Vatican Radio REPORT- On Friday, Pope Benedict XVI
hosted a lunch in the Paul VI Hall to the Synodal Fathers and other participants
in the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople I, and Rowan Douglas Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and of the Anglican Communion participated at the lunch.
At the end of the lunch, the Holy Father addressed the participants.
The full text follows:
Your Holiness,
Your Grace,
Dear Brothers,
first of all I would like to announce a little mercy for you, that is, this evening, we will not be starting at 4.30 - that seems inhumane to me - but at 5.45.
It is a lovely tradition initiated by Pope John Paul II to crown the Synod with a shared meal. For me it is a great joy to find on my right His Holiness the Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and on my other side Archbishop Rowan Williams from the Anglican Communion.
For me this communion is a sign that we are walking towards unity and that in our hearts we are making progress. The Lord will help us to advance, in an external way as well. This joy, it seems to me, might also give us strength in the mandate of evangelization. Synodus means “shared walk”, “walking together”, and so the word synodus makes me think of the famous walk of the Lord with the two disciples who were going to Emmaus, who are to an extent an image of the agnostic world of today. Jesus, their hope, had died: the world was empty; it seemed that either God did not exist or had no interest in us. With this despair in their hearts, but still with a little flame of faith, they walk on. The Lord walks mysteriously beside them and helps them to better understand the mystery of God, His presence in history, His silent walking with us. In the end, at supper, when the words of the Lord and their listening have already lit up their hearts and illuminated their minds, they recognize Him at the meal and finally their hearts start to see. Thus in the Synod we are walking together with our contemporaries. We pray to the Lord that He may illuminate us, that He may light up our hearts so they may become prophetic, that He may illuminate our minds; and we pray that at supper, in the Eucharistic communion, we can really be open, see Him and thus also light up the world and give His light to this world of ours.
In this sense, the supper - as the Lord often used lunch and supper as a symbol for the Kingdom of God - might also be for us a symbol of our walking together and an opportunity to pray to the Lord that He might accompany us and help us. In this sense, let us now say the prayer of thanksgiving...
Have a good rest and I’ll see you in the Synod Hall! Thank you!
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople I, and Rowan Douglas Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and of the Anglican Communion participated at the lunch.
At the end of the lunch, the Holy Father addressed the participants.
The full text follows:
Your Holiness,
Your Grace,
Dear Brothers,
first of all I would like to announce a little mercy for you, that is, this evening, we will not be starting at 4.30 - that seems inhumane to me - but at 5.45.
It is a lovely tradition initiated by Pope John Paul II to crown the Synod with a shared meal. For me it is a great joy to find on my right His Holiness the Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and on my other side Archbishop Rowan Williams from the Anglican Communion.
For me this communion is a sign that we are walking towards unity and that in our hearts we are making progress. The Lord will help us to advance, in an external way as well. This joy, it seems to me, might also give us strength in the mandate of evangelization. Synodus means “shared walk”, “walking together”, and so the word synodus makes me think of the famous walk of the Lord with the two disciples who were going to Emmaus, who are to an extent an image of the agnostic world of today. Jesus, their hope, had died: the world was empty; it seemed that either God did not exist or had no interest in us. With this despair in their hearts, but still with a little flame of faith, they walk on. The Lord walks mysteriously beside them and helps them to better understand the mystery of God, His presence in history, His silent walking with us. In the end, at supper, when the words of the Lord and their listening have already lit up their hearts and illuminated their minds, they recognize Him at the meal and finally their hearts start to see. Thus in the Synod we are walking together with our contemporaries. We pray to the Lord that He may illuminate us, that He may light up our hearts so they may become prophetic, that He may illuminate our minds; and we pray that at supper, in the Eucharistic communion, we can really be open, see Him and thus also light up the world and give His light to this world of ours.
In this sense, the supper - as the Lord often used lunch and supper as a symbol for the Kingdom of God - might also be for us a symbol of our walking together and an opportunity to pray to the Lord that He might accompany us and help us. In this sense, let us now say the prayer of thanksgiving...
Have a good rest and I’ll see you in the Synod Hall! Thank you!
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
AMERICA : USA : LATEST CATHOLIC BISHOPS RELEASE ON VP DEBATE - HHS MANDATE
(IMAGE SOURCE: GOOGLE)
CATHOLIC BISHOPS' RELEASE
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement, October 12. Full text follows:
Last night, the following statement was made during the Vice Presidential debate regarding the decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force virtually all employers to include sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion, in the health insurance coverage they provide their employees:The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement, October 12. Full text follows:
This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services,Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served."With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."
HHS has proposed an additional "accommodation" for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as "non-exempt." That proposal does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation "to pay for contraception" and "to be a vehicle to get contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients. They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.
USCCB continues to urge HHS, in the strongest possible terms, actually to eliminate the various infringements on religious freedom imposed by the mandate.
For more details, please see USCCB's regulatory comments filed on May 15 regarding the proposed "accommodation": www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-on-advance-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-on-preventive-services-12-05-15.pdf
SHARED FROM US CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
FOR FULL TEXT AND VIDEO OF DEBATE CLICK
http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2012/10/america-usa-full-text-vp-debate-paul.html
ASIA : PHILIPPINES BOMB BLAST KILLS 2
Attack in
Mindanao comes days after peace deal
Police examine the scene of a bomb blast (Photo Cong
Corrales)
Two people were killed in a bomb attack outside a
hotel in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao today.
Authorities said an improvised explosive device exploded outside the city’s Maxandria Hotel at around 2 a.m. local time.
Another device, found in front of the hotel under a parked car, was defused. The car belonged to a local television station.
Police said the two victims killed by the blast were a bartender from a nearby pub and a male passer-by.
“It was a small device,” a senior police officer who requested anonymity told ucanews.com.
He said a mobile phone was probably used to activate it. “It was not planted to cause extensive damage,” he said, adding that the motive behind the attack was still unclear.
The officer said it was unlikely that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government earlier this week, was behind the explosion.
“It was not made using an 88mm mortar, which is a usual component in bombs made by the MILF,” he said.
Officials were checking whether anyone in the hotel might have been the target.
“We need to determine if this attack was intended for someone who checked in,” a source said. He added that a man in a white shirt had planted the devices while another was acting as a look-out.
SHARED FROM UCAN
Authorities said an improvised explosive device exploded outside the city’s Maxandria Hotel at around 2 a.m. local time.
Another device, found in front of the hotel under a parked car, was defused. The car belonged to a local television station.
Police said the two victims killed by the blast were a bartender from a nearby pub and a male passer-by.
“It was a small device,” a senior police officer who requested anonymity told ucanews.com.
He said a mobile phone was probably used to activate it. “It was not planted to cause extensive damage,” he said, adding that the motive behind the attack was still unclear.
The officer said it was unlikely that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government earlier this week, was behind the explosion.
“It was not made using an 88mm mortar, which is a usual component in bombs made by the MILF,” he said.
Officials were checking whether anyone in the hotel might have been the target.
“We need to determine if this attack was intended for someone who checked in,” a source said. He added that a man in a white shirt had planted the devices while another was acting as a look-out.
SHARED FROM UCAN
AFRICA : EGYPT : DEMONSTRATIONS - HUNDREDS WOUNDED
ASIA NEWS REPORT
The two demonstrations took place simultaneously in the historic Tahrir Square. The situation degenerated when a group of Islamists attacked the stage of the young liberals with stones, Molotov cocktails and pellet guns. The young liberal parties protest against the Constituent Assembly dominated by Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood against the acquittal of 24 members of the former regime of Mubarak, the alleged perpetrators of the "battle of the camels."
Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Violent clashes with hundreds of casualties yesterday in Tahrir Square during a double protest by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and militant democratic movements. The first was a protest against the courts verdict which acquitted 24 officials of the former regime of Mubarak believed to be responsible for the "Battle of the Camel" during the Jasmine Revolution. The Young Democrats instead took to the streets to challenge the first 100 days of President Mohammed Morsi and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood accused of monopolizing the institutions of the Constituent Assembly and the courts, upholding justice only for their affiliates. The violence broke out when a group of Morsi supporters attacked and burned the stage set up by young liberals and progressives. In a short time the entire area surrounding the square was turned into a battlefield with stone throwing on either side, cars set on fire and barricades.
According to members of the democratic April 6 movement, born during the Jasmine Revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood did not have permission to demonstrate. "Our sit-in - said one of the young people - was authorized by the police several months ago. The verdict of 'battle of the camels' dates to 11 October." According to witnesses, members of the Brotherhood have occupied the square with their coach trying to disrupt the demonstration against the Constituent Assembly. The assault on the stage which was starting the rally sparked the anger of young people who took it out on vehicles parked on the sides of the square. The police clashes believe the clashes were caused by groups of thugs hidden among protesters.
"Everyone always blames these thugs - said one of the protesters - but who are they? We reacted when the Muslim Brotherhood began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at us for no reason, some even had guns with lead pellets, which have hurt some guys the legs. Ours was an exasperated reaction. "
Ali Abdel-Menoim, another young man, said: "I am against those who burn buses, but also against the Muslim Brotherhood, which came to a peaceful protest with stones, sticks and guns." Ali says that he traveled overnight from Upper Egypt to participate in the demonstration against the Constituent Assembly. "I have traveled thousands of miles to make my voice heard - he says - I do not want the constitution to be monopolized by a group of extremists." In the early hours of this morning, the square was still occupied by the protesters, who after the flight of the Muslim Brotherhood began to chant anti-Morsi slogans, comparing him to former President Mubarak.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS
The two demonstrations took place simultaneously in the historic Tahrir Square. The situation degenerated when a group of Islamists attacked the stage of the young liberals with stones, Molotov cocktails and pellet guns. The young liberal parties protest against the Constituent Assembly dominated by Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood against the acquittal of 24 members of the former regime of Mubarak, the alleged perpetrators of the "battle of the camels."
_1012_-_Piazza_Tahrir.jpg)
Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Violent clashes with hundreds of casualties yesterday in Tahrir Square during a double protest by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and militant democratic movements. The first was a protest against the courts verdict which acquitted 24 officials of the former regime of Mubarak believed to be responsible for the "Battle of the Camel" during the Jasmine Revolution. The Young Democrats instead took to the streets to challenge the first 100 days of President Mohammed Morsi and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood accused of monopolizing the institutions of the Constituent Assembly and the courts, upholding justice only for their affiliates. The violence broke out when a group of Morsi supporters attacked and burned the stage set up by young liberals and progressives. In a short time the entire area surrounding the square was turned into a battlefield with stone throwing on either side, cars set on fire and barricades.
According to members of the democratic April 6 movement, born during the Jasmine Revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood did not have permission to demonstrate. "Our sit-in - said one of the young people - was authorized by the police several months ago. The verdict of 'battle of the camels' dates to 11 October." According to witnesses, members of the Brotherhood have occupied the square with their coach trying to disrupt the demonstration against the Constituent Assembly. The assault on the stage which was starting the rally sparked the anger of young people who took it out on vehicles parked on the sides of the square. The police clashes believe the clashes were caused by groups of thugs hidden among protesters.
"Everyone always blames these thugs - said one of the protesters - but who are they? We reacted when the Muslim Brotherhood began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at us for no reason, some even had guns with lead pellets, which have hurt some guys the legs. Ours was an exasperated reaction. "
Ali Abdel-Menoim, another young man, said: "I am against those who burn buses, but also against the Muslim Brotherhood, which came to a peaceful protest with stones, sticks and guns." Ali says that he traveled overnight from Upper Egypt to participate in the demonstration against the Constituent Assembly. "I have traveled thousands of miles to make my voice heard - he says - I do not want the constitution to be monopolized by a group of extremists." In the early hours of this morning, the square was still occupied by the protesters, who after the flight of the Muslim Brotherhood began to chant anti-Morsi slogans, comparing him to former President Mubarak.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS
AUSTRALIA : ANNUAL MARRIAGE SUNDAY - REMEMBERING WEDDING STARS
Catholic Communications, Sydney
Archdiocese,
12 Oct 2012
Memories will no
doubt come flooding back for many people attending the annual Marriage Sunday
Mass at St Mary's Cathedral this week. However for one man it will be the memory
of the time he was a page boy at his uncle's wedding - St Mary's and the city's
first big "celebrity" wedding.
Long before the paparazzi and the rise of international superstars there was Cyril Ritchard whose marriage to Sydney actress, Madge Elliott at St Mary's Cathedral on 16 September 1935 was a huge event.
The wedding between the stars of J.C. Williamson musicals as well as smash hit shows in London's West End attracted a crowd of more than 7000 on College Street around the Western doors of St Mary's Cathedral.
Unsurprisingly, most of those in the crowd were female and ardent fans of the handsome, dashing, Cyril Ritchard who would later go on to become a Broadway and movie star, an acclaimed director and winner of countless awards.
By 1935 he was already well on his way having played a pivotal role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1931 thriller, Blackmail followed by roles in English films such as Danny Boy and Piccadilly.
Fans of both Cyril and
Madge began gathering outside the Cathedral early on the morning of their
wedding. By noon numbers had swelled to several thousand and police were brought
in to erect barricades to contain the crowd and prevent accidents from the trams
going up and down College Street.
The crowd jostled against one another impatiently waiting for the groom and the bride to make their appearance. Finally at 2.45 pm the couple's 300 invited wedding guests began making their way into the Cathedral. Then shortly before 3 pm Cyril himself arrived to loud cheers. A short time later the roar of the crowd reached fever pitch as the bride wearing a London-designed gown and carrying a bouquet of lilies stepped out of the bridal car followed by her bridesmaids and a five-year-old pageboy.
The pageboy was Cyril's nephew, John Goldrick who 22 years later, emulated his uncle by falling in love and choosing to be married at St Mary's Cathedral. John and Margaret Goldrick's wedding took place at the Cathedral on 6 July 1957.
Fifty-five years later,
former pageboy John Goldrick and his bride, Margaret are still very much in love
and the proud parents of five children and devoted grandparents to 13.
Now in their 80s, they never miss the 10.30 Solemn High Mass at St Mary's Cathedral each Sunday. But this Sunday will have a very special meaning for them both when they join 50 other couples who were also married at the Cathedral.
Sunday, 14 October is Marriage Sunday at the Cathedral when St Mary's annual Mass of Thanksgiving for those who married at the Cathedral is held and where the couples have a chance to renew their vows and receive a special blessing.
With the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell currently in Rome for the Synod of Bishops, the Mass of Thanksgiving this weekend will be celebrated by the Cathedral's Dean, Father Paul Hilder. As is customary, Fr Hilder will also present commemorative certificates to those couples who celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary this year.
After the 10.30 am
Mass, the 50 couples and family members will join Fr Hilder at the Cathedral's
Chapel House to share their stories, meet one another and enjoy morning tea.
Also there will be a pianist who will entertain the group on the Chapel House
Steinway Grand Piano with a selection of special favourites.
For the couples attending this year's Mass of Thanksgiving for those married at the Cathedral, the day is certain to bring back many memories, especially of their own wedding day whether it was just last year or more than half a century ago.
But for Margaret Goldrick's husband John, the day will not only trigger recollections of his own marriage in 1957, but will spark recollections of the wedding 77 years ago when dressed in pale blue velvet and on his very best behaviour, he served as pageboy at his uncle Cyril's wedding to his on-stage partner, Madge Elliott.
While Cyril Ritchard is largely unknown to Gen Y and Gen X, older movie fans and film buffs will recall him and the time when he had an enormous following not only as Australia's favourite actor and leading man but as one of our first bona fide international movie stars.
The eldest of five, Cyril was born in Sydney in 1897, grew up in Double Bay and attended St Aloysius College, Riverwood. Although he originally began to study medicine at the University of Sydney, after being cast in the university shows and revues and against the wishes of his family he quit his medical studies and entered show business.
Performing in J C Williamson hit musicals,
Cyril and rising young star, actress-dancer Madge Elliott became famous as a
partnership on stage and after arriving in London, the partnership became
legendary after they starred in a series of musicals and revues. They returned
to Australia in 1932 as two of the nation's most popular stars.
After their marriage in 1935, the pair was dubbed "the Musical Lunts" after America's first couple of stage, Alfred and Lynn Lunt and starred together in plays and musicals. But although Cyril's early popularity was as a dashing leading man, he would find international stardom and acclaim as a director as well as a character actor. He won a Tony for his performance as Captain Hook on Broadway in a production of Peter Pan, starring opposite Mary Martin. Tragically it was while he was playing Hook on stage in New York that Madge, was diagnosed with leukaemia. Married for 20 years, this was devastating news and came on top of the couple's sadness at their only child being stillborn.
Madge died in 1955 of bone cancer.
Cyril who had been a devout Catholic all his life, lived another 22 years winning awards for roles in the hit musicals such as The Smell of the Greasepaint, the Roar of the Crowd as well as working in movies such as Half a Sixpence with Tommy Steele.
Throughout his life he kept in touch with his family in Sydney and make frequent visits home.
The actor-director died in Chicago in December `1977. He was 80 years old.
Marriage Sunday and the Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at St Mary's Cathedral at 10.30 am on Sunday, 14 October.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
12 Oct 2012
Cyril Ritchard and Madge Elliott leave St
Mary's after their wedding on 16 September 1935
Long before the paparazzi and the rise of international superstars there was Cyril Ritchard whose marriage to Sydney actress, Madge Elliott at St Mary's Cathedral on 16 September 1935 was a huge event.
The wedding between the stars of J.C. Williamson musicals as well as smash hit shows in London's West End attracted a crowd of more than 7000 on College Street around the Western doors of St Mary's Cathedral.
Unsurprisingly, most of those in the crowd were female and ardent fans of the handsome, dashing, Cyril Ritchard who would later go on to become a Broadway and movie star, an acclaimed director and winner of countless awards.
By 1935 he was already well on his way having played a pivotal role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1931 thriller, Blackmail followed by roles in English films such as Danny Boy and Piccadilly.
Cyril Ritchard and Madge Elliott headlined in
musicals and revues in Australia and London
The crowd jostled against one another impatiently waiting for the groom and the bride to make their appearance. Finally at 2.45 pm the couple's 300 invited wedding guests began making their way into the Cathedral. Then shortly before 3 pm Cyril himself arrived to loud cheers. A short time later the roar of the crowd reached fever pitch as the bride wearing a London-designed gown and carrying a bouquet of lilies stepped out of the bridal car followed by her bridesmaids and a five-year-old pageboy.
The pageboy was Cyril's nephew, John Goldrick who 22 years later, emulated his uncle by falling in love and choosing to be married at St Mary's Cathedral. John and Margaret Goldrick's wedding took place at the Cathedral on 6 July 1957.
John and Margaret Goldrick leave St Mary's
Cathedral after their wedding on 6 July 1957
Now in their 80s, they never miss the 10.30 Solemn High Mass at St Mary's Cathedral each Sunday. But this Sunday will have a very special meaning for them both when they join 50 other couples who were also married at the Cathedral.
Sunday, 14 October is Marriage Sunday at the Cathedral when St Mary's annual Mass of Thanksgiving for those who married at the Cathedral is held and where the couples have a chance to renew their vows and receive a special blessing.
With the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell currently in Rome for the Synod of Bishops, the Mass of Thanksgiving this weekend will be celebrated by the Cathedral's Dean, Father Paul Hilder. As is customary, Fr Hilder will also present commemorative certificates to those couples who celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary this year.
Five year old pageboy, John Goldrick with Cyril
Ritchard's bride,Madge Elliott and her bridesmaids
For the couples attending this year's Mass of Thanksgiving for those married at the Cathedral, the day is certain to bring back many memories, especially of their own wedding day whether it was just last year or more than half a century ago.
But for Margaret Goldrick's husband John, the day will not only trigger recollections of his own marriage in 1957, but will spark recollections of the wedding 77 years ago when dressed in pale blue velvet and on his very best behaviour, he served as pageboy at his uncle Cyril's wedding to his on-stage partner, Madge Elliott.
While Cyril Ritchard is largely unknown to Gen Y and Gen X, older movie fans and film buffs will recall him and the time when he had an enormous following not only as Australia's favourite actor and leading man but as one of our first bona fide international movie stars.
The eldest of five, Cyril was born in Sydney in 1897, grew up in Double Bay and attended St Aloysius College, Riverwood. Although he originally began to study medicine at the University of Sydney, after being cast in the university shows and revues and against the wishes of his family he quit his medical studies and entered show business.
Cyril Ritchard and Anny Ogden in Hitchcock's
1931 thriller Blackmail
After their marriage in 1935, the pair was dubbed "the Musical Lunts" after America's first couple of stage, Alfred and Lynn Lunt and starred together in plays and musicals. But although Cyril's early popularity was as a dashing leading man, he would find international stardom and acclaim as a director as well as a character actor. He won a Tony for his performance as Captain Hook on Broadway in a production of Peter Pan, starring opposite Mary Martin. Tragically it was while he was playing Hook on stage in New York that Madge, was diagnosed with leukaemia. Married for 20 years, this was devastating news and came on top of the couple's sadness at their only child being stillborn.
Cyril Ritchard in his Tony winning role as
Captain Hook on Broadway
Cyril who had been a devout Catholic all his life, lived another 22 years winning awards for roles in the hit musicals such as The Smell of the Greasepaint, the Roar of the Crowd as well as working in movies such as Half a Sixpence with Tommy Steele.
Throughout his life he kept in touch with his family in Sydney and make frequent visits home.
The actor-director died in Chicago in December `1977. He was 80 years old.
Marriage Sunday and the Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at St Mary's Cathedral at 10.30 am on Sunday, 14 October.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
EUROPE : POLAND : CHARITY HELPS HOMELESS
| IND. CATH. NEWS REPORT | ||||
|
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SAT. OCT. 13, 2012
| Luke
11: 27 - 28
| |
| 27 | As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!" |
| 28 | But he said, "Blessed rather
are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" |
TODAY'S SAINT: OCT. 13: ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR
St. Edward the
Confessor
KING OF ENGLAND
Feast: October 13
Information:
Feast Day:
October 13
Born:
1003 at Islip, Oxford, England
Died:
5 January 1066
Canonized:
1161
Major Shrine:
Westminster Abbey
Patron of:
difficult marriages, kings. separated spouses
King of England, born in 1003; died 5 January, 1066. He was the son of Ethelred II and Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, being thus half-brother to King Edmund Ironside, Ethelred's son by his first wife, and to King Hardicanute, Emma's son by her second marriage with Canute. When hardly ten years old he was sent with his brother Alfred into Normandy to be brought up at the court of the duke his uncle, the Danes having gained the mastery in England. Thus he spent the best years of his life in exile, the crown having been settled by Canute, with Emma's consent, upon his own offspring by her. Early misfortune thus taught Edward the folly of ambition, and he grew up in innocence, delighting chiefly in assisting at Mass and the church offices, and in association with religious, whilst not disdaining the pleasures of the chase, or recreations suited to his station. Upon Canute's death in 1035 his illegitimate son, Harold, seized the throne, Hardicanute being then in Denmark, and Edward and his brother Alfred were persuaded to make an attempt to gain the crown, which resulted in the cruel death of Alfred who had fallen into Harold's hands, whilst Edward was obliged to return to Normandy. On Hardicanute's sudden death in 1042, Edward was called by acclamation to the throne at the age of about forty, being welcomed even by the Danish settlers owing to his gentle saintly character. His reign was one of almost unbroken peace, the threatened invasion of Canute's son, Sweyn of Norway, being averted by the opportune attack on him by Sweyn of Denmark; and the internal difficulties occasioned by the ambition of Earl Godwin and his sons being settled without bloodshed by Edward's own gentleness and prudence. He undertook no wars except to repel an inroad of the Welsh, and to assist Malcolm III of Scotland against Macbeth, the usurper of his throne. Being devoid of personal ambition, Edward's one aim was the welfare of his people. He remitted the odious "Danegelt", which had needlessly continued to be levied; and though profuse in alms to the poor and for religious purposes, he made his own royal patrimony suffice without imposing taxes. Such was the contentment caused by "the good St. Edward's laws", that their enactment was repeatedly demanded by later generations, when they felt themselves oppressed.
Yielding to the entreaty of his nobles, he accepted as his consort the virtuous Editha, Earl Godwin's daughter. Having, however, made a vow of chastity, he first required her agreement to live with him only as a sister. As he could not leave his kingdom without injury to his people, the making of a pilgrimage to St. Peter's tomb, to which he had bound himself, was commuted by the pope into the rebuilding at Westminster of St. Peter's abbey, the dedication of which took place but a week before his death, and in which he was buried. St. Edward was the first King of England to touch for the "king's evil", many sufferers from the disease were cured by him. He was canonized by Alexander III in 1161. His feast is kept on the 13th of October, his incorrupt body having been solemnly translated on that day in 1163 by St. Thomas of Canterbury in the presence of King Henry II.
KING OF ENGLAND
Feast: October 13
Information:
Feast Day:
October 13
Born:
1003 at Islip, Oxford, England
Died:
5 January 1066
Canonized:
1161
Major Shrine:
Westminster Abbey
Patron of:
difficult marriages, kings. separated spouses
King of England, born in 1003; died 5 January, 1066. He was the son of Ethelred II and Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, being thus half-brother to King Edmund Ironside, Ethelred's son by his first wife, and to King Hardicanute, Emma's son by her second marriage with Canute. When hardly ten years old he was sent with his brother Alfred into Normandy to be brought up at the court of the duke his uncle, the Danes having gained the mastery in England. Thus he spent the best years of his life in exile, the crown having been settled by Canute, with Emma's consent, upon his own offspring by her. Early misfortune thus taught Edward the folly of ambition, and he grew up in innocence, delighting chiefly in assisting at Mass and the church offices, and in association with religious, whilst not disdaining the pleasures of the chase, or recreations suited to his station. Upon Canute's death in 1035 his illegitimate son, Harold, seized the throne, Hardicanute being then in Denmark, and Edward and his brother Alfred were persuaded to make an attempt to gain the crown, which resulted in the cruel death of Alfred who had fallen into Harold's hands, whilst Edward was obliged to return to Normandy. On Hardicanute's sudden death in 1042, Edward was called by acclamation to the throne at the age of about forty, being welcomed even by the Danish settlers owing to his gentle saintly character. His reign was one of almost unbroken peace, the threatened invasion of Canute's son, Sweyn of Norway, being averted by the opportune attack on him by Sweyn of Denmark; and the internal difficulties occasioned by the ambition of Earl Godwin and his sons being settled without bloodshed by Edward's own gentleness and prudence. He undertook no wars except to repel an inroad of the Welsh, and to assist Malcolm III of Scotland against Macbeth, the usurper of his throne. Being devoid of personal ambition, Edward's one aim was the welfare of his people. He remitted the odious "Danegelt", which had needlessly continued to be levied; and though profuse in alms to the poor and for religious purposes, he made his own royal patrimony suffice without imposing taxes. Such was the contentment caused by "the good St. Edward's laws", that their enactment was repeatedly demanded by later generations, when they felt themselves oppressed.
Yielding to the entreaty of his nobles, he accepted as his consort the virtuous Editha, Earl Godwin's daughter. Having, however, made a vow of chastity, he first required her agreement to live with him only as a sister. As he could not leave his kingdom without injury to his people, the making of a pilgrimage to St. Peter's tomb, to which he had bound himself, was commuted by the pope into the rebuilding at Westminster of St. Peter's abbey, the dedication of which took place but a week before his death, and in which he was buried. St. Edward was the first King of England to touch for the "king's evil", many sufferers from the disease were cured by him. He was canonized by Alexander III in 1161. His feast is kept on the 13th of October, his incorrupt body having been solemnly translated on that day in 1163 by St. Thomas of Canterbury in the presence of King Henry II.
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