WHO WAS ST. EDWARD THE MARTYR?

ST. EDWARD was the son of King Edgar the Peaceable, and succeeded to the throne of his father as King of England in 975 A.D. Of his character and piety we have his testimonial from Theodoric Paulus: "St. Edward was a young man of great devotion and excellent conduct; he was wholly Catholic, good and and of holy life; moreover, above all things he loved God and the Church; he was generous to the poor, a haven to the good, a champion of the Faith of Christ, a vessel full of every virtuous grace." He was an earnest supporter of the monastics in the life of the Church, as his father had been before him. But this aroused the displeasure of the powerful secular party within the Church, and, as so often happens in Church life, that displeasure found allies with ambition and jealousy, and the young king was brutally murdered at Corfe in Dorset in 979 A.D. After his death, the miracles worked through his intercessions have confirmed the testimony of his pious life and his martyrdom.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HIS RELICS

The day following his death, the king's body was taken to Wareham and laid to rest there. No sooner was he buried than miracles began to occur, and we read that "a spring of clear water broke out from beside the grave, and many persons bathed their eyes in it to receive the benefit of restored sight." On the account of the multitude of the miracles it was decided to translate the sacred relics to Shaftesbury; and when they were taken up from the grave, they were found to be whole and incorrupt. This translation and the reburial of the saint with full royal honors took place in 981 A.D. In the year 1001 A.D., the sacred relics were again taken up from the grave and placed in an elaborate shrine in the Shaftesbury Abbey church, because, through the miraculous "levitation" of his tomb, the saint had made known that he wished to be exhumed. This "levitation" was inf act the slight raising of the tomb from the ground each day, and was witnessed by many. The relics at this time were found to be fragrant, and the bishops there bore witness that they felt that they were standing amid the delights of paradise. So great was the fame of St. Edward that the town of Shaftesbury became known as St. Edward's Borough.

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

In the sixteenth century, during the reign of Henery VIII, when, at his command, the dissolution of the English monasteries began, when so many holy places were demolished, the sacred relics of St. Edward escaped destruction, being hidden, perhaps by the nuns of the abbey, perhaps by Henry's Royal Commissioners themselves, for it must be remembered that only two years previous to the dissolution King Henery had desired a long-awaited heir to his throne, whose name was Prince Edward. The destruction of the undoubted remains of a saint, martyr and former King of England bearing the same name as the heir, the king's only son, would without doubt have provoked the wrath of the monarch.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY RELICS

In 1931, the sacred and holy relics were recovered during an archaeological excavation conducted at the ruins of Shaftesbury Abbey by the present donor, Mr. Wilson-Claridge. The bones were later examined by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an eminent osteologist, who, at the end of a lengthy report on the bones, concludes: "I cannot escape the conviction on historical, anatomical and surgical grounds that, beyond all reasonable doubt, we have here the bones of St. Edward, King and Martyr."

THE DONATION OF THE HOLY RELICS TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Since 1979, the appointed Administrator in England of the British Diocese, of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Archimandrite Alexis heard of the holy relics of King Edward and wrote to the present donor, who, after some correspondence, agreed to give them to the Church to be reverently enshrined. A decree from the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, dated 15/28 March 1979, recognized the desire to obtain the holy relics and asked for some evidence of the authenticity of the bones. It seems that the bishops were impressed by the similarity between the Life of St. Edward and the circumstances of his murder and that of the holy Russian passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. On 6/19 September the Synod of Bishops decided to accept without reservations the authenticity of the holy relics wheich were being offered to the Church (encylical no.255). Later onwards Fr. Theodore Jurewicz was commisioned by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to paint an icon of St. Edward the Martyr, and a service was prepared to St. Edward.

The progress continued after many kind faithful Orthodox helped to donate land, and prepare a Shrine Church in honor of St. Edward the Martyr. A Church which already existed in the Brookwood Cemetery, in Woking, Surrey England, became the final place to for the holy relics of St. Edward, and a Brotherhood was organized. The cemetery has also become a place for many ethnic Orthodox Christians, as a resting place.

LOCATION OF THE CHURCH OF ST. EDWARD THE MARTYR

A Russian Orthodox Brotherhood exist within the Brookwood Cemetery, located in Woking, Surrey England, and the directions to the Church are:

THE BROOKWOOD CEMETERY SOCIETY : The St Edward Brotherhood

Archimandrite Alexis and several monks and novices are cartakers of the Holy Church of St. Edward the Martyr.

The address is:

St. Edward Brotherhood
St. Cyprianos Ave.
Brookwood, Woking
England U. K.
Tel. 44(0)1483-48-7763

Thanks To The Kind Assistance Of The Servant Of The Lord, John