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Saint Edmund of Canterbury
Saint Edmund today is for the most part an unknown, if not entirely forgotten, saint and yet he is of real interest to both the ecclesiastical and secular historian of the thirteenth century, and is, as he ever was, an inspiring example and powerful Intercessor for all who would truly live and labor for the love of the Lord. Edmund of the town of Abingdon, England, was the first-born of seven children of Reginald and Mabel of Abingdon. He had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom, save William, entered religious life or the clerical state. Their mother, a truly holy woman, greatly influenced their religious attitudes by early and continued spiritual guidance and example. Edmund's birth is usually dated (about a month before the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket) on November 20, 1170, the feast day of Saint Edmund king and martyr (died 870). He received his pre-school instruction from his mother and from the Benedictine monks of the Abingdon Abbey. Somewhere around 1181 Edmund and his brother, Robert, left home to attend the grammar school at Oxford, some seven miles from Abingdon. It was during this first period at Oxford that Edmund, according to his first biographers, met the Christ-child while walking alone through the fields. Edmund preserved (throughout his life) the memory of that meeting by tracing the name 'Jesus' on his forehead each night before he went to sleep. The Christ-child had so instructed him when he had pointed out and asked Edmund to read these same letters traced on his own brow so that Edmund might recognize who his chance acquaintance was. His biographers also relate another incident that belongs to this Oxford period: Edmund's vow of chastity -- perhaps about his fifteenth year. This vow Edmund solemnized by placing a ring on the finger of a statue of our Lady in his school's Church and a matching ring on his own finger. This commitment of loving service to the Mother of Jesus Edmund maintained throughout his life much as he believed Saint John had in his life. The 'Disciple Whom Jesus loved' was a life long patron of Edmund's. Somewhere about 1190 the two brothers left Oxford for Paris where both studied for their degrees in the Master of Arts curriculum at the University. Edmund received his Master's Degree and returned to Oxford to teach geometry, and he is credited with being the first to introduce the 'new Aristotealin learning' at the English University (1195) . About six years later, the biographers tell us, Edmund, having been instructed by his mother in a dream, left Oxford for Paris once again: this time to study theology and to be ordained. As priest-theologian he returned to Oxford in 1213-14 and, accepting a theological chair, taught at the University until 1222 when he was called to and accepted the treasurer-overseership of the magnificent cathedral that was being finished and furnished at Salisbury. Along with his cathedral duties Edmund also had a small rural 'parish care' at the nearby town of Calne. He took to this parochial work among the needy of the country-side with dedicated zeal and real delight, and his genuine concern for his people and his generous charity towards them won for him their lasting admiration and love. In 1227 Pope Gregory IX appointed Edmund papal preacher for the sixth Crusade because of his widely acclaimed gift and power of preaching. Because of his reputation as a gifted theologian, his good stewardship at Salisbury, success as a preacher, and his devoted pastoral care of his people, and his generally acknowledged self-less-ness and exemplary holiness of life, Pope Gregory urged his election as the fortieth Archbishop of Canterbury. Edmund was elected Primate of England by the Cathedral monks at the end of September 1233. His consecration, April 2, 1234, was delayed because of his most important historical contribution to his country. The Archbishop-elect was immediately appointed the King's emissary between Henry III and his English barons who in league with the Welsh noblemen had risen in rebellion against Henry and were threatening civil war. It was above all else Edmund's intrepid yet gentle leadership and Christ-like peacemaking which impressed his contemporaries. He was long remembered as the champion of English rule and the rights of the Magna Carta who forced a change of council on Henry thus ridding the realm of French influence and so saving his country from civil war. If Edmund's career as Primate was launched on a most successful secular sea, his ecclesiastical voyage was a very stormy one indeed. From beginning to end he was beset with petty interferences, quarrels and annoyances over conflicts of privileges between his Chapter monks, the Crown, and his primatial jurisdiction. His struggles against these irreconcilable factions continually thwarted at every turn his attempts to steer the stubborn English bark of the Church as he believed his Master, the Lord, willed. It was in early October 1240, on his last trip to Rome to seek from the see of Peter some solution to his many difficulties, that illness forced him to interrupt his journey and to stop-over at the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny where Archbishop Thomas Becket had spent part of his exile in France. It soon became evident that Edmund was too ill to continue on to Rome so he left Pontigny to return home to England. It was at this time, or perhaps on some previous visit, that Edmund expressed his desire to be buried at Pontigny. Edmund, with his illness worsening, only managed to get as far as the town of Senlis about fifty miles from Pontigny. He died there in the Augustinian Priory of Saint James on November 16, 1240. I n accordance with his wish, his body was returned to Pontigny where it arrived on his birthdate, November 20. Had Edmund of Abingdon, Oxford, Paris, Salisbury, Caterbury and Pontigny been just an ordinary man his story would end here with his burial, but surely the most extraordinary part of his story does not end but begins, and -- even though very humbly and hidden now -- still tells itself at and out from Pontigny. The body of the Archbishop mysteriously became the intermediary of numerous miraculous cures, and as a result Edmund became the object of a cult as a powerful intercessor. Six years later after a most careful investigation of his life and miracles, Pope Innocent IV declared Edmund of Canterbury inscribed in the catalogue of the saints. On June 9, 1247, the Abbot of Pontigny decided to transfer the new saint's body to a more fitting and accessible shrine for the veneration of the many pilgrims from England and France who were coming to the Abbey to honor and pray to the saint. When the body was removed from its tomb it was found to be "as sound, as complete, and as free from any sign of decomposition as it was before its first burial in 1240". Though the body has suffered from exposure to weather, fire, and injudicious treatment, today more than seven hundred years later, it is still in a remarkable state of preservation. But today there are very few if any pilgrimages to Pontigny to honor Saint Edmund. The shrine is closed to public view and hardly a sign indicates to any visitor that an English Archbishop and saint lies enshrined above the main altar. Still, Edmund is not forgotten entirely. A little company of men keep his name, his memory, his life and labor, and even a bit of the Pontigny he loved, alive in their lives and labors for his lord and theirs. And this brings us to the heart of the mystery, the real meaning of this thirteenth century saint today: it was not so much what Edmund of Abingdon did, but how and why he did it that inspires us to imitate him and to seek his intercession in our behalf; he forever reminds us how and why we should live and serve: as holy men, as saints, as "those who down the ages have done God's will" and who have thus become true lovers of God because they have generously loved and served others -- their fellow men and women in need. |
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