Edward's status as an Orthodox saint is somewhat ambiguous given that his life overlapped the beginning of the Great Schism and he was not formally glorified by the Pope until 1161. Personally I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. It is questionable whether the Church in England had any knowledge, or would have cared if they did, of the breach in communion between the Pope of Rome and Patriarch in Constantinople. It was a purely local schism in those days.
Because I know you care about these kinds of details: The icon you have here is St. Edward the Martyr (+978), not St. Edward the Confessor (+1066).
ReplyDeleteOuch! Good catch. I think I have another one in reserve. Going to look now.
ReplyDeleteI have long questioned just how England in particular just in an instance became heretical. The answer I get is that it didn't. So why can't the continuing Anglican be the remaining Orthodox of the West that the gates of Hell did not prevail against? I know it may be a stretch but it seems as plausible as a Donkey talking.
ReplyDeleteI think that Roman Catholicism came over to these shores with the Norman Conquest. William of Normandy marched under the Papal banner, after all.
ReplyDeleteA blessed feast and Octave to you, John!
One of the highlights of my only trip abroad was standing at the tomb of Edward the Confessor, in Westminster Abbey. This was long before I knew anything about veneration of relics, but it was an extremely moving experience.
ReplyDeleteIs there evidence of his sanctity apart from papalized partisanship? I've heard that he was a mediocrity who sold out his country to the Normans and that tales of his freedom from luxuria arose laughably long after his death.
ReplyDelete