Bury St Edmunds

When Rosemary and her papa visited England a number of years ago, they went with Noel Leithart and the children to visit the quaint town of Bury St. Edmunds and see the museums and abbey there. While there they saw a small crowd of people gathered near the abbey. Gilbert happened to strike up a conversation with a nearby Constable who told him that Prince Charles was in the abbey....and if they stood nearby he would be exiting at a particular point. They stood around and as Prince Charles came out he stopped right where their group was standing and shook hands and welcomed them....what a nice chap he was! One of the prince's interests is restoration of ancient abbeys and cathedrals in England, so that was his mission of the day there at Bury St. Edmunds.... and it made for a memorable day for Rosemary and Giii! Here is a little background about how Bury St. Edmunds got its name......it's literal! Edmund of East Anglia, 20 November 870 When the heathen Anglo-Saxons invaded Christian Britain in the 400's, they eventually established seven kingdoms: Essex, Wessex, Sussex (East Saxons, West Saxons, and South Saxons), Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia (three kingdoms of the Angles), and the Jute kingdom of Kent. (The borders between these ancient kingdoms are still borders between regions speaking English with different accents today.) Under the influence of missionaries from the Celts and from continental Europe, these peoples bcame Christian, only to be faced themselves by a wave of heathen invaders. Edmund was born about 840, became King of East Anglia in about 855, and in 870 faced a horde of marauding Danes, who moved through the countryside, burning churches and slaughtering villages wholesale. On reaching East Anglia, their leaders confronted Edmund and offered him peace on condition that he would rule as their vassal and forbid the practice of the Christian faith. Edmund refused this last condition, fought, and was captured. He was ill-treated and killed. His burial place is the town of Bury St. Edmunds. written by James Kiefer Prayer O God of ineffable mercy, who gave grace and fortitude to blessed Edmund the king to triumph over the enemy of his poeple by nobly dying for your Name: Bestow on us your servants the shield of faith, with which we can withstand the assaults of our ancient enemy; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.