The Church celebrates the memory of St. Passion-Bearer King Edward, who passed away on this day in 978-979. There is always a silver lining. The post-revolution immigration from Russia resulted in learning about holy people of the West. St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco was the first who began this process. Son of Edgar the Peaceable, King of England and Emperor of Great Britain. Edgar restored the monasteries in England and donated many lands to them. He removed married clergy from the monasteries so that they could be legally occupied by monks and nuns. Edward was born in 960. He was the firstborn, but was born before Edgar's coronation and his mother was not queen. Edgar was widowed after Edward's birth and remarried Etheldritha, who gave birth to Ethelred. He ascended the English throne at the age of 16 after the death of his father, and he was anointed to reign by St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. After the death of King Edgar, Queen Etheldrita tried to nominate her son as heir, but St. Dunstan of Canterbury, First Hierarch of the English Church, opposed this. The young King Edward was opposed by the aristocracy, who wanted him to dissolve the monasteries and redistribute their lands. Edward defended them along with St. Dunstan. Some of the nobles conspired with Queen Etheldrita to kill Edward and install Ethelred as king, who connived with their freemen. St. Dunstan defended the inviolability of the monasteries and the legitimacy of the power of St. Edward, but he himself was almost removed from his throne. On 18 March 979, Edward rode to Corfe Castle to speak with his younger brother. His stepmother, the queen, greeted him and invited him to enter. He stayed on the horse and said that he only wanted to talk to his brother. She offered him something to drink. One of the queen's servants kissed him, and while the king was drinking, she stabbed him in the chest. The horse galloped off, carrying Edward with one leg tangled in the stirrup, until it stopped at a spring near the castle. Etheldrite hid the body in a blind woman's hut in the garden. At night, the woman saw a bright light emanating from the body of the dead king. She realized that it was the righteous King Edward, and she regained her sight. The queen was unhappy with this miracle and buried Edward's body in a bog. The source where the saint’s body was thrown received healing properties, especially curing blindness. Less than a year after Edward’s death, the Lord glorified him - a pillar of fire rose above the king’s body. Believing residents of Wareham saw the sign and found the place; the saint's body was buried in the local church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The queen's betrayal became known throughout the country, and the glory of the innocently murdered king was reinforced by many miracles and signs. The mood changed - the nobleman Elfer, who had once persecuted monasticism and opposed the king, repented and initiated the transfer of the saint’s relics. Bishops and abbots of monasteries took part in it, in particular the abbess of the Wilton monastery, St. Wulfrida, with nuns, among whom was the Rev. Edith of Wilton, Edward’s sister. The procession of the transfer of the relics lasted from 13 to 20 February 981, and was completed with honors at the convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Shaftesbury. During the procession, two almost completely paralyzed people received healing. The relics of the innocent sufferer were glorified by the Lord with obvious miracles, and in 1008 he was canonized by the English Church. For a long time, the relics of King Edward were considered lost, but in 1931 they were discovered by amateur archaeologist Wilson Claridge. A thorough examination confirmed that these were indeed the holy remains of the martyr king. Convinced that the ancient Christian teaching and practice of venerating saints had been largely lost in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, Wilson-Claridge decided to donate his precious find to the Orthodox Church. Due to disagreements with his brother, who wanted to transfer the remains to the Anglican Church, this intention was realized only in 1984, when the relics were transferred to the ROCOR, which placed them in the Church of St. Edward the Martyr at Brookwood Cemetery near Guildford, Surrey. After the reunification of the ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church, the temple is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Old Calendarist Synod in Reistance. |
