Edmund: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Edmund was born about 840 and became king of East Anglia, in eastern England, while still a youth: he was crowned at about fifteen, around 855. He ruled justly and humbly, was generous to the poor and to orphans, and withdrew for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton to learn the whole Psalter by heart. In his time Danish armies were laying waste to English churches and monasteries. In 869 (some early sources say 870) the Danish leader Ingvar, also called Hinguar, demanded that Edmund rule under him as his vassal. Edmund refused, for his faith meant more to him than his life; he sent his troops away to spare them a useless slaughter and was taken captive. The Danes beat him, bound him to a tree and whipped him, then shot him through with arrows while he kept calling on the name of Jesus, and at last cut off his head. Tradition tells that the Christians who searched for the head heard a voice calling to them and found it guarded by a great wolf. His relics were later brought to the town now called Bury St Edmunds, where a great abbey grew up around them, and for centuries he was honoured as the patron saint of England; more than sixty ancient churches were dedicated to him. The Church remembers him on 20 November (3 December on the Old Calendar). The faithful ask his prayers for courage to confess Christ, for those who govern, and for the people of England.

What the faithful pray for

• courage to confess Christ before all
• kings, rulers and all who govern
• the people of England and of Suffolk
• love for the Psalms and for daily prayer