Saint John Neumann, Bishop

Edward the Confessor was born between 1003 and 1005 at Islip in Oxfordshire, the son of King Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. His early life was marked by upheaval as Viking invasions drove his family into exile in Normandy, where Edward spent many years and grew in prayerful devotion. After the deaths of Cnut’s sons and the turmoil of rival claimants, Edward was recalled to England in 1041 and became king in 1042, restoring the House of Wessex after a generation of Danish rule. His reign of nearly twenty-four years was remembered for a kingly piety that later generations cherished, even as political tensions simmered among powerful nobles. Edward died without an heir on 5 January 1066, and the struggles that followed opened the way to the Norman Conquest. About a century later, Pope Alexander III canonized him as a “confessor,” honoring his holiness without martyrdom. He is honored as patron of places and institutions including Altos de Chipión, Saint-Édouard, Sestriere, and St. Edward Central Catholic High School. His feast day is January 5.