Oct 13th - Edward the Confessor

What makes someone a saint? Certainly we often look back with fondness upon the lives of those we loved, or in the case of a country, on the times before 1066.
Historians disagree about the worthiness of Edward to be in the canon of saints, but his cult arose early and must be attached to more than just nostalgia. Perhaps, as the only officially canonized monarch of England, it was more than just a thank you for the support of the papacy of Alexander III. The problem is the truth is lost to history.
Still, it is the stories, like those of so many early martyrs, that inspire us. Perhaps his lack of heirs corresponds to a desire for chastity and holiness. Perhaps the distance at the end of his reign was due to his desire to spend his life more in prayer than politics.
Perhaps not.
But we should, within our daily work, strive to be more holy whether king or peasant.

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Let us defend ourselves from the risk of being actors rather than witnesses. We are called to be living memory of the Lord.

-- Pope Francis