Saint Edward the Confessor, King & Confessor (1962 Roman Calendar)

Q: When is the feast of Saint Edward the Confessor?

His feast is kept on 13 October in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. This is the date of the translation of his relics; he died on 5 January 1066.

Saint Edward, called the Confessor, was a king of the English in the eleventh century, the son of King Ethelred. Much of his youth was spent in exile abroad during a time of war and upheaval in his native land; and it is said that, amid those uncertain years, he made a vow of devotion to God and committed his cause wholly to divine providence. In due time he was called back to England and raised to the throne of his fathers, and he set himself to govern his people in peace and in the fear of God.

A peaceable and devout king

As king, Saint Edward was renowned for his gentleness, his justice, and his charity to the poor, and the memory of his reign was long cherished as a season of peace. He was a man of prayer, reverent toward the Church and devoted to the worship of God, and he is especially remembered for the rebuilding of the great abbey church at Westminster, which he endowed and which became the place of his own burial. Tradition relates that he was generous in almsgiving and tender toward the needy, and that he bore the cares of his office with a spirit of humility and trust in God.

The accounts of his life, gathered after his death, tell also of his personal purity and of a reputation for holiness that spread among his people, so that miracles came to be attributed to his intercession. While the historian must distinguish what is certain from what later devotion added, the constant witness of the English people honoured Saint Edward as a just and holy ruler, and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.

His veneration

Saint Edward died on the fifth of January, 1066; his feast, however, is kept on the thirteenth of October, the day on which his relics were solemnly translated. He was canonised in the following century, and his name was long held in honour throughout England, where he was venerated as one of the patrons of the realm. The collect of his feast praises God who crowned blessed King Edward with the glory of eternity, and asks that we may so venerate him on earth as to reign with him in heaven.

In Saint Edward the Confessor the Church honours a sovereign who ruled in peace and righteousness, who loved the house of God, and who showed that the duties of a crown may be sanctified by humility, charity, and the fear of God. He is numbered among those holy kings whom the Church holds up as examples that earthly power, rightly used, may serve the kingdom of heaven.

The Collect

O God, who didst crown blessed King Edward thy Confessor with the glory of eternity: grant, we beseech thee; that we who venerate him on earth may be found worthy to reign together with him in heaven.

Deus, qui beátum regem Eduárdum Confessórem tuum æternitátis glória coronásti: fac nos, quæsumus; ita eum venerári in terris, ut cum eo regnáre possímus in cœlis.

Patronage

He is venerated as one of the patron saints of England and of the kingdom’s monarchs, and is honoured among the holy kings as a model of Christian rule; Westminster Abbey, which he rebuilt, has long been associated with his name.

In the Modern Calendar

In the modern calendar he is no longer kept on the universal calendar, though he continues to be honoured on 13 October in England and among those who venerate him.

Common Questions

When is the feast of Saint Edward the Confessor?

His feast is kept on 13 October in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. This is the date of the translation of his relics; he died on 5 January 1066.

Who was Saint Edward the Confessor?

He was an eleventh-century King of England, renowned for his gentleness, justice, and piety, and for rebuilding the abbey church at Westminster. After years of exile in his youth he was restored to the throne and governed his people in peace. He died in 1066 and was canonised in the following century.

Why is he called ‘the Confessor’?

The title “Confessor” is given to a saint who bore faithful witness to Christ by a holy life but did not die a martyr. It distinguishes Saint Edward the king from other saints named Edward, including Saint Edward the Martyr, an earlier English king.

See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.

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