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Edwardtide Digital Pilgrimage

On Saturday 19th October, pilgrims will visit Westminster Abbey to remember the life and legacy of Edward the Confessor. Edward's Shrine lies at the heart of the Abbey, and pilgrims throughout the centuries have found themselves there, kneeling in the stone niches to pray. This year, you can participate from wherever you call home.

Although you may not be able to join us in person this year, we want to invite you to partake in this digital pilgrimage around Westminster Abbey during Edwardtide (13th -20th October 2024). 

Make yourself a cup of tea, and find a quiet space. We recommend having a pen and paper nearby. You also may choose to light a candle or do something else to help yourself enter into this time. 

As you scroll, you'll find a series of images, poems, and reflections which will transport you around Westminster Abbey, following in the footsteps of pilgrims today to reflect on Edward's life. You can see the route you'll follow through the Abbey in the map below. You might choose to read the poems, or listen to some of them being read aloud by members of the Abbey community. 

Finally, you'll be invited to share any reflections you have at the end of the pilgrimage, or a poem based on your experience of Edward the Confessor's story. 

Thank you for joining us on pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage Route
King Eadward, Lord of the English

King Eadward, Lord of the English

Listen to the poem here

An Anglo-Saxon Poem

Anonymous

In this year King Eadward, lord of the English, 

sent his truth-fast soul unto Christ

into the protection of God and the Holy Spirit.

He dwelt for a while in this world

among royal hosts, skilled in counsel,

for twenty-four and one-half counts of winter,

generous sovereign, distributing riches,

the wielder of heroes, ruling excellently well

over Wales and Scotland and Britain as well,

the child of Æthelræd, over the Angles and Saxons,

over the champions, as they were embraced

by the frigid seas, so that they all obeyed

loyally Eadward, the noble king,

these brave and young men.

The king empty of evil was ever blithe-minded,

though he was deprived of land for a long time before,

dwelling upon the exile-trail, widely throughout the earth

since Cnut conquered the kindred of Æthelræd

and the Danes ruled over the precious realm

of England for twenty-eight counts of winter,

sharing out its wealth. Afterwards the king

chosen by God emerged forth, in plenteous armament,

pure and mild, Eadward the noble

defending his homeland, the country and its people,

until death the bitter came upon him quickly

and seized that nobleman so dear from the earth—

angels ferried that truth-fast soul into the heaven’s light.

In front of you, on the North Wall of the Abbey, you can see a stained-glass window depicting Edward.  

We come to this place at this time to remember Edward the Confessor as both a saint and a fallible human. This anonymous poem remembers him not only as someone who had saintly virtues, but also as somebody’s child - a man who experienced exile, who wielded power, who had to deal with the economy and all the duties of kingship. 

Here at Westminster Abbey, you follow in the footsteps of Kings and Queens and all those memorialized here: leaders, scientists, soldiers, and artists. But ultimately, they were all fellow children of God. It is good for you to be here, for as we come in pilgrimage to the shrine of this Saint who was also a man, we come with our own sorrows and trials, yet always bearing in our bodies the seeds of grace.   

When you are ready, you may wish to light a candle or enjoy a moment of silence before moving on to the Quire Screen. 

This is the Gate of Heaven

This is the Gate of Heaven

Listen to the poem here

An Excerpt from God's Trombones

James Weldon Johnson

O Lord, we come this morning 

Knee-bowed and body-bent 

Before Thy throne of grace. 

O Lord—this morning— 

Bow our hearts beneath our knees, 

And our knees in some lonesome valley. 

We come this morning— 

Like empty pitchers to a full fountain, 

With no merits of our own. 

O Lord—open up a window of heaven, 

And lean out far over the battlements of glory, 

And listen this morning. 

If you were a medieval pilgrim, stepping through the Screen into the Quire would have been like stepping into another world. This was the place where the choir and clergy sang their prayers and celebrated the Mass. In the middle of the Lantern is the place where every English king since William the Conqueror has been crowned. For pilgrims, there has always been a sense of moving between worlds – the physical act of travel mirroring the spiritual journey to another place. To arrive is not an ending, however, but a beginning.  

This portion of James Weldon Johnson’s poem seeks to convey something of the power and poetry of Black American preachers. It is an invocation – a call to prayer for those who are listening, and a request to God to hear those prayers. The prayer prepares the way, setting the scene for that glimpse of heaven. As you enter the Quire, consider the threshold which you are stepping over. Perhaps you may find in Johnson’s poem words to inspire a prayer at the beginning of your journey around the Abbey.  

The Builder of all things is God (Heb 3:4)

The Builder of all things is God (Heb 3:4)

Listen to the poem here

The Builder

Jamie Sexton Holme 

Let others make their little songs 

Of little tones and fine, 

But to this melodist belongs  

The clear and rhythmic line 

Of springing arch and lyric tower, 

Clean curve, and leaping spire. 

It will not perish in an hour, 

The song of his desire. 

 

He needs no other craft to ply –  

All arts are in his own. 

He writes his sonnets on the sky 

In syllables of stone. 

While poets work with lagging words, 

His steeples soar like singing birds. 

Our first poem remembered Edward as soldier, statesman and King, but he was also a builder. Edward built this Abbey, re-founding and enlarging an existing monastery in honour of St Peter the Apostle. The building of the Abbey was more than just a grand building project. Standing on the shores of Normandy in exile, Edward had sworn that if he ever became King of England he would undertake a pilgrimage to Rome. By the time he became king, it was too difficult and dangerous for his councillors to agree for him to leave, and so he received permission from the Pope to found a monastery to Saint Peter instead. He built it as an expression of thanksgiving for his crown as well as his burial place. He constructed it close to his royal palace on the river Thames.  

Jamie Sexton Holme imagines the builder as a poet, inscribing upon the air the ‘clear and rhythmic line’ of arch and tower. The building itself is ‘the song of his desire.’ Look at the intricate stonework and graceful architecture in this image. As you gaze upon the stones of this holy place, what desires do you bring with you? 

“the glory of the Lord filled his temple” (1 Kings 8:10)

“the glory of the Lord filled his temple” (1 Kings 8:10)

An Excerpt from Vie de seint Aedward le Rei

Matthew of Paris

..."Sirs,” says he, “Christian people,  

For you hear some news, 

My heart leaps for joy for it;  

Anything so strange or glorious 

You never heard, so marvellous;  

At night descended the grace 

Of God from Heaven in this place. 

Our Sire Almighty Jesus 

From Heaven sent the shining one,  

This night to dedicate, 

Know well, this holy monastery, 

Saint Peter, who is of the keys of Heaven 

Powerful and spiritual keeper; 

The news are assuredly certain, 

And evident the marks 

Of the twelve crosses, the anointing, 

The writings in the sand.  

Nor should I dare to interfere 

In putting other blessing there; 

And he prevents and forbids 

Us from violating what he commands. 

Well assured am I with confidence 

That he the service has accomplished 

Sufficiently, better, and in a more saintly manner, 

Than a hundred such (as I), in truth, could. 

By a vision am I certain, 

And by the testimony of this fisherman, 

With other signs which I have 

Said, the truth I well know, 

You ought much to love this spot 

Henceforward and to honour it;  

For Saint Peter, who is vicar 

Of God, says it should be his frequent resort: 

Of your sins he will absolve you 

And will receive you in Heaven...” 

 

All those who the news hear 

Loudly praise the miracles of God;  

At this time and henceforward 

To monastery men paid great honour, 

And flourished in green memory 

The history of this dedication.  

 

The fisherman and his lineage 

To give acknowledgement of their homage, 

To Saint Peter give a large portion 

Of what they gain by their trade...

Edward applied to the Pope for permission to re-found the Abbey, but even before he received the papal charter that gave him that permission, a hermit appeared before Edward and told him which church he should restore. That hermit had seen a vision from Saint Peter, and it was this church he wished Edward to rebuild, knowing Edward’s devotion to the Saint. Saint Peter had long had a fabled connection with the Abbey. Legend told that St Peter himself had appeared to consecrate it in person in the time of St Mellitus, then Bishop of London.  

It is Mellitus’s words that we hear in this portion of a 13th century life of Saint Edward. Originally written in Latin around the time of Edward’s canonisation, this translation into Norman French verse testifies to the rise of the importance of Edward as a Saint.  Whether the inspiration for this legend was some political manoeuvring by the Abbey’s monks, or an expression of awe at the great new Abbey, Mellitus’s words ring in our ears: ‘you ought much to love this spot/henceforth and to honour it.” 

Looking at the sacrarium, or high altar of the Abbey, consider: what fills you with awe?  

Memorial and Memory

Memorial and Memory

Listen to the poem here

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-15

Anonymous

Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
   our ancestors in their generations. 
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
   his majesty from the beginning. 
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
   and made a name for themselves by their valour; 
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
  those who spoke in prophetic oracles; 
those who led the people by their counsels
  and by their knowledge of the people’s lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
  those who composed musical tunes,
  or put verses in writing; 
rich men endowed with resources, 
  living peacefully in their homes—
all these were honoured in their generations,
  and were the pride of their times.
Some of them have left behind a name,
  so that others declare their praise.
But of others there is no memory;
  they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
  they and their children after them.
But these also were godly men,
  whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
their wealth will remain with their descendants,
  and their inheritance with their children’s children.
Their descendants stand by the covenants;
  their children also, for their sake.
Their offspring will continue for ever,
  and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
  but their name lives on generation after generation.
The assembly declares their wisdom,
  and the congregation proclaims their praise. 

Here lies the tomb of Henry III, a king particularly devoted to Edward the Confessor as a Saint, and who built the Abbey and the Shrine which still draws pilgrims like you. Like Edward, Henry faced significant challenges at the beginning of his reign, and he wished to emulate the way in which Edward was said to have brought peace to England and united his people. 

This reading from the book Ecclesiastes could be about all the thousands of people who are buried or memorialised in the Abbey – from plumbers to poets, they lie alongside Kings and the Shrine of the Saint. ‘of others there is no memory’ it says, ‘but these were also Godly men.’ Of the over three thousand graves in the Abbey, only some of them are marked, and only a few of them are the focus of pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is about memory – the memory of the Saint venerated here.

Think about the many people who are memorialised at the Abbey. How are the people important to you remembered? What would you like to be remembered for? 

The Disciple whom Jesus Loved

The Disciple whom Jesus Loved

An Excerpt from Vie de seint Aedward le Rei

Matthew of Paris

...The king was at the service,  

Where was dedicated the church 

Of Saint John, who to God was dear 

And whom the king could so much love; 

No Saint had he so dear except Saint Peter. 

Lo a poor man, who was there,  

A stranger and unknown, 

When he saw King Edward, 

For the love of Saint John prays him, 

That of his possessions he would give him a part... 

 

...And he reflects, remains silent, 

Looks at his hand, and remembers 

That on his finger he had a cherished ring 

To the poor man he gives it for the love of Saint John, his dear lord... 

 

...Soon after it chanced that 

Two palmers of English birth, 

Who got to seek the Holy Sepulchre 

By a path where no one guides them... 

 

The dark night surprises them.

 

Now behold a band of youths 

In a circle which was very large and beautiful... 

...And an old man white and hoary, 

Brighter than the sun at midday... 

...Salutes them; says “Dear friends, 

Whence come you?... 

 

[The old man leads them to a hostel where they spend the night.] 

 

...In the morning when they depart, 

They find their host and leader, 

Who, when they have issued from the gate,  

Gently thus comforts them: 

“Be not troubled nor sad: 

I am John the Evangelist; 

For love of Edward the king 

I neither will nor ought to fail you, 

For he is my especial 

Friend and loyal king, 

With me he has joined company;  

Since he has chosen to lead a chaste life, 

We shall be peers in Paradise.  

And I tell you, dear good friends, 

You shall arrive, be assured,  

In your country safe and sound: 

You shall go to King Edward,  

Salute him from me, 

And that you attempt not a falsehood 

To say, you shall carry proofs-- 

A ring, which he will know, 

Which he gave to me John, 

When he was at the service, 

Where my church was dedicated; 

There I besought him for the love 

Of John; it was I in poor array. 

And let King Edward know well, 

To me he shall come before six months (are over), 

And since he resembles me,  

In paradise shall we be together; 

And that of this he may be confidently assured 

You shall tell him all whatever I tell you.” 

St Edward’s ring is one of the ways we can most easily recognise him. You saw it at our first station in the stained-glass window and it is even embroidered into the Abbey’s red copes. Here in this ancient painting, it sits between the fingers of his hand.  

For the story, we once again turn to the 13th century life of St Edward. A poor man asks Edward for something of his, for the love of Saint John the Evangelist. Sometime later, some pilgrims in Jerusalem meet a man on their journey, and he reveals to them that he is Saint John, and gives them the ring to return to Edward when they reach home. The Life tells us that Edward loved Saint John only second to Saint Peter, and that Edward had lived such a holy life that they will be together in paradise.

This story shows Edward’s generosity, which is one of the virtues he is remembered for. What virtues do you value? How might you embody one of these virtues more in your own life?  

Gifts of Healing

Gifts of Healing

Listen to the poem here

An Excerpt from Macbeth

William Shakespeare

A most miraculous work in this good king,  

Which often since my here-remain in England  

I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven  

Himself best knows, but strangely visited people  

All swoll’n and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,  

The mere despair of surgery, he cures, 

Hanging a golden stamp about their necks,  

Put on with holy prayers; and, ’tis spoken,  

To the succeeding royalty he leaves  

The healing benediction. With this strange virtue,  

He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, 

And sundry blessings hang about his throne  

That speak him full of grace. 

The ring is not the only miracle attributed to Edward. There are many stories of miraculous healings, one of which was his ability to cure with a touch the illness which became known as “The King’s Evil.” This malady was a swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, and Edward anointed a sick woman’s throat with water and made the sign of the cross above it. He then touched the afflicted part and the woman was cured. The idea of the monarch healing through touch remained up until the reign of Queen Anne, with a service included in the Book of Common Prayer for just such a ceremony. It became a sign of legitimacy, of the Divine Right of Kings, and of the monarch as a benign and healing presence in the state. 

Edward never appears on stage in Macbeth, instead he is just in the wings, miraculously curing people with his touch. He is the Good King, opposed to Macbeth as the Bad King. Edward has heavenly visions in contrast to Macbeth’s visions of death. He cures where Macbeth kills. These miracles extended beyond death, with pilgrims making their way to Edward’s shrine to pray for healing. Today, like in Macbeth, Edward hovers just out of sight. In the Shrine we are near him, and though we cannot physically see him, his inspirational presence reminds us that miracles can happen even when they don’t seem possible.  

Christian healing isn’t always about a cure, but rather about wholeness of body, mind and spirit. As you come to the shrine, what prayers for wholeness do you bring? 

It is Finished

It is Finished

Listen to the poem here

An Excerpt from Harold: A Drama

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

It is finish’d!

The kingliest Abbey in all Christian lands,

The lordliest, loftiest minster ever built

To Holy Peter in our English isle!

Let me be buried there, and all our kings,

And all our just and wise and holy men

That shall be born hereafter. It is finish’d!

Edward has been a man in exile, a King dealing with all the details of ruling a realm, a builder, a healer, a Saint, and now we come to his death. Edward had become weaker during 1065, possibly suffering a series of strokes. He was too frail to attend the Consecration of the Abbey on the 28th December 1065, and died on the 5th January 1066. The next day he was buried in the Abbey, and his funeral is depicted in the Bayeux tapestry.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a drama about Harold Godwinson in 1876, in which he depicts Edward’s deathbed. All those surrounding him are keen to find out who Edward will name as his successor, but Edward starts up concerned with the building of his Abbey, and having been reassured, speaks these words. 

‘It is finish’d’ recalls Jesus’s last words upon the Cross. For Edward in Tennyson, it is the building of his Abbey that is his earthly ministry, and earlier in the scene he describes it in words that recall the building of the Temple in Jerusalem.  

Edward’s Abbey would long outlast him, though not his memory, as we come to remember him in this season. Just as the end of Edward’s life was not the end of the impact he would have, so too the pilgrim’s arrival at the Shrine is not the end of the pilgrimage. As we leave this place, we do so changed by our encounter, even in the smallest of ways. Our pilgrim journey is never truly complete.  

Shrine Image

Conclusion

You've now reached the end of your pilgrimage around Westminster Abbey. We invite you to look at the image above of Edward the Confessor's Shrine and say a prayer, or reflect on your experience of these poems and Edward's life. 

You may find you would like to write a poem of your own in response. If you would like to share your thoughts and your own words with us, please do fill out the form below. 

Thank you for journeying with us this Edwardtide.

At different times of the day, or in different seasons, the light falling in the Abbey will light up something that you have walked past a million times and never seen before.

Vanessa, Head of Conservation

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