, Queen Blanche, and a number of prelates and noblemen.
These precious relics remain to this day the glory of that monastery, which,
from our saint, is called St. Edmund’s of Pontigny. Dom Martenne, the learned
Maurist monk, tells us, that he saw and examined his body, which is perfectly
without the least sign of corruption; the head is seen naked through a crystal
glass; the rest of the body is covered with his pontifical garments; the colour
of the flesh is everywhere very white. It is placed above the high altar in a
shrine of wood, gilt over. One arm was separated at the desire of St. Lewis,
who caused it to be shut in a gold case so as to be seen through crystal
glasses. But the flesh of this arm is black, which is ascribed to an embalming
when it was taken from the body. English women were allowed to enter this
church, though the Cistercian Order forbade the entrance of women into their
churches, which now is nowhere observed among them except in the churches of
Citeaux and Clairvaux. In the treasury at Pontigny are shown St. Edmund’s
pastoral ring, chalice, and paten: also his chasuble, or vestment in which he
said mass, which is quite round at the bottom, according to the ancient form of
such vestments. Martenne adds, that the conservation of this sacred body free
from corruption, is evidently miraculous, and cannot be ascribed to any
embalming during above five hundred years, without any change even in the
colour. 11 Several
miracles, wrought through this saint’s intercession, were authentically
approved and attested by many English bishops, as Stephen, a subdeacon, who had
been six years his secretary, assures us, who adds: “Numberless miracles have
been performed by his invocation since his deposition, of the truth whereof I
am no less certain than if I had seen them with my own eyes.” One he mentions
that was wrought upon himself. He had suffered an intolerable toothache, with a
painful inflammation of his left jaw for two days, without being able to take
any rest, till, calling to mind his blessed father Edmund, he with prayers and
tears implored his intercession, and quickly fell into a gentle slumber: when
he awoke he found himself perfectly freed from the toothache, and the swelling
entirely dissipated.
St. Edmund was a great
proficient in the school of divine love and heavenly contemplation, because he
learned perfectly to die to himself. Man’s heart is, as it were, naturally full
of corruption and poison, and abandoned to many inordinate appetites, and
subtle passions which successively exercise their empire over it, artfully
disguise themselves, and infect even his virtues. God often condemns the hearts
of those whose actions the world admires; because, having chiefly a regard to
the interior dispositions, and the purity and fervour of the intention, he
often sees virtues, which shine brightest in the eyes of men, to be false, and
no better than disguised vice and self-love. A sincere spirit of humility,
meekness, patience, obedience, compunction, and self-denial, with the practice
of self-examination, penance, and assiduous prayer, must crucify inordinate
self-love, disengage the affections from earthly things, and, purifying the
heart, open it to the rays of divine light and grace.
Note 1. S. Edmund,
in Speculo, c. 1, ex Eusebio vulgo Emiseno, potius Gallico. [back]
Note 2. This
monastery is falsely said by Speed to have been of the Order of the
Gilbertines, as Bishop Tanner proves in his Notitia Monastica; for, from its
foundation to its dissolution under Henry VIII. it professed the rule of St.
Bennet. [back]
Note 3. Wood. Hist.
et Antiq. Oxon. t. 1. p. 81, t. 2, p. 9. et 81. [back]
Note 4. S. Edm.
Cant. in Speculo. Bibl. Patr. t. 13, p. 362. [back]
Note 5. Ps.
lvi. [back]
Note 6. F. Honoratus
of St. Mary, in his historical table of contemplative writers, t. 1, p.
4. [back]
Note 7. In the
eighth he expresses his scrupulous fear of simony, and filthy lucre in priests
receiving retributions for masses: he who serves the altar is entitled to live
by the altar, and may receive a maintenance by the honorary stipends which the
church allows him to receive, on the occasion of certain functions, to which
such retributions are annexed, where there is no danger of the people being
withdrawn by them from religious duties; for they are never annexed to penance,
the holy communion, or the like means of frequent devotion. Yet in such
retributions, those incur the guilt of simony, who bargain about them, or
receive them in such a manner as to sell the mass, or any other spiritual
function. The danger of which abuses, with regard to annuals and trentals for
the dead, the holy prelate cuts off by this canon, which Lindwood and others
only render obscure by their long disquisitions. In the fifteenth canon he
orders the people to be put in mind every Sunday at the parish mass, of the
canons against parents whose children are overlaid, by which canons in some
cases they were obliged to go into a monastery; in others to do penance for
three years; and for seven, if drunkenness, or any other sin were the occasion
of their overlaying a child. (See Johnson, ib. ad an. 1236, t. 2.) In the fifth
canon, St. Edmund, addressing himself to all rectors, vicars, and other curates
of churches, says: “We admonish, and strictly charge you, that having peace, as
far as lies in you, with all men, you exhort your parishioners to be one body in
Christ, by the unity of faith, and by the bond of peace: that you compose all
differences that arise in your parish, with all diligence, that you make up
breaches, reclaim, as far as you can, the litigious, and suffer not the sun to
go down upon the anger of any of your parishioners.” The prelude to this canon
expresses the holy bishop’s extreme love of peace as follows: “A great
necessity of following peace lies on us, my sons, since God himself is the
author and lover of peace, who came to reconcile not only heavenly, but earthly
beings; and eternal peace cannot be obtained without temporal and internal
peace.” Upon this canon Mr. Johnson has the following remark: “This would be
very unreasonably applied to the present English clergy, who rather want friends
to persuade the people to be at peace with them upon any terms.” (Collect. of
English Canons, t. 2.) St. Edmund was author of the book called Speculum
Ecclesiæ, or Mirror of the Church, (t. 13, Bibl. Patr.) of which work some
manuscript copies in the Bodleian library, in the English college at Douay, and
others, considerably differ, some being abstracts, others a Latin translation
made by Will. Beaufu, (a Carmelite friar of Northampton,) from a French
translation. Ten devout Latin prayers, a treatise on the seven deadly sins and
on the decalogue in French, and another entitled, The Seven Sacraments briefly
declared of Seynt Edmunde of Pontenie, are works of this saint in manuscript in
the Bodleian library, &c. See Tanner. Biblioth. v. Richie. [back]
Note 8. S. Edmund
Constit. Can. 8. [back]
Note 9. Annal. 6
Reg. Angl. ad. an. 1240. [back]
Note 10. Men seizh
game God en wombe ac ich segge, game God en herte. Eustachius Monachus, S.
Edmundi apellanus et secretarius, inter testimonia de S. Edm. MS. [back]
Note 11. See Voy.
Littér. de Deux Religieux Bened. pp. 57, 58. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume XI: November. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/11/161.html
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury
Article
The Kingdom of England,
which centuries ago, gave so many Saints of both sexes to the Church and to
heaven, was the native country of Saint Edmund. His father’s name was Reynold
Rich, his mother’s, Mabilia. Both led a pious life and endeavored to guide
their son in the same path. Mabilia, especially, was anxious to inspire her
child from his very infancy, with the love of God, abhorrence of sin, and the
esteem of angelic purity. She also taught him early to fast on Fridays and to
mortify his body in other ways. She afterwards sent him to Paris to study the
liberal arts, but instructed him most carefully how to conduct himself, in
order that he might not be seduced. As often as she sent him a supply of
clothing, she added a hair-shirt, and exhorted him to make use of it sometimes
that he might more securely guard his innocence. She also admonished him to
avoid evil society, to pray and study, to hear frequently the word of God, and
to commend himself to the protection of the Blessed Virgin. Edmund faithfully
obeyed his mother’s instructions, and hence, God bestowed especial graces upon
him. One day, as he was walking with others, he left them, and began to read a
devout book, because they had begun a rather unrestrained conversation. Whilst
he was thus engaged, Christ appeared to him in the form of a lovely boy. Edmund
was at first awed, as he did not know whence the boy had come, nor who he was;
but our Lord said to him: “Edmund, do you not know me? I am daily with you at
school; look at my forehead.” Edmund looked up, and saw, on the Child’s brow,
the words: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The divine Child then
disappeared, but left an indescribable comfort in the heart of Edmund, who from
that moment bore the most tender devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. He also
venerated daily the Blessed Virgin, and commended to her his chastity, which he
had vowed to keep inviolate. He bought two rings on which the words, “Ave
Maria,” were engraved. One of these he placed upon the finger of an image of
the Blessed Virgin, the other he wore himself, as a sign that he was united
with Mary and had chosen her as his spouse. Whenever he was tempted by an
unchaste thought, he looked at the ring, remembered his promise, renewed it,
and thus freed himself from the temptation. By the protection of the Blessed
Virgin, by prayer and mortification, he preserved his innocence, although he
was subjected to many dangers. One day, a wicked woman came into his room and
endeavored to tempt him; but the chaste youth not only refused to listen to
her, but seizing a scourge, he beat her so unmercifully, that she was glad to
beat a hasty retreat.
While he was attending to
his studies, at Paris, with great success, his pious mother became very sick
and desired to see him. Obeying her call, he returned home to receive her last
admonitions, and remained with her until her death, after which, returning to
Paris, he completed his course with such distinction, that a professorship was
offered to him. He accepted the offer and soon gained the love of his pupils,
and the good-will of every one. Those of his pupils who were poor he assisted
with alms, the sick he took into his house, and gave them a father’s care; all
received wholesome admonitions, and were led by him in the path of piety and
virtue. Hence it happened that many of them went into monasteries in order the
better to attend to their salvation. After some years, he resigned his
professorship, became a priest, and preached the Gospel with great fruit, because
he preached not only by word, but also by his works, and by the example of his
holy life. God failed not to assist him by many miracles, of which we will
relate only one.
One day, when he was
preaching to a great number of people in the open air, the heavens were
suddenly covered over with heavy black clouds, and the people, fearing that a
thunder-storm was approaching, began to leave. The holy man perceived that
Satan, by the permission of the Almighty, was the author of this; he commanded
the people to remain, and then made the sign of the holy cross in the air, and
behold! the clouds parted, and the sun shone brightly on the place occupied by
the preacher and his audience, while all around them the ground was drenched
with a violent shower.
After the Saint had
passed several years in preaching, the See of Canterbury became vacant, and
Edmund was forced to fill it. Invested with this high dignity, his conduct was
such that it might serve as a most perfect model to all prelates. He sought not
his own comfort or honor, but only the glory of God, the welfare of the Church,
and the salvation of souls. He visited his whole diocese, preached and taught
in all places, administered the holy sacraments, encouraged sinners to
repentance, aided the poor and orphans, and never received any present, but
employed the greater part of his own income in relieving the distressed. God,
however, desired to prove His faithful servant by adversity. The Saint, in
accordance with his duty, not only defended the rights and privileges of the
Church, but also reproved the vices of both common people and persons of the
highest social position, with undaunted courage. For this he fell into disgrace
with the king, and was slandered and persecuted in various ways. Edmund bore it
all with the greatest patience, encouraged himself to endurance, and said to
those who pitied him: “The wrongs that I suffer are bitter but wholesome
medicine; they tend to the salvation of my soul.” He never showed the slightest
resentment against his enemies, but, loving them with his whole heart, he said:
“Were they to tear out my eyes, I would still love them.” But seeing that he
could no longer administer his functions in a manner befitting his dignity, he
left England and went to France. During the night preceding his embarkation,
Edmund was visited, in a vision, by Saint Thomas, who had occupied the same
episcopal chair and who had sacrificed his life in defence of the rights of the
Church. He consoled the Saint, and assured him of a speedy reward for his labor.
Arrived in France, Saint Edmund took refuge in the same monastery in which
Saint Thomas, for the same cause, had sought an asylum. But soon after his
arrival, he was visited by a malady, for the cure of which the physicians
advised him to go to another abbey for a change of air. The religious, who had
just welcomed him, were very sad to part with him so soon; but the holy bishop
told them, that he would return on the festival of the King and Martyr, Saint
Edmund. And this really happened, but not in the manner which the religious
expected; for, no sooner had the bishop entered the other monastery, than his
sickness increased to such a degree, that he himself desired to receive the
last Sacraments. When the Blessed Eucharist was brought into his room, the
Saint, stretching out both arms towards the same, exclaimed in a clear voice:
“Thou art witness, O my Lord, that I have never sought anything else in this
world, but Thee alone! do now with me according to Thy holy will.” Having
received the Holy Sacraments, he tenderly embraced the Crucifix, and bedewed it
with many tears; kissing the holy wounds and pressing the sacred image to his
heart, he said: “You will now soon joyfully draw water from the fountains of
the Saviour.” The remaining time he passed in pious contemplations, and,
finally, ended his holy life by the precious death of a Saint, in the year of
our Lord, 1241. His holy remains were brought, on the festival of Saint Edmund,
King and Martyr, to the monastery to which he had gone, when first he arrived
in France, and thus his prophecy was fulfilled. He was buried with great honors
and God made his tomb glorious by many miracles.
Practical Considerations
• Saint Edmund was
exhorted by his mother, to shun all bad company; and, to his own great benefit,
he obeyed her. Hence, one day, when he left such companions, he had the
happiness of seeing the Lord in human form and of speaking to Him. Not only in
youth, but in riper years too, all who would save their souls must shun
dangerous company, and not be on friendly terms with those who speak indecently
or lead a godless life; for, the evil that proceeds from such association can
hardly be estimated. How many virtuous persons have been misled by wicked
companions and have been slowly ruined by them! “For, such is human nature,”
says Saint Chrysostom, “that when a pious person associates with a wicked one,
the latter is not reformed by the former, but the pious is corrupted by the
wicked,” Saint Bernard hesitates not to say, that the devil, by the aid of such
company, works much evil which by himself he cannot. The experience of every
day convinces us of the truth of this assertion. Many who had overcome all the
temptations of Satan, have fallen into sin through the promises, flatteries and
incitements of one bad friend, and have thus been precipitated into the depth
of hell. If you desire to live piously, shun bad people more than Satan
himself.
• Through the protection
of the Blessed Virgin, through prayer and penance, Saint Edmund preserved his
chastity and innocence. The same we read in the lives of many other Saints.
Make use of these means if you wish to live chaste and pure. “Oh! all you who
desire to live in virginal chas- tity,” says Saint Chrysostom, “fly for refuge
to the divine Mother, for she will preserve inviolate the beautiful, precious
and immortal treasure.” Thus also the holy Fathers admonish us to pray and to
mortify our body; otherwise no one can long preserve his innocence. If you,
however, have lost this precious treasure, by one or more mortal sins, then you
must know that penance is the only remedy left to you. The above mentioned
means may, however, serve to prevent you from falling into sin again. Endeavor
to obtain the powerful protection of Mary; pray fervently and frequently; be not
too lenient to your body, but chastise it by works of penance. Should you after
all, either out of weakness or wickedness, commit a mortal sin, I exhort you
not to remain long in it, but cleanse yourself, as soon as possible, by a
contrite confession. If you defer, the sin takes deep root or draws other sins
after it. “Therefore,” says Saint Chrysostom, “if your soul is dead in sin,
endeavor to raise it immediately to a new life.” In conclusion, consider the
beautiful words of Saint Edmund: “The wrongs which I suffer are a bitter but a
wholesome medicine; they conduce to the salvation of my soul.” Just so should
you think of all your trials and persecutions. They are bitter, but serve to
secure your salvation if you endeavor to suffer them in the same spirit as
Saint Edmund did. Follow his example in this, as in all other points, that you
may hope for a death as bright and happy as his. “Thou art my witness, O Lord!
that I have sought nothing but Thee.” Thus spoke the Saint on his death-bed.
Whoever can say this, will surely die cheerfully and happily.
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 May 2018. Web. 7 May 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-edmund-archbishop-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-edmund-archbishop-of-canterbury/
Saint Edmund
Archbishop of Canterbury
(† 1240)
Saint Edmund, Edmundus,
or Edme, was born at Abingdon in England towards the end of the twelfth
century, the son of very virtuous Christians. His father withdrew from the
world before many years passed, and entered a monastery, where he later died;
and his pious spouse raised her children in the love and fear of God,
accustoming them to an austere life, and by means of little presents,
encouraging them to practice mortification and penance.
Edmund, the oldest, with
his brother Robert, left his home at Abingdon as a boy of twelve to study in
Paris. There he protected himself against many grievous temptations by a vow of
chastity, and by consecrating himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary for life.
While he was still a schoolboy there, he one day saw the Child Jesus, who told
him He was always at his side in school, and accompanied him everywhere he
went. He said he should inscribe His Name deeply in his heart, and at night
print it on his forehead, and it would preserve him and all who would do
likewise, from a sudden death.
His mother fell seriously
ill while he was still studying in Paris; he returned home for her final
benediction, and she recommended that he provide for his brother and his
sisters. When the latter were all received by the Superior of a nearby convent,
Edmund was able to return to Paris to complete his studies. He began to profess
the liberal arts there and acquired an excellent reputation, striving also to
teach virtue to his students and to aid them in all their difficulties. After
six years, he was advised by his mother in a dream to abandon the teaching of
secular disciplines, and devote himself to learning to know God better. He then
became a Doctor of sacred learning, and many who heard him teach left their
former occupations to embrace religious life. When ordained a priest, he was
the treasurer of the Church of the diocese of Salisbury. There he manifested
such charity to the poor that the dean said he was rather the treasure than the
treasurer of their church.
The Pope, having heard of
his sanctity and his zeal, charged him to preach the Crusade against the
Saracens. He was raised in 1234 to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. There
he fearlessly defended the rights of Church and State against the avarice and
greed of Henry III. The complacent ecclesiastics and lords persecuted him in
various ways, but could not alter his patience. Finding himself unable,
however, to force the monarch to relinquish the benefices which he kept vacant
on behalf of the royal coffers, Edmund retired into exile at the Cistercian
monastery of Pontigny, rather than appear as an accomplice to so flagrant a
wrong. After two years spent in solitude and prayer, he went to his reward. The
miracles wrought at his tomb at Pontigny were so numerous that he was canonized
in 1247, only a few years after his death. His body was found incorrupt in that
year, when it was translated in the presence of Saint Louis IX and his court to
Pontigny, from its former resting place in the church of Soisy.
Les Petits Bollandistes:
Vies des Saints, by Mgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol.
13
SOURCE : https://sanctoral.com/en/saints/saint_edmund.html
Golden Legend –
Saint Edmund, Bishop
Here followeth the Life
of Saint Edmund, Confessor.
Saint Edmund the
confessor and bishop, which resteth at Pounteney in France, was born in England
in the town of Abingdon. His mother was Mabel the rich, and she was right holy,
both wife and widow. And this said Saint Edmund, her son, was born on Saint
Edmund’s day, the king and martyr, and in his birth no cloth was fouled by him.
And he was born in the first springing of the day, and lay all that day till
night as he had been dead, so that the midwife would have had him buried. But
his mother said: Nay; and soon after he revived and was borne to church and
christened and named Edmund, because he was born on S Edmund’s day, and as he
grew in age so increased he in virtues. He had a brother named Robert, and the
mother set them both to school; also she had two daughters, that one was named
Mary, and that other Alice, which were both made nuns at Catesby in
Northamptonshire by the labour of their brother Edmund. And the mother gave to
them gifts to fast the Friday, and drew them to virtuous and holy living by
gifts and fair behests, so that when they came to more perfect age it grieved
them not. Their mother ware hard hair for our Lady’s love, and led her life in
great penance and daily laboured. And on a time as she put out wool for to
spin, she delivered so much for the pound that the spinners might not live
thereby, which complained thereof to her son Edmund, and he took the yarn that
was spun for a pound and raked it in the fire, and a certain time after he took
it out of the fire, and the just pound was not hurt ne lessed, but as much as
was more than a pound was wasted and burnt by the fire. And when she saw this
she repented her greatly and did so never more after. After this she sent her
two sons to Paris to school, and delivered to them money for their costs and
school hire, and also two shirts of hair, and prayed them for God’s love and
hers that they would wear those shirts once or twice in the week, and they
should lack nothing needful to them, and they granted gladly to do after their
mother’s desire, insomuch that within a while, of custom they ware the hair
every day, and lay therein every night. This was a blessed mother that so
virtuously brought forth her children, and in short time Saint Edmund increased
so greatly in virtue that every man had joy of him, giving laud to God thereof.
And on a day as his fellows and he went to play, he left their fellowships and
went alone into a meadow, and under a hedge he said his devotions. And suddenly
there appeared tofore him a fair child in white clothing which said: Hail!
fellow, that goest alone. And Saint Edmund, being abashed, marvelled from
whence this child came, to whom the child said: Edmund, knowest thou not me?
And he said: Nay, I am thy fellow in the school, and in all where thou goest I
am ever on thy right side, and yet thou knowest me not, but look in my forehead
and there thou shalt find my name written. And then Edmund looked in his
forehead and saw written therein with letters of gold, Jesus Nazarenus rex
Judeorum. And then the child said: Dread thee not, Edmund, for I am Jesu Christ
thy Lord, and I shall be thy defender here whilst thou livest. And then Edmund
fell down, meekly thanking God of his great mercy and goodness. And then our
Lord taught him to say when he shall go to his bed, or arise, and bless him
with this prayer: Jesus Nazarenus rex Judeorum, Filius Dei miserere mei, in
remembrance of my passion, and the devil shall never have power to overcome
thee. And then anon this child vanished away. And Saint Edmund thanked humbly
our Lord that it pleased to him to show him in this manner, and ever after both
evening and morning, he used continually to bless him with that holy prayer to
his life’s end, and did much penance ever after for God’s sake. And when he had
continued at school a long time at Paris, he came home and went to Oxenford to
school. And always in this time he was chaste in his living and a clean virgin,
in will and deed, and never consented to the sin of the flesh. And on a day he
made his prayers devoutly before an image of our Lady, and he put a ring upon
her finger, and promised to her faithfully never to have other wife but only
her during his life, and humbly greeted our Lady with these four words: Ave
Maria gratia plena, which words were written on the said ring.
And his host had a
daughter that laboured greatly to make Saint Edmund to sin with her fleshly,
and long time he put her off, and she laboured so sore that at the last he
granted her to come to his bed, and then she was right glad, and she espied her
time and came to his chamber, and anon made her ready to come to his bed, and
she stood naked tofore him. And then he took a sharp rod and beat the maid,
that the blood ran down on every side of her body, and said to her: Thus thou
shalt learn to release thy soul from the foul lusts of thy flesh. And so with
beating he put away all her foul lust, and ever after she lived a clean virgin
unto her life’s end. And soon after, the good mother sent for Edmund and her
other children, for she knew that she should shortly pass out of this world,
and charged Edmund to see that his brother and sisters should be well guided,
and after she gave to them her blessing and departed out of this world, and is
buried at Abingdon in Saint Nicholas’ Church in a tomb of marble before the
rood, where is written: Here lieth Mabel, flower of widows. And after, Saint
Edmund did do make a chapel at Catesby, in which both his sisters were buried,
and one of them was prioress of the place ere she died, and was a holy
woman for whom God showed many miracles. And Saint Edmund dwelled long after at
Oxenford, living a holy life and ware a shirt of hair full of hard knots, and a
breech of the same, and the knots stuck in the flesh that it made his body to
bleed, and he bound the shirt to his body with a cord so strait that unnethe he might bow his body.
And on a time when his
shirt of hair was right foul he took it to his servant for to burn in the fire,
but the fire might not perish ne hurt it. Then his servant took it out of the
fire, and bound a stone thereto and threw it into a pond, and told his master
that he had burnt it. Saint Edmund and his fellows, on a day as they came from
Lewkenor to Abingdon, saw in a valley many black fowls like crows or ravens,
among whorn was one which was all to-rent and torn with the other black birds,
and threw him from one to another that it was a piteous sight to see, and they
that accompanied Saint Edmund were almost from themselves for fear of the
sight. But then Saint Edmund comforted them and said to them what it meant, he
said that these be wicked fiends of hell that bear with them a man’s soul, which
died right now at Chalgrove, which soul is damned for his wicked living, and
then he and his fellows went to Chalgrove and found all things as he had said.
Saint Edmund was accustomed to say every day unto our Lady and Saint John the
Evangelist the prayer: O intemerata, and on day, for certain business that he
had, he forgat it and said it not. Wherefore Saint John appeared to him in a
ghastful manner, blaming him greatly for that he had not said it, and after
that he said it every day unto his life’s end.
And after this as he sat
in a night in his study, labouring in divers of the seven sciences, the spirit
of his mother appeared to him in a vision, and charged him to leave to study in
particular sciences, but that he should from then forthon labour in divinity
only, for that was the will of God, and he hath sent to thee word by me, and
this said, she vanished away. And ever after he laboured in divinity so that he
profited therein marvellously, so that men wondered of his conning; and when he
read divinity in schools, his scholars and hearers profited more in one day
than they did of other men’s teaching a whole week. And many of his scholars by
his teaching and ensample of living, forsook the world and became religious
men. And on a day he came to the school for to dispute of the blessed Trinity,
and was there ere any of his scholars came, and fell in slumbering, sitting in
his chair, and a white dove brought him the body of our Lord and put it into
his mouth, and the dove ascended up into heaven again, and ever after Saint
Edmund thought that the sweet savour of our Lord’s flesh was in his mouth, by
which he knew great privities of our Lord in heaven, for he passed all the
doctors in Oxenford in conning, for he spake more like an angel than a man, and
in all his lessons he remembered ever our Lord’s passion. And in a night as he
studied long in his books, suddenly he fell asleep and forgat to bless him and
to think on the passion of our Lord, and anon the devil lay so heavy on him
that he might not bless him with neither hand, and wist not what to do, but
through the grace of God he remembered his blessed passion, and then the fiend
had no more power, but fell down from him anon. And Saint Edmund then charged
the fiend by the virtue of our Lord’s passion, to tell to him how he should
best defend him, that he should have no power over him, and then the fiend
answered and said: The remembrance of the passion of our Lord Jesu Christ, for
when any man remembreth the passion of Jesu Christ, I have no power over them.
And ever after Saint Edmund had full great devotion to the passion of our Lord
Jesu Christ, and was continually in holy prayers and meditations, for all the
delights of the world were but heaviness to him. He was a man of great alms,
and often preached and edified the people, and all the people had great
devotion to hear him. In that time the pope sent out a crusade against the
Turks and miscreants into England, and this holy man, Edmund, was chosen to
publish it through the realm, and he stirred much people to receive the
crusade, and to go to the Holy Land to fight agamst the enemies of God. And as
a young man came with others for to receive the cross, a woman that loved him
letted him of his purpose, and drew him away from thence with her hands, and anon
her hands were made stiff and hard as a board, and also crooked. And then she
made great sorrow, and cried God mercy full meekly, and prayed Saint Edmund to
pray for her to our Lord, and he said to her: Woman, wilt thou take the cross?
And she said: Yea, sir, full fain, and then she received it and anon was made
perfectly whole, and she thanked God and Saint Edmund; and for this miracle
much the more people took the cross.
In a time as this holy
man preached at Oxenford in the churchyard of All Hallows, and much people
being there to hear him, suddenly the weather changed, and waxed all dark in
such wise that the people were aghast and afeard, and began fast to flee away
from the sermon. And this holy man said to the people: Abide ye still here, for
the power of God is stronger than the fiend’s power, for this he doeth for envy
to distrouble God’s words. And then Saint Edmund lift up his hands and his mind
to Almighty God, and besought him of his mercy and grace; and when he had ended
his orison and his prayer, the weather began to withdraw by that other side of
the churchyard, and all they that abode still and moved not, but heard the
preaching, had not one drop of rain, and they that went away from the preaching
were through wet, for there fell so much rain in the high street that men might
not go ne ride therein, wherefore the people thanked God and his holy saint for
this miracle. And at Winchester another time, as he preached, there was showed
a like miracle, for there he chased away such a dark weather by his holy
prayer. After, for his blessed living he was chosen to be a high canon of
Salisbury, and by the chapter was made common treasurer, where he lived full
blessedly in giving alms largely unto the poor people, insomuch that unnethe he kept anything for
himself, for which cause he went to the abbey of Stanley, and sojourned there
till his rents came in. And the abbot, named Master Stephen Lexington,was
sometime his scholar in Oxenford. He was a man of great abstinence, and ate so
little meat that men wondered whereby he lived. He ate but seldom flesh. From
Shrovetide till Easter he would eat nothing that suffered death, ne in Advent he ate never but Lent meat, and when the
archbishop of Canterbury was dead, he was elected and chosen by all the convent
to be their bishop, which election was sent to him by three messengers to
Salisbury.
But then he was at Calne,
which was a prebend of his, and was solitary in his chamber, alone in his
prayers, and one of his chaplains came to him and told to him that he was
chosen to be archbishop of Canterbury and that the messengers were come to him
for the same cause. But Saint Edmund was nothing glad of the tidings, and then
the messengers came and did their message and delivered to him letters which he
read and understood, and after, said to the messengers: I thank you of your
labour and good will, but I am nothing glad of these tidings; notwithstanding I
will go to Sahsbury and take counsel of my fellows in this matter. And anon as
he was come he laid tofore the whole chapter this matter and showed to them; his
letters, and all the chapter advised him to take it upon him. And he, always
excusing him, refused it to his power; but at last the bishop of Salisbury,
with the chapter, commanded him by virtue of obedience that he should take it
on him, and then he humbly, sore weeping, agreed to receive it. And forthwith
they led him to the high altar and sang devoutly: Te Deum laudamus, and all the
while this holy man wept full bitterly and shed many a tear, and prayed
devoutly to our Lord to have mercy on him, and besought our blessed Lady and
Saint John Evangelist to pray for him and to help him in his need. And then
after he was brought to Canterbury and there in time and space was consecrated,
and stalled into the see of the archbishop, and so ruled the church of England
that all men spake good of him. And he did great penance and gave great alms to
poor people.
And on a time a poor
tenant of his died, and the bailiff took his best beast for a mortuary, and
then the poor widow which had lost her husband, and also her best beast, came
to this holy man, Saint Edmund, and complained to him of her great poverty and
prayed him for the love of God that he would give her again her beast. And he
said: Ye know well that the chief lord must have the best beast, but if so be that
I deliver to thee again this beast, wilt thou keep him well to my behoof till I
ask him again another time ? To whom she said: Yea, sir, with a good will to
your pleasure, or else God defend, and pray for you also that ye vouchsafe to
do so much grace to me a poor wretch. And then he commanded his bailiff to
deliver it to her and she kept it after to her life’s end. This holy man was
merciful to poor people and full truly to his power maintained all the right of
holy church. And the devil, having ever envy on good works, set a debate
between the king and him, which was Henry III. son of king John, which desired
certain points against the liberties of holy church. But this good archbishop
withstood him to his power, and prayed the king to spare holy church for the
love of God, and maintain them as he was bounden and had promised. But the king
would not hear him, but expressly did certain things against the right of the
church and menaced greatly Saint Edmund. And when Saint Edmund saw the king so
cruel against the church he spake sharply unto the king, and at the last
executed the censures against them that vexed it, and cursed them that took
away the liberties of it. And when the king heard of this cursing he was
greatly moved against Saint Edmund, howbeit this holy man was firm and constant
in his holy purpose, which was ready to put his life in jeopardy for the right
of the church. And Saint Thomas of Canterbury appeared to him, and bade him to
maintain and hold the right of the church to his power, and rather to suffer
death than to lese any of the liberties and franchises of holy church, like as
he did. And after that Saint Edmund was more bold to abide and maintain the
liberties of the church. And he taking ensample of Saint Thomas, how he went
into France to the end that the king should be better disposed, and in likewise
did Saint Edmund, and went over sea, trusting to God that the king would better
be disposed and forsake his opinions; and was in the abbey of Pounteney in high
France six years, praying for the good state of the church of England and lived
there so holy and perfect a life that every man had joy of him. And in short
time after, he became sick and feeble, and his friends counselled him to remove
thence, and then he departed and went to a place called Soly, which is twenty
miles thence, but the monks of Pounteney made great sorrow for his departing.
But he comforted them and said: I promise you to be with you at Saint Edmund’s
day, king and martyr.
And as he came into Soly he waxed so sick that he knew well that he should
hastily depart out of this world, and then he desired to receive the sacraments
of the church, which, when he had received with great reverence, he passed out
of this life unto our Lord, full of virtues, in the year of our Lord twelve
hundred and forty. And from the town of Soly he was brought again to Pounteney
upon Saint Edmund’s day, king and martyr, and where he might not keep his
promise alive, he performed it when he was dead. And the monks of Pounteney
received him worshipfully and buried him solemnly, and afterwards, for the
great miracles that God showed for him there, his bones were taken up and laid
in a worshipful shrine tofore the high altar in the said abbey, where our Lord
hath showed many a fair miracle for his holy servant Saint Edmund. Then let us
devoutly pray to Almighty God that by the merits of this holy man Saint Edmund
he have mercy on us and pardon us our sins. Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-saint-edmund-bishop/
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Edmund of Canterbury
Saint
Edmund left his home at Abingdon, a boy of twelve years old, to study at
Oxford, and there protected himself against many grievous temptations by a vow
of chastity, and by espousing himself to Mary for life. He was soon called to
active public life, and as treasurer of the diocese of Salisbury showed such
charity to the poor that the dean said he was rather the treasure than the
treasurer of their church. In 1234 he was raised to the see of Canterbury,
where he fearlessly defended the rights of Church and State against the avarice
and greed of Henry III; but finding himself unable to force that monarch to
relinquish the livings which he kept vacant for the benefit of the royal
coffers, Edmund retired into exile sooner than appear to connive at so foul a
wrong. After two years spent in solitude and prayer, he went to his reward, and
the miracles wrought at his tomb at Pontigny were so numerous that he was
canonized in 1246, within four years of his death.
Reflection – The Saints
were tempted even more than ourselves; but they stood where we fall, because
they trusted to Mary, and not to themselves.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-edmund-of-canterbury/
Saint
Edmund of Canterbury, by Father William Le Grave
“Let, then, the Church of
Canterbury sing a canticle of Divine praise, because that she has been chosen
in these modern times to bring forth two such glorious patrons. The one wears
the purple robe of martyrdom, the other, the spotless white of the Christian
priesthood. Let the fertile fields of Kent rejoice with great gladness, that
from her threshing floor she has sent into God’s granary so pure a grain of
wheat as Edmund.”
The “modern times” here
spoken of are now to us the days of the far past, parted by six centuries from
the days in which we live; and the words above quoted are those of Pope
Innocent the Fourth, written in 1247, in the Bull that proclaimed to the Church
the canonization of Saint Edmund of Canterbury.
But, though the times
have changed, and what we are wont to call the ages of faith have passed by, we
shall find as we read the records of Saint Edmund’s life, that human nature was
much the same then as it is today. Perhaps we may be struck with some surprise
to find that men were struggling then for the same ends that they struggle for
now, and that they were perplexed with much the same questions that the
nineteenth century still asks, and finds no answer. In the record of this
saintly life, lived long ages ago, we may perhaps find, not only much to admire
and venerate, but something for our own guidance and imitation and comfort
today.
About a century after
that great turning-point in English history, the Norman Conquest, there lived,
in the quiet town of Abingdon, a married couple named Reginald and Elizabeth
Rich.
Their family numbered
four two sons and two daughters Edmund being the eldest. It is stated that the
father, with his wife’s consent, retired into a monastery, and in the earliest
records of his childhood we find our Saint under his mother’s exclusive care.
Mabel was no ordinary
mother. She was like the “valiant woman” of Holy Writ, therein declared to be
so hard to find, “whose worth is like that of things brought from afar” who
“has girded her loins with strength, and her arm with power, who holds out her
hand to the poor and for whose household the snows of winter will bring no
terrors.”
Her first and foremost
care was to fit and endow her children for Heaven. We find her, by example as
much as by word, training our young Saint to wage war with evil, to subdue his
passions during childhood by acts and habits of self-restraint and practices of
asceticism. And well he learned the lesson.
Some few incidents told
of his early years stand out like pictures before us, serving to show what
manner of child he was, and making us feel that, had he been taken from this
world in youth like Saint Aloysius or Saint Stanislaus Kostka, he would, like
them, have left behind him the aromatic odour of heavenly sweetness.
At the scriptural age of
twelve years, when the coming life and its responsibilities began to demand his
thoughts, we find him, with the approval of his confessor, devoting himself
body and soul to the service of God under the patronage of Our Lady. And this
is how he did it.
He was at school at
Oxford, some four or five miles from his birth place, and at the school which
he attended, near to the lecture halls, stood, and stands today, the Church of
Our Lady. To this church he went one day to pray, provided with two rings
exactly alike, and engraved with the words “Hail Mary.” Kneeling before the
image of his Queen, he made his vow of consecration to her service.
“To thee, O Virgin of
virgins,” he began, “most chaste Mother of my Lord, I vow, promise, and devote
my virginity. With this ring I pledge thee, I choose thee, and from my heart
adopt thee as my Queen and Spouse, so that from this day, I, a virgin, may
render to thee, a Virgin, a most seemly and pleasing homage.”
While so speaking, he
placed one of the rings on the finger of the image, and the other on his own.
For some time he continued to pray at the feet ot her whom he had chosen for
his only love, and, at the close of his prayer, in order to preserve the secret
of his sacrifice, he would have withdrawn the ring from the finger of the
image. But, try as he would he could not withdraw it, and he was obliged to
leave it where he had placed it, taking this as a sign that his offering had
been accepted, and his holy espousals ratified in Heaven.
Again we find him, while
still a schoolboy, wandering in the fields at Oxford, with his schoolfellows,
but retired a little apart from the rest of them; and there he was the beholder
of a heavenly vision. Before him stood a child of wonderful beauty, in whose features
blended, say the records, the tints of the lily and of the rose, and who hailed
the wondering Edmund with the winning salutation “Hail, well-loved one!” Too
surprised to utter words, the youthful Saint stood looking at the Child, till
the vision spoke again and asked: “Dost thou not know Me?” To the question
Edmund answered that he did not remember seeing him before.
“I wonder,” the Child
went on, “that you do not know Me, seeing, that I am your companion at school
and wherever you go. Look at My face and read what is written on My forehead.”
Then, looking, Edmund saw, written in no human hand- writing, “Jesus of
Nazareth.”
“I am He,” the Divine
Child continued, “for whose sake you so often afflict yourself, and from whose
generosity alone you expect to be rewarded. Persevere to the end, and all the
blessings your mother implores for you shall come to you a hundredfold.” Then,
signing Edmund on the forehead, the Child told him often to sign himself in the
same way with the Sacred Name in memory of Him, and then the vision
disappeared.
There are some
differences in the manner of relating this vision in the different records,
particularly as to the time of its occurrence. It would seem not improbable
that though this was the first time such a vision was vouchsafed to him, it was
not the last time he was honoured with a vision of the Divine Child. In later
life we learn from a certain Bertrand, who was his chamberlain and left a
record of his life, that it was Edmund’s constant habit to sign himself with the
Holy Name on his forehead, and that he taught him, Bertrand, to perform the
same pious practice, especially before closing his eyes to sleep, promising a
special protection from Heaven if he would do so.
At length the day came
for him to quit not only his mother’s roof and his mother’s care, but his
native land as well. The parting scene between mother and sons, for Edmund’s
brother Richard was to go with him, is carefully recorded for us, and is one of
those pictures that vividly portray for us not only that saintly family of the
old Berkshire town, but the character of the times in which they lived.
Paris was then the most
celebrated school in Europe, the goal of all scholars who wished to climb the
higher branches of the tree of knowledge. From every nation crowds of youths
flocked thither, the poor going in as great numbers as the rich, making their
way to this centre of the world’s culture as best they might, living by the
charity of those by whose doors their journey led them.
Edmund and his brother
Richard were called to their mother for their parting advice and blessing, and,
as they hoped and expected, for the money to defray their journey. For this
they held out their hands, and when the sum lay upon Edmund’s palm, both
brothers looked at it for a while, and then at each other, in blank dismay, for
the sum was wholly inadequate for the purpose. The mother saw their
bewilderment for which, probably, she was not unprepared. The words she spoke
seem to have reassured them, and that they did so shows the character of mother
and sons.
“What good has been all
my care of you?” she said; “I am ashamed of your cowardice: where is your trust
in God? I look upon every one as a coward who has not banished from his heart
all earthly fear. But I will tell you what I will give you over and above this
money. I will provide you with two hair shirts, and, if you promise me that you
will wear them twice a week, I will promise you, on my part, that God will not
leave you in want of the necessaries of life.”
So with their hair
shirts, a few pence, and their mother’s blessing they took their departure for
a foreign land. How they fared on the road there is left us no record to tell,
but, who that saw Edmund land upon the shores of France, penniless, or nearly
so, would have dreamed that the boy was destined one day to hold the highest
rank, next to the king’s, in his native land? Still less would he have dreamed
that, having reached that rank, with the highest honours of Church and State
upon him, he would once again land upon those shores of France as homeless and
as desolate as even then he landed in his boyhood. Yet, this was the destiny in
store for him.
We have already said that
the times in which our Saint lived in many ways curiously resembled our own. In
spite of its being the age of great faith, the minds of men were filled with a
spirit of unrest, and the questions of science, as science was then understood,
were debated with a vigour and a zest akin to the keenness with which this
century discusses them. There were those who discussed about free-will, the
immortality of the soul, and about the existence of God with somewhat perilous
freedom and heat. The newly-founded Dominican Order was raised up by God to
control, by a happy blending of science and piety, the too rash speculations of
independent thinkers. But men were craving for knowledge in every land, and the
title of scholar commanded respect in spite of poverty, or meanness of origin.
Then, as now, the Pope was harassed by rebellions and the robber)- of his rightful
possessions, and bound down by constant dread of the attacks of his enemies,
the Emperor Frederick affording a parallel to the King Victor Emmanuel of our
century.
A mediaeval University
was no doubt a very different thing from the modern centres of culture in art
and science that we call by the same name. Yet even today we may find a sort of
survival of the old state of things lingering in what is called the “Quartier
Latin” in Paris. It is the students’ quarter of the city, where those preparing
for professional careers still congregate, and woe to any who interfere with
the traditional privileges of their neighbourhood! Any such attempt leads to
disturbances of the public peace, not so important as in olden days, but
keeping alive the memory of a time when students flocked together to that city
from all parts of Europe. They were perilous places both for soul and body,
those centres of intellectual activity of Saint Edmund’s day, where thousands
of boys, left almost to their own discretion out of school hours, lived and
learned as best they might, unrestrained by the decorum of home or college.
Through this fiery ordeal
to will and intellect, to faith and morals, Edmund had to pass: and he went
through it unscathed. Prayer and penance were the tonics he used to strengthen
himself in the fight with evil, and on the few incidents recorded of his life
at this period, none throw a more suggestive light than the gifts sent him by
his mother. What was the kind of gift to her absent son that mother’s love suggested?
A hair shirt. The fact of her sending it would indicate that she at least
thought he would use it, and shows more plainly than words the character of
mother and son.
In the midst of a career
of dazzling success, he was called away home to close that mother’s eyes, and
do the last sad offices in her behalf. Of the last interview between them a
record has been left, telling us how he knelt for her blessing, and how, having
received it, he begged her also to bless in like manner his brother and his sister.
But she, with seemingly prophetic instinct, told him that in blessing him she
had blessed them, and to his especial care she committed the guardianship of
his two sisters. “They have both,” she said, “made a vow of their virginity to
God, see them safely housed in some haven of peace where the world and its
dangers may not come nigh them. In such and such a spot you will find a sum of
money wherewith to pay the usual dowry in a monastery, so your task will not be
a very hard one.”
Then, having thus disposed
of all worldly anxieties, if indeed this last anxiety of hers can be called
worldly, she looked no more on earth or children, but with eyes uplifted to
Heaven prayed to Him who shortly took her to Himself.
But, strangely, the
mother’s careful provision for her daughters did not lighten the task if her
son. To pay money before admission to a convent seemed in his eyes to savour of
simony. True, it was that a custom had grown up by degrees, and at last had
come to be tolerated, that in view of the poverty of a religious community, it
might receive with a new member something wherewith to provide for her
maintenance. But the custom did not seem tolerable to Edmund’s sensitive
conscience. He was bent upon finding some home willing to receive his sisters
without any money consideration, and we are told that the search for such a
house was long and difficult. A Benedictine monastery at Catesby, in
Northamptonshire, had the honour of ending his search, for there he at last
found a superioress willing to receive his charges without any stipulation as
to dowry. There he accordingly left them, and, having carefully fulfilled a
brother’s part, he went back once more to Paris to continue his studies.
His degree taken with the
highest honours, it was the universal practice in those days that he should
make practical use of his title of master, and take upon himself the function
of teaching. Of his career in the office of professor at Paris we know but
little. This much we know, that it was his custom to go to Matins at midnight
and spend the remainder of the night at prayer in the Church of Saint Merri,
before the altar of the Mother of God. How long he remained teaching in Paris
is also uncertain, but, his fame having reached his native land, he was
probably pressed to accept the same office in Oxford, where we next find him
lecturing.
His advent to that
reverend city of letters was an epoch-marking event. Many no doubt had studied
and taught there with success and fame, and great was its renown when he went
there. But he went not merely as a ripe scholar to undertake an ordinary office
extraordinarily well, nor merely as a master from the then centre of the world
of letters to infuse new life and spirit into Oxford. He was destined to make
his mark there as the founder of a new curriculum, an altogether new course of
studies, by the introduction of Aristotle and the scholastic method. His
influence has not passed away completely to the present day. It is said that he
was the first at that University who held the title of Master of Arts, and that
his contagious enthusiasm for learning changed into a noble thirst for
knowledge the previous mercenary desire of knowledge merely for its market
value; so that subjects hitherto neglected because they were not lucrative were
now taken up for pure love of wisdom. The arts and sciences, such as law, civil
and canonical, had hitherto been cultivated at the expense of other branches,
simply because to know them was a ready means to obtain a livelihood. But our
Saint, by the enthusiasm of his lectures, and still more by a noble example of
disinterestedness, changed this spirit of studying for lucre into a zeal for
knowledge itself. We read, for example, how, when his pupils would bring him
the customary stipend for tuition, he would carry it to the sill of his window
and smilingly sprinkle over it a little dust, saying “ashes to ashes, and dust
to dust,” and so leave the coins to the mercy of some passer-by. This was a
very practical way of showing how little he cared for the emoluments of
learning compared with learning itself, and thus he brought about a change in
the spirit of the schools which words alone would scarcely have wrought.
It would seem that he
remained at this work for some six years, gaining in that time a wide
reputation for learning and sanctity, and then God called him to still higher
things.
One night he had drawn
some mathematical figures and was intent upon solving by their aid some
mathematical problem. While so engaged, his mother appeared to him in a vision.
“What my son,” she asked, “are you doing with those figures on which you look
with such absorbing interest?” He replied that it was his work, and explained
to her the nature of his studies. Taking his hand; his mother drew thereon
three circles in which she wrote the names of the three Divine Persons, saying:
“These, my dearest son, are the only figures to which you must from this time
forth devote yourself.”
Regarding this as an
intimation of the Divine Will, Edmund resolved to begin a course of theology,
which he had not yet studied, and he soon found in the highest of sciences a
pursuit even more fascinating and absorbing than those to which he had hitherto
devoted himself.
But, while we must
recognize that theology was a higher and holier study than the science of
figures and numbers, on which he had up to this been engaged, we cannot help
reflecting how well and worthily he must have worked at those secular sciences
to deserve from Heaven the light of a vision inviting him to other nobler
studies. In his humility he had chosen a low place in the house of his Master,
and that Master had sweetly invited him, “Friend, go up higher.” Happy are they
who so use earthly things as to win thereby eternal!
There are good reasons
for supposing that, after his mind was made up to go forward to the priesthood,
Saint Edmund left Oxford and went back once more to Paris to enter on his
theological studies, and that he stayed there for this purpose some three or
four years. Where and when he was ordained no one has told us; but we are told
that his humility still made him fear the final step to the attar, and that he
only took that step under compulsion.
After ordination he went
to a convent of Augustinians at Merton, where he spent a year in retirement and
prayer, going through all the religious exercises of the community as if he had
been one of themselves, and edifying all by the earnestness of his devotion.
Then he returned to Oxford and began lecturing on theology. If he had
previously led his pupils to heavenly thoughts, as we are told he did, by means
of the science of numbers and the subtleties of logic, how much more must he
have led the minds of his hearers heavenwards when the science of theology was
his theme!
The author of
the Following of Christ says: “I would rather feel contrition than
know its definition,” for undoubtedly, the technical enquiry into the things
even of Heaven may have a tendency sometimes to drain dry the well of devotion.
But Saint Edmund was quite aware of this lurking danger, and was well upon his
guard against it. So from time to time he would withdraw from the circle of his
students, and his professor’s chair, and go forth to labour in a different part
of his Master’s vineyard, among the poor and the ignorant. Accepting for the
time being some benefice or post in a country district, where he might do his
work far removed from the praise of men, and free from all risks of vanity, he
would exercise his priestly office to the untold good of those among whom he
laboured, as well as to his own sanctification.
But while he filled the
master’s chair, there was little danger of any of his disciples losing the
substance of virtue and devotion in the pursuit of their shadow their
definitions. On one occasion while he was lecturing, we read how a certain abbot
came in and listened till the lecture was ended. Then as he was about to go, no
less than seven of the auditors went up to him and begged to be admitted as
postulants for his community. During the lecture they had felt themselves
called to a religious life by the words the Saint had spoken, and the coming in
of the abbot had seemed to them an intimation of the Divine Will in their
regard, giving them an opportunity of carrying out their holy impulse. They had
evidently learnt from their master not only how to define contrition but also
to feel it.
It was not likely that
one so famous for piety as well as learning should not be marked out by his
superiors for a still higher position than that of theological lecturer. His
services were needed in a yet wider sphere of activity. We next find him Canon
and treasurer at Salisbury. Somewhat oddly, the name of the Bishop of Salisbury
at that time was Poor, while Saint Edmund’s family name was Rich. In their
worldly possessions their names were exactly reversed, for while the Bishop had
abundant wealth, his treasurer seems always to have been in money troubles and
debts, for to manage money or keep it was utterly beyond him. The needy, and
the beauty of God’s altars, seem to have emptied his purse as soon as filled, however
ample his sources of income might be. We know that, though during his residence
at Salisbury his income was large, he managed to get through it each year long
before the year’s end, and generally to run into considerable debt beside.
As treasurer, it was his
place to find all the requisites for Divine service in the Cathedral, and the
munificence with which he did this long remained an honourable tradition in the
city. He was one who “loved the beauty of God’s House and the place where His
glory dwelleth,” and the tradition lingered long after him that things ought to
be carried out as carefully and as generously in the Cathedral as in the days
when “Master” Edmund was treasurer. In his time the splendid edifice was hardly
complete, and the canons had voted a quarter of their stipends for a certain
number of years that it might be finished and paid for; so that with the duties
of his office and the unfinished state of the Cathedral, Edmund had abundant
opportunity, in which he delighted, of spending and being spent in the service
of his Heavenly Master.
At this time all Europe
was filled with consternation at the progress of Mahometanism. The Holy Land
was in the hands of the infidel, the abomination of desolation was standing in
the Holy Place, and all Christendom was alive to the disgrace of this. Popes
and Bishops and kings were eager that something should be done to remove the
danger and disgrace, and Gregory took up the cause of Faith and ordered the
preaching of a crusade throughout the world. Among those selected for this
office in England was our Saint, who received the Papal commission to preach it
in a district stretching from Somerset to Oxford. Owing to many causes this
Crusade did not prove the success hoped; but it is said that some fifty thousand
persons were so moved by Edmund’s preaching that they joined the standard of
the Cross. The power of his words was reinforced by the power of miracles which
he wrought as he went on his errand from place to place. On several occasions
we read how the winds and the storms obeyed his voice, sparing his gathered
audience in the fields, though flooding the country immediately round them.
Another of the miracles
with which his words were confirmed, like those of the Apostles, “by the signs
that followed,” was one worked in the case of a young woman miraculously struck
with paralysis while he was preaching, and then cured by his prayers. The Saint
was exhorting his hearers to take the cross. This meant devoting one’s self
with heart and soul to the cause of faith, to join the battle against unbelief
according to one’s circumstances and position. The preaching of the crusade was
addressed not only to men capable of taking up arms and going to the Holy Land
in the cause, it was addressed to all. Those who could not do this, pledged
themselves to help according to their power by prayer, fasting, and alms-deeds.
For was it not a punishment for the sins of Christians that the holy city of
Jerusalem should be thus robbed from them, and that the victorious Turk should
be threatening to overrun Christendom? So the first step to change this sad
state of things was clearly to go to the root of the evil, and purify the
Christian world by the works of penance. In this work, woman as well as man,
young and old, weak and strong, were invited to take their part.
Those who pledged
themselves to the holy cause took into their hands, or wore, the sign of our
Redemption. While Edmund was preaching, a young man held out his hand to take
the cross, and a young woman by his side plucked at his cloak to hinder him
from his purpose. Her hand was paralysed in the act. Her cries of alarm
attracted the attention of the crowd and of the Saint. Fear was in her case the
beginning of wisdom. She bewailed her selfishness in striving to hinder the
spiritual good of her neighbour, and to Edmund’s question whether she herself
would now be willing to take the cross, she answered that she would. The very
promise brought back the lost power to her arm, and the event produced a
powerful impression on those that witnessed it.
The great variety of
Saint Edmund’s occupations during his priesthood may perhaps surprise us when
we think how true is the saying in the Following of Christ “Qui multo
peregrinantur raro sanctificantur” “they who wander much about, seldom arrive
at perfection.” But, true as the rule generally is, we find a conspicuous
exception here. The great majority of saints have won their crown engaged in
some special kind of work in their Master’s service, and Saint Edmund is found
sometimes teaching, sometimes in the retirement of cloisters, sometimes
working, as we should now say, “on the mission.” Yet the exception is more
apparent than real. In all this diversity of occupations we may detect the one
underlying speciality of his vocation. He was always and everywhere a teacher.
He was this from first to last, and his lessons bore rich fruit. He taught not
only when multitudes flocked to listen to his words, or when he charmed his
hearers by his sermons. It was the example of his life that taught more
eloquently than words. As lecturer in science and art at Oxford, he educated
and trained those who would be able worthily to take his place, and then his
task at Oxford was finished.
He went to Salisbury, and
there, in the spirit of Saint Osmund, who had won his crown as bishop of that
see, he so contrived the decorous and majestic celebration of the sacred
services, that for long afterwards his rules and practice were the standard
held up for imitation. When he had taught this lesson, and instilled his spirit
into others, his work here was accomplished.
Later on, he was called,
like Saint John, to preach the baptism of penance for the extirpation of sin,
to combat like him the vice of hypocrisy in those who, professing the Christian
name, denied it by the manner of their lives. Like Saint John, he urged and
reinforced his words with the example of his own austerity, wearing like him
rough raiment, and living on food little better than locusts and wild honey. We
may perhaps find a still closer parallel between Saint John and our Saint. Both
had their years of silent preparation for their work, and both preached not
only to the multitude, but stood up manfully before a king, and spoke when fear
kept others silent, and said, “It is unlawful for thee to do this.” Sometimes
he taught one lesson, sometimes another, but he was always teaching.
Father Wilfrid Wallace
has made a beautiful comparison between the course of Saint Edmund’s life and
that of the river Thames, by whose margin he was born, and by whose banks at
Westminster so many of his later labours were undergone.
“Past the little town
Abingdon,” he writes, “flows the placid Thames. Its unimpeded current meanders
smoothly between pleasant pastures tenanted by lowing herds, dotted here and
there with peaceful homesteads; its banks are fringed at times with poplars and
willows and waving rushes. Its clear sparkling waters know of no commotion,
save the ripple caused by the passing breeze, or the rising of the finny tribe
to catch the fleeting prey. But let us follow the silver Thames some fifty
miles, and what shall we see? It is now a majestic river swollen with scores of
tributaries: it pours a mighty flood past populous cities and the vast capital
of the empire. Its banks are now lined with colossal structures destined to
carry on the trade and commerce of that empire; it bears on its ample breast
argosies freighted with the wealth of nations. Its course is no longer smooth
and unimpeded, for it has to encounter the still more mighty reflex of the imperious
ocean, to which it has to yield as it is borne back upon itself. Its waters are
no longer clear and sparkling, for they are charged with the off-scourings of
millions.”
Do we not see in all this
an apt representation of the fortunes of our Saint?
“Cradled in the quiet
town of Abingdon, his life had been spent in studious retirement, and devout
contemplation; and now, after fifty years thus spent, he is all at once plunged
into the vortex of tumultuous politics. He is charged with the spiritual destinies
of a whole nation; he is placed at the head of those venerable churches, whose
prelates, as his suffragans, are, as it were, tributaries to his greatness. But
he is no longer able to pursue the calm and serene tenor of his former life; he
has to encounter the overbearing power of the crown, the fierce resistance of
the barons, bent on the gratification of their ignoble pleasures; he has to
bear in his bosom the sins of the people. No wonder, then, if he is borne back
upon himself, if he goes to lay his weary head and broken heart in the the
peaceful cloisters of Pontigny.” (Life of Saint Edmund, chapter 10)
From the peaceful home at
Abingdon we have traced him through a career of growing fame for learning and
for holiness, and now we must follow him in the final stage of his earthly
pilgrimage as bishop of the Metropolitan See of Canterbury.
The days were wild and
stormy in England as elsewhere. Ever since the Norman Conquest, some hundred
and fifty years before, gave the land of England to a stranger, she had been
harassed and impoverished by war after war. For nearly a century the conquering
race had looked down upon the conquered with scorn. Its language and manners
were regarded as barbarian. But, in course of time, it came to pass that the
Norman race began to change their notions. The Anglo-Saxon spirit of freedom
made itself respected, admired, and at last imitated, till by the end of a
century after the Conquest the conquerors made it, as Mr. Freeman tells us,
their proudest boast that they were Englishmen. Then they too began to claim
that liberty and security for life and property that had been the proud boast
of the Anglo-Saxons, and were summed up in the “Laws of good King Edward.”
For freedom and justice,
both spiritual and temporal, barons and bishops had stood together in the reign
of King John. The Great Charter, the charter of our liberties today, was the
result of their combination. But though the Charter had been signed, its
privileges were not yet secure; evasion after evasion on the part of kings long
kept the kingdom in a state of distraction. The Norman kings, with a view to
gain support against their discontented subjects, were prone to invite foreign
nobles to their courts, and foreign ecclesiastics to fill the English
bishoprics. Hence jealousy of the foreigner rose to a great height and kindled
general dissatisfaction. The English nobles were clamouring for greater power
in the councils of the king, the Church for greater freedom in the election of
bishops. It was not only that kings wanted to control the election of bishops
so as to have the election practically in their own hands, but they wished to
delay the election at will, so as to enjoy as long as they dared the revenues
of the vacant see. This was the real root of centuries of trouble.
In the time of William
Rufus the conflict may be said to have begun. On the death of Archbishop
Lanfranc the see of Canterbury lay vacant till a fit of illness frightened the
king and made him hastily consent to the election of Saint Anselm. But no
sooner did he recover than he found himself face to face with an opponent
“whose meek and loving temper rose into firmness and grandeur when it
confronted the tyranny of the king,” as Mr. Green says in his Short History of
the English People.
As an indication of the
state of things against which he fought, we read that at the death of this
king, William Rufus, there were vacant one archbishopric, four bishoprics and
eleven abbacies.
There were many points of
similarity between Saint Anselm and Saint Edmund. Both were world-famed
students and teachers. Both were summoned from their books and retirement all
of a sudden to hold the same archiepiscopal see. Both waged the same contest
against kings, both retired into voluntary exile, to fight by prayer and penance
the battle that it seemed hopeless to wage with other weapons.
The fight for the
self-same cause, the liberty of religion, and the freedom of episcopal
election, was again fought after Saint Anselm’s day by Saint Thomas. He too
fled from the hopeless struggle, and, though he consented to return, it was
only to find the martyr’s crown awaiting him.
The election to the see
of Canterbury was by right a privilege of the Benedictine Chapter of that city,
but they were only able to exercise that privilege with the previous consent of
the king.
In 1231, the see being
vacant, the Chapter elected Ralph Neville, Bishop of Chichester. The election
was set aside by the Holy See. Henry the Third, who was then King of England,
seems to have taken the Pope’s decision in bad part; however, a second election
was made, but again the Holy See set the choice aside on account of the age of
the bishop-elect. A third election met with the same fate.
The Pope now took the
election into his own hands, and, after due enquiries from the bishops of
England and others, he nominated Saint Edmund. The Chapter expressed themselves
perfectly satisfied with the Pope’s choice, and elected Saint Edmund
unanimously as their own candidate.
Great was the Saint’s
surprise, and deep was his reluctance to accept the dignity. When some monks
came from Canterbury to Salisbury to tell him the honour which had been done
him, he simply did not believe it possible; and when his attendant came to his
room to announce the visitors and their errand, he called him a simpleton for
dreaming of such a thing. But when the monks on their knees implored him hot to
refuse their prayer, and when his fellow canons added their entreaties, and
urged that the peace and religion of the nation would be endangered by his
refusal, the responsibility of refusing seemed as great as the responsibility
of accepting the dignity, and he accepted the mitre in these words: “He that
knows all things knows that I would never consent to this election unless I
thought that I should sin mortally by refusing it.”
He had now embarked on a
stormy sea. Before his very consecration, as bishop-elect, he was compelled to
attend a parliament to present a remonstrance to the King! A stern and sad duty
must this have been to one so full of gentle kindness a gloomy foreboding of
what fate had in store for him.
A slight truce followed
after this, while the Saint was preparing for consecration. At this ceremony
the King himself was present, with nearly all the bishops of England, and some
from Ireland.
Henry was a strange
mixture of weakness and obstinacy, of piety and covetousness. He is said to
have heard three High Masses every day. He seems to have written to Saint Louis
of France, his contemporary, on spiritual subjects, for Saint Louis was of opinion,
as he wrote in a letter, that Henry might profit more by hearing more sermons
and fewer Masses; to which Henry replied , that he preferred seeing his friend
to hearing him spoken of. All the same, a little solid instruction on his
duties to God and man might not have been superfluous.
In the beginning, it must
be admitted, the King seems to have listened to the voice of his new Archbishop
with surprising respect and gentleness: surprising, because, as we have seen,
the Saint’s first official act was to present, in common with the other peers,
a strong remonstrance against his conduct of affairs. This was before Edmund’s
consecration, and within a week of that solemn function, he was again at the
head of the prelates and barons for the same purpose. Nay, on this occasion he
felt it his duty even to threaten the King with excommunication unless he did
justice to his people. Yet soon afterwards we read of his begging the King’s
mercy for an outlawed nobleman with such success, that the monarch with a smile
said to him: “How well you know how to pray! Pray like that to God for me, and
I make no doubt, as God is more merciful than I, that He will graciously hear
you. I grant your petition.” Nothing could show better the tact and gentleness
of the Saint, or the mixed character of the King, than this scene.
Of Saint Edmund’s private
life as a bishop, what need be said? He led the life that every saint has led,
a life of humility, penance and prayer. It is recorded of him, as a wonder,
that he went about his province personally; never delegating the duty to
others; that he dispensed as far as it was possible, with the services of
attendants, performing for himself many offices that his rank entitled him to
expect from the willing and eager hands of others, and that he would readily
alight from his horse, when going a journey, to hear the confessions of such as
wished to make them to him. ‘ At any hour of the day or night he would put
himself at the disposal of the weak, the poor and sorrowful.
By the law of the land he
was entitled to what were called “heriots.” That means that, on the death of
the head of a family living on his episcopal estate, he was allowed to choose
the best beast on the farm. This law he looked on as cruel and unjust, but
still it was the law, and while it was so, he did not see his way to treat it
with contempt. So, when a poor widow would come to beg for relief, from this
custom he managed to get over the difficulty in a way of his own. He would
select the beast and then return it to her on loan, saying, ” I will lend you
the animal until I want it, if you will promise to take good care of it for
me.” As repayment of the loan was seldom demanded, the law was upheld, and the
poor were satisfied.
Not long after his
consecration, he was called on to solemnize the King’s marriage with Eleanor of
Provence. The ceremony took place with all splendour and pomp in Westminster
Abbey. Instead of cementing the union between King and prelate, this event
seems to have been the beginning of an enduring estrangement. The new Queen
brought with her a number of foreigners who sought and found advancement at the
English Court. Hence the old standing grievance, of the King’s partiality for
strangers, which he had over and over again promised to redress, came with fresh
force between him and his subjects, and from the date of his marriage, it was
observed that the monarch looked at the Archbishop in the light of an opponent.
The year of the marriage
did not pass away without repeated protests by parliament against the exclusive
promotion of foreigners. During his minority, Henry had granted a charter
redressing many grievances. Now, he found it inconvenient to keep his word, and
resolved to break it. He wrote to the Pope on the subject, and asked his advice
in such a way as to secure the answer he desired. He explained to the Pope that
at his coronation he had sworn to maintain the rights of the crown, that in his
youth he had signed a charter violating those rights, that he felt scrupulous
on the point, and what ought he to do? The Pope wrote back as the King had
hoped, and naturally told him he ought to keep his coronation oath. So Henry
revoked the charter. This naturally raised a storm.
At the same time he began
the old conflict with the Church, for whose liberties Saint Thomas had died.
Appeals from all sides went to Rome, with the result that the puzzled Pope sent
a Legate to England.
This was exactly what the
King had wished and asked. He knew the Pope to be in dire straits, and hoped he
would side with him rather than add another to the list of his foes in the King
of England. He resolved to play the Legate against the Archbishop, and his
scheme, in great measure succeeded. From the hour of the Legate’s arrival, all
the Saint’s efforts to restore order and peace in his province were frustrated
by constant appeals against his decisions.
The Legate saw the evils
that existed, but he was in a delicate position; his instructions were to
conciliate the King as far as might be; and he probably feared that too violent
a rooting out of the cockle might mean the rooting out of much good wheat as
well.
Saint Edmund fretted at
the sight of so many evils he was powerless to attack. All his efforts to
procure justice from the King for his flock were vain. The reform of abuses was
delayed by interminable law suits and appeals which, even when he gained his
cause, left him impoverished; he found himself with the highest ecclesiastical
rank in the kingdom, but in all except the title a mere cypher.
Broken down in health,
the revenues of his see almost bankrupt, all the reforms of his province, on
which he had set his heart, bitterly opposed by powerful obstruction, many of
his own children siding with the stronger side, he felt that all hope of
stemming the tide was gone. How desperate the state of affairs was, may be
gathered from the words of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the King’s brother,
spoken at a Synod held at Reading. The Earl had made up his mind to join the
Crusade, and had come to take leave of the assembled bishops. They begged him
not to leave the country while in such a pitiable state. Richard, addressing
the Archbishop, said: “My father and Lord, even if I had not taken the cross, I
should still have to leave the country, when I see the desolation to which it
is brought; especially as many seem to share your opinion, and think that I
might do something, whereas I can do nothing.”
In this state of
desolation, the Archbishop’s thoughts would naturally turn back to those who
had preceded him in the See, and who had fought the same battle. Anselm and
Thomas, brave as they were, and Saints as they were, had fled. Could he do
better than follow their example?
But all doubt and
hesitation were ended by a guiding voice from Heaven as he prayed for light.
“Trust what is written round the edge of thy seal, and follow the example of
him whose likeness is there engraved.” The seal bore the words “Let my death
teach Edmund not to fear” and the engraving was the death of Saint Thomas.
It is also related that
Saint Thomas afterwards appeared to him and exhorted him to be brave. Edmund
would have kissed the martyr’s feet, but he prevented him, saying: “Nay, but
the time approaches when you shall kiss me on the face.” Yet another vision is
recorded in which Saint Thomas showed him the wounds in his head, and made him
lay his hand on them. Thus encouraged, Edmund henceforth made his Master’s
prayer continually his own: “Father, not my will, but Thine be done.” He would
also often repeat the words of Job: “As it hath pleased the Lord, so be it done
to me: blessed be the name of the Lord!”
When he felt that the
time had come, he bethought him of the cloisters of Pontigny, which had
sheltered Saint Thomas in like straits, and once more crossed over to that
land, to which he had gone forth as a boy from his mother’s roof, scarcely
poorer then than now, and trusting now, as then, only to Heaven for strength
and help.
The King of France was
then a boy, under the guardianship of his mother, Blanche, but he was destined
to live in history, sacred and profane, as France’s greatest king, as Saint
Louis of France. Both he and his mother came to welcome the Saint to their
shores, and offered him the hospitality of the court. But of courts, Edmund had
had enough; the heavenly courts were the only ones for which he longed, and the
peace of a cloister was the haven of rest, for to gain which, he had fled from
the archiepiscopal throne.
The Cistercian monks
received him at Pontigny with all the honour and reverence due to his dignity.
Here he went about, exercising among the poor the office of a good shepherd,
preaching and hearing confessions, and healing not only their spiritual, but
even their bodily ailments.
But the end was not far
off. Austerity and anxiety had wrecked his frame, and the physician ordered a change
of air. So he set out for Soisy, a town some sixty miles away. The good monks,
who had learned to love him deeply by this time, were heart-broken at his
going. “Why, O father, do you leave us?” they cried; “who will take care of us
while you are away? Surely some sin of ours has merited this loss!” Almost in
these words spoke the disciples of the great Saint Martin, in reply to which he
turned to God and prayed thus: “Lord, if I am still necessary to this flock, I
do not refuse the burden of life.” Saint Edmund prophetically promised to
return to them on the feast of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr, which he did, but
not as they hoped. His body was brought back to them on that day to be the
treasure of their house for centuries. “Precious in the sight of God is the
death of His Saints,” and precious are the last words and acts of their life to
those who reverence them, trifling though they may seem.
We are told that when he
found the end was near, he begged that his hair-shirt might be destroyed so as
to conceal his penance, but that all efforts to destroy it were vain. During
his mortal sickness he never rested on a bed. Once they brought him some
delicacy, but he put it by, saying, “Such like things have seldom passed my
lips.” Before receiving the Holy Viaticum he exclaimed: “Thou, O Lord, art my
portion, whom I have loved, whom I have preached and taught. Thou art my
witness that I have sought nothing on earth but Thee alone.”
After Extreme Unction, he
washed the crucifix in wine and water, and drinking the liquid he said: “Thou
shalt draw water with joy out of the Saviour’s fountains,” and after that he
never drank again. His last words were spoken at dawn on November 16th, 1240,
and were the words of the Psalmist: “Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit.” According to his last request, his body was at once removed to
Pontigny for burial. The cortege, we read, was more like a triumphal procession
than a funeral. The roadway became blocked by the throngs anxious to touch the
body, and as the sick, in many cases recovered their health by doing so, the
block became daily greater. A curious incident is told which pictures the state
of things during this memorable funeral better than words. The Abbot of
Pontigny came to meet the procession. When he saw the throngs he began to fear
that the sacred remains would never be got to his monastery, so he addressed
the body of the Saint as if he were still living. “My good Father,” he said,
“as a brother of my community, you owe me obedience. I speak to you with confidence.
I am your abbot, and you are my monk. I beg of you not to work any more
miracles till you reach your final resting- place.” The record does not say
whether the miracles then ceased, but the incident shows the estimation in
which the Saint was held.
On the feast of Saint
Edmund, King and Martyr, the other Edmund’s promise was fulfilled. He came back
to Pontigny, where his holy body still remains. Thereby another Saint’s promise
was kept, for Saint Thomas, when leaving their house, having no means to repay
their generous hospitality, had promised that one of his successors would one
day repay his debt. The repayment was amply made when Edmund gave his relics to
be the glory and the light of their house.
“His tomb was glorious,”
and of those who had most bitterly opposed him in life, not a few came to pay
homage at his grave, among them the King of England. Prelates of many lands
began to petition for his canonization, and on the third Sunday of Advent,
1246, only a few years after his death, his name was placed by the Church on
the roll of her canonized Saints.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-of-canterbury-by-father-william-le-grave/
St Edmund of Abingdon
Feast day 16 November
Born around 1175, Edmund
was the eldest son of the merchant, Reginald Rich, a pious man who later in
life became a monk. Edmund followed in his father's footsteps and was noted
also as being most devout all his life.
He was educated in
grammar at Oxford University and then took an Arts course in Paris. Returning
to Oxford in 1195 he taught the new logic in the Arts faculty until 1201 when
he went back to Paris to study theology, it was probably during this time in
France that he wrote his "Moralities on the Psalms".
After a year in Paris,
Edmund again returned to England and spent some time with the Austin Canons at
Merton in Surrey. In 1214 he incepted in theology at Oxford. A pioneer of
Scholasticism, he gave great importance both to the literal sense and
historical context of the Bible, as well as to its spiritual sense, which was
the vehicle for his theological thoughts and teaching. Then in 1222 his life
took a different turn when he became Treasurer of Salisbury and although he
continued lecturing in the cathedral school his real work was the
administrative duties of the building of the great church that was to become
the new Salisbury Cathedral.
Edmund was also noted as
being a most generous almsgiver. Often exhausted, Edmund would sometimes retire
to the Cistercian monastery at Stanley, in Wiltshire, where the abbot, Stephen
of Lexington, was a former pupil of his.
Although Edmund disliked
administration and found politics distasteful, in 1233 after three elections
had been quashed, the Pope appointed him archbishop of Canterbury, despite his
personal feelings Edmond became a notable and effective reformer.
For his household he
chose a most able and outstanding group of men, including Richard, later of
Chichester. He claimed and exercised metropolitan rights of visitation, this
was often challenged and he had to resort to litigation to maintain his
authority, not the least with his own monastic chapter at Canterbury.
His dealings with
Cardinal Otto, the papal legate were reported to be somewhat stormy, it seems
they were friendlier than is often supposed. Edmund resisted royal interference
and mismanagement and grew in power and prestige, during the period 1234-6, mediating
between king and barons, he united the Church in England into political action
and averted a civil war.
Although Edmund resisted
some papal appointments to English benefices it did not stop him seeking the
pope's help in his disputes with the king. It was on his way to see the pope
that he died at Soissy on 19th November 1240. He was buried at the Cistercian
abbey at Pontigny, his favourite order.
His body was never
translated to Canterbury, because the Black Benedictine community there resented
what they regarded as Edmund's attacks on their independence. Edmund was
canonised in 1246, at the first celebration of his feast, Henry III offered a
chalice, a white samite vestment and 20 marks for candles at his shrine.
At Salisbury a collegiate
church and an alter in the cathedral were named after him, while through the
Sarum calendar his cult became well known, particularly in Abingdon, his
birthplace and Catesby, in Northants, where his sisters, Margaret and Alice
were nuns. He is also remembered at Oxford University where St. Edmund Hall
takes its name from him.
John Hayward.
SOURCE : http://www.wilfrid.com/saints/edmund_abingdon.htm
A Short Life of St Edmund
of Abingdon
Feast Day: 20 November
Edmund was born at
Abingdon, near Oxford, about 1175, and was known during his lifetime as Edmund
of Abingdon His father, Reginald, seems to have been a sufficiently well-to-do
tradesman for his fellow townsmen to have given him the surname 'Rich'. (St
Edmund of Abingdon is still mistakenly called St Edmund Rich. For forty years
Doctor A. B. Emden has been trying to dislodge this misnomer It owes its origin
to Anthony Wood, the Oxford antiquary, who wrongly assumed that St Edmund
inherited his father's soubriquet, 'e Rich'. He did not. Contemporary
references to him before his promotion as archbishop are to Master Edmund of
Abingdon.) His mother, Mabel, gave him an austere upbringing and exerted a
strong influence on him. He went to the University at Oxford when he was about
12 years old, and three or four years later, to Paris. On is return from Paris
he was Regent of Arts at Oxford for six years. HIs mother was dead and he had a
dream of her, which he interpreted as a message to turn to more serious
studies. He went to Paris again to study theology and returned about 1214, as
Regent of Theology at Oxford.
He must have been
something of a character in the eyes of the students. Long hours at night spent
in prayer had the result that he often 'nodded off' during his lectures. Like
any of us who find ourselves in that embarrassing position, he would wake with
a start and say: 'I was not asleep - just thinking'. He would not take any
payment from poor scholars, and when the richer scholars came to pay, he would
ask them to leave the money on his window-sill, so as not to embarrass them if
it was not quite the right amount. One of his dictums of this period reveals
him as the scholar and the saint: 'Study as though you are to live for ever:
live as though you are to die tomorrow'. There is a long-established tradition
that he utilised his lecture-fees to build the Lady Chapel of St Peter's in the
East at Oxford.
Richard Poore appointed
him Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in 1222, with the annexed prebend of
Calne, and he had the responsibility of raising the money to complete the choir
of the Cathedral.
After the death in 1231
of Richard le Grand, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Canterbury Chapter proposed
as his successor first Ralph Neville, Bishop of Chichester, then their prior,
John of Sittingbourne, and then John Blund, canon of Chichester, but for one
reason or another the Pope refused to confirm any of these appointments.
Since the See had been
vacant for four years, Pope Gregory IX personally intervened and 'gave the
monks power to elect Master Edmund, Canon of Salisbury'. It was a surprising
appointment for, apart from his learning, Edmund was known mainly as an ascetic
and a recluse. Indeed, on his first visit to Rome in 1238, Pope Gregory was to
chide him: 'You would make a good monk', but it was this same Gregory who had
personally chosen him to be archbishop.
Edmund was genuinely
reluctant to accept office. He hesitated, apparently for two days, and the
argument which finally broke down his resistance was that, if he refused, the
Pope might very well appoint a foreign ecclesiastic to the archbishopric. He
was consecrated at Canterbury on Laetare Sunday, 2nd April 1234.
He had immediate success,
but it was virtually his only success. Within months of his consecration, by
fearlessly exposing the evils which were threatening the land, he averted civil
war and reconciled Henry III and the Barons, and the King was forced to expel
the Poitevins. The reason for Edmund's success was undoubtedly the high regard
in which the men of his day held physical penances and Edmund had practised
these to an extraordinary degree since youth. Men listened to him because of
his virtue.
It is of special interest
to us in Dover that one of the Barons who was reconciled with the King was
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent. De Burgh had founded the Maison Dieu in 1203,
and in 1216 had successfully defended Dover Castle, and defeated the French in
a naval engagement in the Channel.
Edmund's success,
however, turned the King against him, and the appointment of Cardinal Otto as
Papal Legate, at the King's request, has been seen as a move to embarrass
Edmund. In fact, Otto was a reasonable man, whose advice was sought both by
Edmund and by Grosseteste, who did not meddle in the purely domestic affairs of
the English Church, and who could not be bought by the King.
He did, however,
introduce foreign clerics to English benefices, which aroused strong opposition
among the English Bishops, and was the cause of a deterioration in relations
between Edmund and the Pope, The Pope advised him to accept the inevitable
gracefully, and although Edmund counselled his fellow bishops 'to make a virtue
of necessity', his own principles were too strong, and it was still a ground of
bitter contention between him and the Pope at the time of his death
Edmund was not intended
by nature to be a bishop. He was happiest at Oxford or in his rectory at Calne:
among ordinary people, instructing them, teaching them to pray: 'five words
well said are better than five thousand said without devotion'), reconciling
sinners and helping them to die. By our standards, his moral teaching was
incredibly severe. He condemned luxury or comfort in any form, and was
distrustful of sex. He held that a man could not be good and live at court. He
prayed much and treated his body mercilessly In the thirteenth century he was
every man's idea of a saint.
He was not an
administrator and had little time for what we would call routine work.
His complaints against
the King were many. Not only did Henry delay the appointment of bishops so that
he could have possession of the ecclesiastical revenue during the vacancies,
but he raised levies on the Church to pay for his won and the Pope's needs.
After his marriage to Eleanor of Provence, foreign ecclesiastics from her
retinue had been appointed to English benefices, and more recently he was
gerrymandering the Winchester Chapter to secure the appointment of a relative
as bishop. Yet a further source of friction was Edmund's opposition to the
marriage of Simon de Montfort to the King's sister because of her vow of
perpetual widowhood.
His seven years as
Archbishop were unhappy years. The most serious of his conflicts, however, was
with the monastic Chapters of Canterbury and Rochester. Originally, bishops had
been monks and members of the monastic communities, but in the thirteenth
century, with the rise of secular bishops, there was an inbuilt danger of
conflict between them and the monks who formed their cathedral chapters. Each
was concerned to prevent any encroachment upon their privileges.
In Edmund's case, tension
was heightened by his desire to establish a secular collegiate house at
Maidstone to provide for clerics on his administration staff. It was a
reasonable proposal, and Cardinal Otto had held an enquiry and approved his plans,
but the monks were suspicious that their position was being undermined.
Although feelings between Edmund and the monks
were bad, the issues between them were relatively small. The latest was over
the right to nominate the prior and some petty forgeries were involved. It was
the general situation as much as any one incident which led to Edmund's
excommunicating the whole Cathedral Chapter.
There was enough to
discuss with the Pope when Edmund set out for an ad limina visit to Rome in
October 1240 - his relations with the Pope, his relations with the Canterbury
monks - but when he reached Pontigny he was a dying man. He turned back in the
hope of reaching England, but death overtook him in a small Augustine priory at
Soisy on 16th November 1240.
The scenes described on
page 11 give an idea of the veneration in which people held him. His cult is
certainly as popular in France as in England.
He was canonized by
Innocent IV on 16th December 1246, at Lyons. Eustace of Faversham had already
written his Life as part of the general presentation of his cause of
canonization. This Eustace was a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, and
Edmund's chaplain. Edmund feared that the monks at Canterbury might take
vindictive action against Eustace on account of his loyalty to him, and one of
his last acts at Soisy, three days before he died, was to write a testimonial
letter, indemnifying him in advance against any action the monks might take. It
was also, no doubt, for the same reason that he had written the previous March
to the sub-prior and monks of St Martin's Proiry at Dover, appointing Eustace
to be their prior, although there is no evidence that he ever held the
appointment.
It might be felt that,
because of all the conflicts around him, Edmund had a contentious character. He
was an Englishman and a strong nationalist, and was determined to rid England
of foreign influences, whether these were foreigners in high political places,
or high ecclesiastical places. He was more successful in the first than in the
second. He was a Churchman, determined that the Church should be in the hands
of men dedicated to God and to the people, and free of political influence to
do its work unhampered: determined too, that its revenue should be spent on the
needs of worship and on the needs of the poor, and not on luxurious living, the
King's favourites or foreign wars. And he was a saint for whom holiness, his
own and his countrymen's, took precedence before all else. In any age, such a
man will meet opposition, but in the thirteenth century he was not only
opposed, he was admired. Holiness was the one weapon left to a churchman -
there were enough diplomats and politicians. They could be deposed,, killed,,
circumvented, but there was no answer to holiness. Death did not help - it only
made a martyr. Holiness was recognised as right, but it prevented a challenge
to be avoided, if at all possible.
Henry III died on Edmund's
feast day, 16th November 1272. One can be sure that Edmund assisted him by his
prayers.
In recognition of Henry's
benefactions to the Maison Dieu the Master was required to arrange for a mass
for the repose of his soul to be said annually on 16th November. The last of
these masses was said on 16th November 1534.
SOURCE : http://www.stedmundschapel.co.uk/edmund.html
Sant' Edmondo Rich Arcivescovo
di Canterbury
Festa: 16 novembre
Abingdon, Berkshire, 20
novembre 1170 - Soisy, Provins, Francia, 16 novembre 1240
Martirologio
Romano: Presso la cittadina di Provins in Francia, transito di
sant’Edmondo Rich, vescovo di Canterbury, che, colpito dall’esilio per aver
difeso la Chiesa, morì vivendo santamente tra i monaci cistercensi di Pontigny.
Nacque ad Abingdon, nel Berkshire, da Reynold Rich che, dopo qualche tempo, si fece monaco ad Evesham. Mabilia, la pia ed austera consorte, educò con cura i figli Edmondo e Roberto e le due figlie nella pratica della penitenza. Compiuti gli studi ad Oxford e a Parigi, Edmondo insegnò matematica e poi Sacra Scrittura nella stessa Parigi. Quando tornò ad Oxford, nel 1219, fu il primo insegnante universitario in Inghilterra a dare lezioni sulla Logica di Aristotele.
Maestro di vita interiore, univa ragione e amore nella sua teologia mistica. Una illustrazione del suo equilibrato ed ortodosso misticismo può trovarsi nell'opera Sancti Edmundi Cant. in Speculo. Predicò fruttuose missioni nelle regioni del Midlands.
Mentre era canonico di Salisbury, venne incaricato da Gregorio IX di predicare la Crociata in alcune città inglesi. A Worcester i suoi uditori furono miracolosamente preservati da una violenta pioggia che cadde tutto intorno ad essi. Frutto della sua predicazione fu la conversione di William Longestec, conte di Salisbury.
Nel 1233 fu costretto ad accettare l'arcivescovado di Canterbury. Poiché Enrico III teneva per sé parecchie diocesi e benefici vacanti allo scopo di incassarne le rendite, Edmondo si rivolse a Gregorio IX che gli diede facoltà di coprire le sedi vacanti inglesi. Poco dopo, però, in seguito a richiesta di Enrico III, il papa annullò tale decreto e da allora Edmondo, piuttosto che venire implicato nelle pratiche simoniache di Enrico, si ritirò nel monastero cistercense di Pontigny, in Francia. Non molto dopo, per ragioni di salute, si trasferì a Soisy, ove morì gioiosamente e santamente il 16 novembre 1240. Secondo quanto lo stesso Edmondo aveva predetto, il suo corpo venne riportato a Pontigny il 20 novembre. Fu canonizzato da Innocenzo IV, il 16 dicembre 1246. Nel 1247 il suo corpo, che è rimasto incorrotto per secoli, venne trasferito solennemente da San Luigi, dalla regina Bianca e dalla corte francese, nella stessa Pontigny, dove rimase definitivamente.
E' Onorato come patrono della diocesi di Portsmouth e la sua festa si celebra
nella maggior parte delle diocesi inglesi al 18 novembre.
Autore: Joachim Dolan
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/77845
Nuremberg
chronicles - Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury (CCLXIIv)
Edmund Rich ; Nuremberg
Chronicle illustrations f 261-270
Edmundo,
Bispo de Canterbury
Den hellige Edmund av
Abingdon (~1175-1240)
Minnedag:
16. november
Det eksisterer en
tradisjon som sier at Reginald som middelaldrende, mens de fire barna ennå var
ganske unge, forsikret seg om at de var sørget for og at han deretter med
hustruens samtykke ble munk i klosteret i Evesham nær Oxford, hvor han døde en
stund senere. Dette kan imidlertid være en sammenblanding med en av hans
sønner. Vi vet at Edmund hadde en bror og to søstre, men det er mer enn
sannsynlig at han også hadde to andre brødre og at det var en av disse som
trådte inn i klosteret i Evesham.
Det som er sikkert, er at
det var deres formidable mor som hadde størst innflytelse på Edmund og hans
søsken. Mabilia (Mabel) selv levde svært asketisk, og barna fikk en streng, for
ikke å si rigid, religiøs oppdragelse. Hun skal ha båret hårskjorte og ha
deltatt på matutin om natten i sognekirken, fastet på fredager og spiste ikke
på søndager og helligdager før hele psalteret var sunget. En biografi sier at
hennes regime etter hvert ble så asketisk at mannen foretrakk komforten i
klosteret i Evesham!
Edmund var fra ung alder
kjent for sin fromhet, og etter en første utdannelse på klosterskolen i
Abingdon, var faren rik nok til å sende sønnen til Oxford. Han dro som
tolvåring til universitetet i Oxford for å studere grammatikk. Mens han var i
Oxford, viste Jesusbarnet seg for ham mens han gikk alene på markene. Til minne
om det som skjedde mellom ham og Jesus ved den anledning, pleide han hver kveld
å tegne på sin panne ordene «Jesus av Nasaret», en skikk han anbefalte andre.
Edmund var ivrig etter å bevare renheten i sinn og kropp, så i Oxford avla han
løfte om evigvarende kyskhet. Som et tegn på dette, skaffet han to ringer. Den
ene satte han på Marias finger på Mariastatuen i St Mary’s i Oxford, og den
andre bar han selv.
Fra rundt 1194 underviste
han i Paris, og deretter underviste han mellom 1195 og 1201 i allmenne fag og
matematikk ved Oxford, hvor han var en av pionerene i gjenopplivingen av
studiet av gresk og Aristoteles’ filosofi. Han brydde seg ikke så mye om honorarer,
i stedet var han svært hengiven til sine elever, pleide dem når de var syke og
hjalp de fattigste ved å selge skatter fra sitt bibliotek. I 1202 ble han magister
in artibus i Oxford.
Intellektuelt var det en
spennende tid. Både i den muslimske og kristne verden hadde det vært en
gjenoppdagelse av filosofien, spesielt Aristoteles, og Edmund kan godt ha vært
den første som underviste i Aristoteles’ logikk ved Oxford. Han forsto snart at
den nye lærdommen kunne bli et verdifullt verktøy for forståelsen av og
undervisningen i teologi, og i dette var han en pioner innen skolastikken. I
1201 dro han til Paris igjen for å studere teologi. Selv om det ikke finnes mye
detaljert informasjon om denne perioden av hans liv, var det trolig i Paris han
skrev sin «Om moralen i Salmenes bok», som er bevart i et enkelt manuskript fra
1200-tallet. Han ble også trolig presteviet i Paris. Da han vendte tilbake til
England, tilbrakte han et år hos Augustinerkorherrene i Merton i Surrey, og
deretter vendte han tilbake til Oxford for å undervise i teologi. Han ble i
1214 doktor i teologi i Paris.
Det var trolig i 1214 han
vendte tilbake til Oxford, siden det var det året en pavelig legat klarte å få
slutt på en disputt mellom universitetet og de sivile myndighetene, og det var
etter det at undervisningen ble gjenopptatt. Oxfords eksistens som et senter
for lærdom var truet av at studentene flyttet til andre steder. Sammen med
tiggermunkene i Oxford spilte Edmund en betydelig rolle i restaureringen av
Oxfords ry. Som teologiprofessor i Oxford ble han en pioner innen skolastikken.
I sin undervisning la han vekt på Bibelen bokstavelige og åndelige betydning i
tillegg til dens historiske kontekst, og han brukte dette som springbrett for
sin teologiske undervisning. Han ble straks berømt som predikant, og blant hans
skriftebarn var William Longsword, jarl av Salisbury og illegitim sønn av kong
Henrik II. Det stedet hvor han bodde og underviste i Oxford ble gjort om til en
middelaldersk akademisk hall med hans navn, og fortsatt eksisterer kollegiet St
Edmund Hall.
I 1222 utnevnte biskop
Richard le Poore Edmund til det ærefulle vervet som kannik og skattmester for
katedralen i Salisbury i Wiltshire, som da var under bygging. Med embetet
fulgte en bolig i nærliggende Calne, hvor han måtte bo i minst tre måneder
hvert år. Selv om dette førte til at han ble tatt bort fra det akademiske liv i
Oxford, kunne han holde seg i trening ved å undervise ved katedralskolen i
Salisbury, som ble støttet og utviklet av biskop le Poore. Siden katedralen var
under bygging, var embetet som skattmester krevende, og Edmund gjorde ikke sitt
eget liv lettere med sine mer enn sjenerøse almisser, som kombinert med at han
donerte en fjerdedel av sine inntekter til katedralens byggefond, gjorde at han
i deler av året var tom for penger. Hver gang han trengte å restituere seg
fysisk eller åndelig, trakk han seg tilbake til cistercienserklosteret Stanley
nær Calne i Wiltshire. Abbeden der, Stefan av Lexington, fra en
anglo-normannisk familie i Nottingham og munk i Quarr, var en tidligere elev av
ham fra Oxford. Han skulle bli grunnlegger av Le collège des Bernardins i
Paris i 1245 og fremtidig abbed av Cîteaux.
Etter at erkebiskop
Richard le Grand (Wethershed) av Canterbury døde den 3. august 1231,
underkjente pave Gregor IX de tre valgene som fulgte av Ralph Neville (kongelig
kansler og biskop av Chichester), John av Sittingbourne (prior for Christ
Church i Canterbury) og John Blund (mester og kannik i Chichester). Paven
bestemte seg da i 1233 for å utnevne sin egen kandidat til erkebispesetet, og
valget falt på Edmund. Både domkapitlet (20. september) og kongen (10. oktober)
godkjente Edmund som erkebiskop før han selv en gang hadde hørt om valget. Da
han fikk vite om det, nektet han først å akseptere valget med den begrunnelse
at han ikke visste noe om det, men på grunn av sine lærde og noe eneboeraktige
tendenser kunne han like godt tilføyd at han uansett ikke var noen mann for
stillingen. Men da biskopen av Salisbury utøvde sin autoritet og kommanderte
ham til å akseptere, underkastet han seg. Palliet ble hentet fra apostelen
Peters grav i Roma av en delegasjon fra Canterbury den 3. februar 1234, og
på Søndag Laetare den 2. april 1234 ble Edmund bispeviet i katedralen
i Canterbury av biskop Roger Niger av London, i nærvær av kongen og hoffet samt
alle suffraganbiskoper i kirkeprovinsen Canterbury.
Til tross for sin
opprinnelige motvilje viste han seg å bli en fremragende reformbiskop, ikke
minst takket være sine betydelige personlige kvaliteter. De inkluderte en varm
og kjærlig personlighet og meglende evner kombinert med omhyggelig sans for
rettferdighet, stor personlig integritet og moralsk mot, og helt fra starten viste
han seg som en ubøyelig og lidenskapelig forkjemper for Kirkens renhet og
disiplin. Hans suksess skyldtes også formatet til mennene som omga ham. Noen av
dem arvet han fra sine forgjengere som erkebiskoper, Stephen Langton (1207-28)
og Richard le Grand (1229-31), men han foretok også egne utnevnelser, og for å
lette sine byrder valgte han menn med fremragende evner.
Hans administrative familia av
lærde klerikere og magistri inkluderte slike betydelige menn som
Thomas av Freckenham, tidligere tjenestemann for Langton, Elias av Dereham,
kannik og arkitekt fra Salisbury som også hadde tjent under Langton, Nicholas
av Burford, Edmunds egen tjenestemann, Geoffrey av Ferring, senere domprost i
St Paul’s, og en av Edmunds gamle elever, magister Richard de Wyche (av Wich),
kjent for ettertiden som den hellige biskop Richard av Chichester,
som Edmund utnevnte til sin kansler. Også Edmunds bror Robert av Abingdon ser
ut til å ha stått ved hans side gjennom hele livet, og Edmund utnevnte ham til
det innbringende embetet som rektor av Wingham i Kent. Det ble ikke ansett som
upassende å utnevne nære slektninger til høye embeter, for eksempel utnevnte
erkebiskop Stephen Langton sin bror Simon Langton til erkediakon av Canterbury.
Edmund konfirmerte prins Edward, senere den store kong Edward I.
Edmunds nye posisjon
gjorde at han uvilkårlig ble innblandet i politikk. Han var egentlig en lærer
og predikant, en mann av studier og bønn, og han fant administrasjon og
politikk ubehagelig og frastøtende, og han hadde en instinktiv mistillit til
hoffet. Men han vek aldri unna og var aldri ettergivende for de verdslige
herskere, og av den grunn måtte han gjennomgå mange konflikter. Allerede før
sin konsekrasjon kastet han seg inn i politiske spørsmål, og det lyktes ham å
avverge borgerkrig i det walisiske grenselandet, ved at han mellom 1234 og 1236
meglet mellom kong Henrik III (1216-72) og hans stormenn, spesielt jarl Richard
Marshal av Pembroke, som var leder for stormennenes motstand og ledet et opprør
mot kongens regjeringsmetoder. Edmund sendte meklere, og det ble inngått en
våpenhvile i Brockton i Shropshire den 6. mars 1234. Richard dro til Irland,
men der ble han slått et slag den 1. april 1234 på sletten Curragh i grevskapet
Kildare, og han døde i fangenskap av sine sår den 16. april 1234.
Edmund irettesatte kongen
for dødsfallet til jarl Richard Marshal, og han ekskommuniserte den beryktede
Simon de Montfort for hans hemmelige ekteskap med Eleanor, kongens søster.
Etter sin bispevielse presset Edmund kongen til å avsette sine upopulære
rådgivere, biskop Peter des Roches av Winchester og hans nevø Peter des Rivaux,
som hadde stått bak de administrative endringene som førte til opprøret. Han
fikk også kongen til å gi jarl Richards eiendommer tilbake til arvingen Gilbert
og erklære et generelt amnesti. Edmund eskortere personlig Gilbert Marshal og
Hubert de Burgh med andre ledere for opprørspartiet til kongen i Gloucester for
å motta den kongelige benådning. Kongen gjennomførte en reorganisering av
styret, og i 1237 presiderte Edmund ved ratifikasjonen av Det store charter.
Men erkebiskopen kom
snart i vanskeligheter med kong Henrik på grunn av uoverensstemmelser mellom
kirkeloven og engelsk sivil lov. Edmund protesterte også mot at kong Henrik
sørget for at det ble utnevnt en pavelig legat, kardinal Otto di Monteferrato,
som kom til England i juli 1237, for han tok det som et inngrep i hans
episkopale rettigheter. Kongens hovedmål var å styrke sin egen stilling overfor
sine egne baroner i kjølvannet av sitt ekteskap med den hellige Eleanor av Provençe.
Edmund advarte kongen mot at utnevnelsen ville skape unødvendige
vanskeligheter, og han viste seg å få rett, idet Henrik begynte å spille
legaten ut mot erkebiskopen, de andre biskopene og baronene. Men selv om
nærværet av kardinal Otto som pavelig legat minsket Edmunds utøvelse av sin
makt som metropolitt, var kardinalen opplagt en diskret og taktfull mann av en
viss integritet, og Edmunds forhold til ham var mer vennlig enn ofte antatt,
hovedsakelig på grunnlag av Matthew Paris’ tendensiøse beskrivelse.
Mens Edmunds problemer
ikke var begrenset til kong Henriks innblanding og hans forsøk på å begrense
Kirkens makt, var disse tingene alltid i bakgrunnen. I denne forbindelse ble
Edmund anklaget for å være for villig til å foreta ofre for å bevare fred med
kongen av biskop Robert Grosseteste av Lincoln, som selv var fullstendig
kompromissløs i det han betraktet som prinsipielle spørsmål.
Samtidig ble Edmunds
autoritet som erkebiskop utfordret fra en annen side, nemlig fra munkene ved
Christ Church i Canterbury, som betjente katedralen. De hevdet å ha visse
rettigheter og privilegier, og generelt fikk de forhindret alle planer Edmund
måtte ha om forandring, støttet av kong Henrik. Da hans egne evner som megler
ikke var nok for å løse situasjonen, reiste Edmund i 1237 til Roma for å
diskutere sin disputt med det monastiske kapitlet med pave Gregor IX. Da han
vendte tilbake til England, var situasjonen ikke noe bedre, og etter enda mer
uenighet og flere disputter ekskommuniserte han i 1238 sytten av munkene ved
katedralen. Denne handlingsmåten ble fordømt av noen av hans suffraganbiskoper,
og kong Henrik gjorde åpent motstand mot ham. Kardinallegaten gjorde et
mislykket forsøk på å få i stand forsoning, og han opphevet ekskommunikasjonen.
Resultatet ble en fastlåst situasjon, og Edmund skulle ikke få oppleve at
vanskelighetene endelig bli løst.
Nye vanskeligheter oppsto
med den pavelige legaten om kongens praksis med å la bispeseter og andre
beneficier (kall med inntekter) stå tomme for å la inntektene gå til kronen i
en vakanse, noe Edmund refset ham for. I 1239 oppnådde Edmund etter store
vanskeligheter og omkostninger for ham personlig, en bulle fra paven som
erkebiskopen kunne presentere til enhver katedral eller monastisk kirke hvor en
vakanse hadde vart i lengre enn seks måneder. Men kong Henrik klarte å få paven
til å trekke tilbake erkebiskopens autoritet, og da resignerte Edmund til slutt
overfor denne situasjonen. Kort tid etter, trolig i oktober 1240, forlot han
landet i hemmelighet. Mange historikere, hovedsakelig på bakgrunn av Matthew
Paris’ beretning, har ment at erkebiskopen dro i frivillig eksil etter at hans
stilling var blitt uholdbar. Men det er mer trolig at erkebiskopens hensikt var
å dra på en ny reise til Roma, hvor paven hadde innkalt et allment konsil til
tidlig i 1241, og ved å reise tidlig, ville Edmund få en anledning til å
diskutere sine problemer med paven.
Men da Edmund kom til
Frankrike, ble han syk, og han dro til cistercienserklosteret i Pontigny i
Burgund nord for Auxerre i Frankrike, som var grunnlagt i 1114 og hvor to andre
erkebiskoper av Canterbury, den hellige Thomas Becket (1162-70)
og kardinal Stefan Langton (1207-28), hadde søkt tilflukt fra vanskeligheter
med engelske konger. Ved siden av tiggerordenene var cistercienserne Edmunds
favorittorden, og i Pontigny tilbrakte han sine siste to måneder. Det ble snart
åpenbart at det ikke ville være klokt å risikere en reise til Roma, ikke bare
av helsemessige grunner, for i tillegg hadde også troppene til keiser Fredrik
II (1220-50) invadert Kirkestaten og gjorde det vanskelig for geistlige å reise
dit. Da bestemte erkebiskopen seg for å vende tilbake til England.
Men på veien hjem ble han
syk igjen, og han stanset i et kloster for regelbundne korherrer ved Soissy
ikke langt fra Pontigny i departementet Seine-et-Marne. Der døde han den 16.
november 1240 etter å ha opphevet ekskommunikasjonen av munkene i Canterbury og
sendt noen av sine personlige fromhetsgjenstander til sin bror Robert og til
sine søstre Margery og Alice i Catesby. På sitt dødsleie påkalte han Gud som vitne:
«Jeg har ikke søkt noe annet enn deg». Hans legeme ble overført til Pontigny i
departementet Yonne og gravlagt den 20. november, festen for kong Edmund
martyr, i klosterkirken, hvor det fortsatt hviler. Lokalt der kalles han St.
Edme og graven ble et populært valfartsmål helt til Den franske revolusjon.
Ifølge cisterciensisk tradisjon levde han og døde i cistercienserdrakt.
Selv om Pontigny har vært
gjenstand for ødeleggelse fra tid til annen, æres fortsatt Edmunds legeme i
klosterkirken der. Viktige relikvier av helgenen er bevart i Westminster
Cathedral, St. Edmund’s College i Ware, katedralen i Portsmouth og Erdington
Abbey. Edmund er skytshelgen for det katolske bispedømmet Portsmouth.
Kommuniteten i Pontigny, som var kjent som Patre av St. Edmund, ble tvunget til
å forlate sitt hjem i Pontigny i 1900 på grunn av Frankrikes antiklerikale
lover.
Hans legeme ble aldri
ført tilbake til Canterbury, for benediktinermunkene der hadde tatt ille opp
det de så på som Edmunds angrep på deres uavhengighet. Flere år etter hans død
ble graven åpnet i nærvær av den franske kongen Ludvig IX den
Hellige (1214-1270), og hans legeme ble da funnet helt intakt.
Utallige mirakler vitnet om hans hellighet.
Edmund hadde vært en god,
om ikke stor biskop. Svært lite av hans skrifter er bevart, men hans Speculum
Ecclesiae, «Kirkens speil», gjør det klart at han har gjort seg fortjent til en
fremtredende plass blant de engelske middelalderske mystikere. I den avhandlingen
satte han frem på ulike plan den kontemplatives vei til Gud, og det var en
oppsummering av Hugo av St. Victors lære om meditasjonens og kontemplasjonens
liv. Verket får sin spesielle karakter fra det faktum at Edmund i sine skrifter
var så influert av Hugo og Richard av St. Victor, som i stedet for å overdrive
elendigheten i den menneskelige tilstand, som cistercienserne hadde en tendens
til å gjøre, konsentrerte seg om Guds bilde bak de menneskelige synder og
svakheter. Speculum var opprinnelig skrevet for munker og nonner, men
han reviderte den senere for bruk blant sekularprester og legfolk. Den var
ganske populær på 1200- og 1300-tallet.
Straks etter Edmunds død
nedsatte pave Gregor IX en kommisjon for å undersøke hans liv og mirakler med
tanke på helligkåring, og der satt både biskop Robert Grosseteste av Lincoln
(1235-53) og den fransiskanske teologen Alexander av Hales. Etter deres
positive rapport ble Edmund helligkåret av pave Innocent IV (1243-54) allerede
i 1246, bare seks år etter hans død. Til den første feiringen av hans fest ga
kong Henrik en kalk, en hvit messehagel i gullinnvirket silkestoff og tyve mark
til lys ved hans skrin. I 1254 foretok han en pilegrimsferd til skrinet i
Pontigny. Noen få år etter helligkåringen ble det første kapellet vigslet til
ham, St Edmund’s Chapel i Dover, som ble vigslet av hans venn Richard of
Chichester, noe som gjør det til det eneste kapellet som var vigslet til en
helgen av en annen.
Selv om valfarter til
Edmunds skrin var populært en tid, døde praksisen ut mot slutten av
1200-tallet. Men i Salisbury ble en kollegiatskirke og et alter i katedralen
viet til ham, mens hans kult gjennom Sarum-kalenderen ble spredt over hele
England, særlig i hans fødeby Abingdon i Oxfordshire og i Catesby i Northamptonshire,
der hans to søstre Margaret og Alice var nonner. Edmund var den første magister
fra Oxford som ble helligkåret, og den eneste bevarte middelalderhallen i
Oxford, St. Edmund’s Hall, er oppkalt etter ham, og Ifølge tradisjonen ble den
bygd på stedet for hans grav. Andre dedikasjoner inkluderer St. Edmund’s
College i Ware i Hertfordshire, som inntil 1976 var seminaret for
erkebispedømmet Westminster.
Edmunds minnedag er 16.
november, som er valgfri minnedag i England. Festen for hans opphøyelse (elevatio) ble
feiret den 22. februar, og overføring av hans relikvier (translatio) ble
feiret den 9. juni. I Abingdon feires han den 30. mai, dagen for vigslingen av
et kapell som ble reist over hans fødested. I cistercienserordenen har han en
valgfri minnedag den 20. november. I Pontigny ser det ut som han hadde en fest
også den 14. april, og han sto i Martyrologium Romanum den 6. november. Edmund
er skytshelgen for bispedømmet Portsmouth og misjonskongregasjonen Pères
de Pontigny, som ble grunnlagt i 1843 av Jean-Baptiste Muard (d. 1854), men ble
fordrevet fra Frankrike i 1900 og siden da har virket i sjelesorgen i England
og USA.
I kunsten avbildes Edmund
alltid i biskoppelige gevanter, ofte i bønn foran Jomfru Maria med en visjon av
Kristusbarnet. Hans attributter er korsstav, lilje, bok eller krone. Hans navn
står i Martyrologium Romanum. Flere samtidige skrev biografier om Edmund, blant
dem broren Robert «Rich», abbed Bertrand av Pontigny, Matthew Paris, munken
Eustace fra Canterbury og Robert Bacon, en onkel eller bror til den mer berømte
Roger Bacon. Han er kjent som Edmund Rich, Edmund av Abingdon, Edmund av
Canterbury og Edmund av Pontigny.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Jones, Butler (XI), Benedictines,
Delaney, Bunson, Green 2, Cruz (1), Schauber/Schindler, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron
Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, ODNB, santiebeati.it,
en.wikipedia.org, earlybritishkingdoms.com, britannia.com, britannica.com, Cistercian
menology, zeno.org - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 7. juni 1998
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/eabingto
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_-_high_altar_statue%2C_St._Edmund_of_Abingdon.jpg){kind=link}
