St. Edith of Wilton

Today's saint bears resemblance to Tigernach. She was also of royal blood, though not legitimate, the head of an abbey and saintly by her life and dedication to God in the role as head of that abbey. Edith also gave up power when offered to her. One of the kings of England (Mercia and later Wessex), King Edgar. Her feast day is September 16.

King Edgar had been married before and it is unclear whether his wife, Elfrida the White, was still alive when Edgar went to the abbey of Wilton with ill intentions. At the abbey, Edgar found St. Edith's mother, St. Wilfrida, who was either a nun or disguised as one. According to Wilfrida's biographer William of Malmesbury, "Edgar carried [Wilfrida] off form her convent and became by her the father of S[t]. Edith" (Baring-Gould 142). Adding to the confusion about St. Wilfrida's status is that St. Dunstan forbade Edgar from wearing his crown for seven years for "the violation of a consecrated maiden" (ibid). Perhaps this was St. Wilfrida, but this is inconclusive. Malmesbury claims that St. Wilfrida was not a nun at the time and that there was discussion of marriage after the death of Queen Elfrida the White.

St. Wilfrida was determined to leave "and flying from her ravisher" (Baring-Gould 269) escaped to the abbey from which she had been taken. Shortly after her return, she was formally made a nun by Bishop St. Ethelwald and soon elected abbess. St. Edith was raised in the abbey and received permission to become a nun from her father, Edgar. St. Edith, the daughter of an abbess and a king, was a dedicated nun, but one who enjoyed wearing fine clothes. Bishop Ethelwald rebuked her for this in an era when there was non uniform for nuns (Baring-Gould 269). Her response is recorded by William of Malmesbury, "My father...the mind may be as modest and God-fearing under fine clothes as under a serge habit. The God I love looks to the heart and not to the dress" (ibid). It should be remembered that since she only lived to the age of twenty-two, this was said when she was a young teenager.

St. Edith continued to have influence through her royal lineage. Her father, impatient to see her daughter elevated, told her at age fifteen that she should be abbess of three abbeys. Since her mother was already abbess of Wilton, this would mean that St. Edith would have to leave that monastery to be made abbess of Winchester, Barking, and one more house (Baring-Gould 270). And so, St. Edith turned down the request and remained a nun in her mother's abbey.

Edgar soon died and his son, Edward, St. Edith's half-brother, became king. Edith dreamt that her brother was in danger and that his eye fell out. She predicted his death which was confirmed sometime later in Corfe Castle. Edith grew in piety and built a church dedicated to St. Dionysius. St. Dunstan, who had rebuked her father for his violation of a nun, came to the dedication. "S[t]. Dunstan was at the consecration, and when he noticed how continuously S[t]. Edith crossed herself, he caught hold of her right thumb and said, 'Never shall this thumb decay'" (ibid). 

St. Edith's life was short. Near her death, one nun reported seeing angels singing in the chapel. "Go back; the angels await the good maiden." St. Edith died. Another story of her favor with God is that she had agreed to be a godmother to a noble woman's child. After Edith died, the baby was being baptized when St. Edith appeared and held the child. She was present until the end of the ceremony before vanishing. Her tomb was opened four years later and St. Dunstan declared that her thumb was incorrupt and it was venerated as a relic by pilgrims for a long time. 

St. Edith, pray for us.

Source:

Baring-Gould, Sabine. "The Lives of the Saints." London: John Hodges, 1895.