King of East Anglia, Martyr, 870 -- Commemoration
Today we recall Edmund, an Anglo-Saxon king who was martyred in the year 870. He was raised in the Christian faith and at the age of twenty-three succeeded his father on the throne of East Anglia. His kingdom lay on England's coast and was expecially vulnerable to the Vikings, who were sea-faring marauders from Scandinavia. Five years after Edmund began his reign they mounted a huge raid upon his kingdom and shattered the East Anglin army in a single battle. Edmund himself was captured and brought before the Viking leader, who offered to spare the king's life if he renounced the Christian faith. Edmund rejected the offer and confessed Christ before his captor. Tradition says that the Vikings tied him to a tree, scourged him brutally, then riddled him with arrows and finally beheaded him. Once his murderers had departed, the East Anglians recovered the body of their king and eventually interred it with honour at the town of Bedricsworth, which ever since then has been called Bury St. Edmunds. The reputation of King Edmund the Martyr spread beyond the borders of East Anglia, and he became a national saint, honoured by all the English for his valour in holding on to Christ even at the cost of his life.
O God, who called your servant Edmund through the brutal trial of martyrdom from an earthly to a heavenly throne, mercifully grant that, holding him in remembrance, we may be fruitful in good works and attain to the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.