Saint Edward the Confessor: Piety and Grandeur of Soul
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 13, 2024 at 01:00AM in Saints
King Edward the Confessor, holding a ring and a sceptre. Engraving by J. Smith, 1732.
Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
"PIETY AND GRANDEUR OF SOUL.-In the estimation of worldlings the word "piety" denotes littleness of mind; but this betokens littleness of judgment on their part, for religion shows forth the contrary by illustrious examples. No man was ever more pious, mortified, chaste, and charitable than St. Edward, king of England; but side by side with these purely Christian qualities he displayed a grandeur of soul worthy of the throne. He established a wisely-planned code, which still forms the groundwork of public law in England, and organized an administration so complete that the nation seemed to govern itself as of its own free will; and he proved himself fully able to repel his enemies by armed force whenever it was found needful to engage in war. His subjects loved him like a father. Providence seemed to have singled him out to repair the disasters resulting from forty years of invasion, and to restore his country. He died in 1066, after having founded the abbey of Westminster. "Weep not," he said to his queen Editha; "I am not about to die, but am beginning to live eternally."
MORAL REFLECTION.-"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and thereby "a wise man will increase his wisdom."(Prov. i. 5, 7.) Pictorial half hours with the saints. By Rev. Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
