October 13
Feast of St. Edward the Confessor

Edward grew up in innocence, delighting chiefly in assisting at Mass and in association with the clergy. In 1041, when Edward was forty years old, he was raised to the throne of England. The virtues of his earlier years – simplicity, gentleness, humility and charity, but above all his angelic purity, shone with new brightness. He loved to stand at his palace gate, speaking kindly to the poor beggars and lepers who crowded about him, many of whom were healed by his touch. Being devoid of personal ambition, King Edward’s one aim was the welfare of his people. His reign of twenty-four years was one of almost unbroken peace. One man who knew St. Edward said of him, “He was devoted to God and directed by God. He lived the life of an angel in the administration of his kingdom.’ Edward died on January 5, 1066. Many miracles occurred at his tomb. In 1102 his body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. He was canonized in 1161. St. Edward the Confessor is the patron saint of difficult marriages, separated spouses, and kings.