November 16th.

St. Edmund of Abingdon.

He was born in the Thames-side town of Abingdon, south of Oxford, in about 1175; the son of a merchant, his family name ‘Rich’ is in fact a reference to the traditional profession of his family. He was educated at Oxford University, then a recent foundation, and later was to teach there for some six years (the college known as St. Edmund Hall is named after him). As a priest he was an outstanding administrator, teacher, and man of peace and prayer. He was in charge of the finances for the great cathedral of Salisbury, then being built, and in 1233 was made Archbishop of Canterbury.

This was a time of great unrest and change; 18 years before, the barons had forced from King John the famous statement of rights known as Magna Carta, while King John’s own disputes with the Church had led to the Pope’s imposition of the ‘Great Interdict’ when English church life was suspended, the buildings were closed and sacraments could not be celebrated. In trying to restore the balance after this stormy time, Edmund was decisive, but just, in his dealings with King Henry III, helped by the strong team he built up which included Richard de Wych, better known to us as St. Richard of Chichester.

Edmund died in France on November 16, 1240, while on a journey to Rome in connection with the Church/State disputes in England, and is buried at the former Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny, some 100 miles S.E. of Paris. His motto, playing on his family name, is ‘caclum dives ingredi’— to enter heaven rich.