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Florida Catholic October 2020
YOUR MIAMI COMMUNITY
JIM DAVIS
Florida Catholic correspondent
PEMBROKE PINES Asked to name a few saints, most people likely wouldn't think of St. Edward. But perhaps they should. For our current era of wars, pov- erty and wasteful spending, this millennial king of Eng- land sets an example for peace and benevolence. Edward, whose feast day falls on Oct. 13, was born near Oxford between 1003 and 1005. He was the son of King Ethelred II, who was deposed by the Danes. Edward's family was exiled to the court of an uncle in Normandy. In exile, Edward showed more love for prayer and as- sisting at Mass than for power and worldly pleasures. Yet in 1042, after the death of the Danish king, he was called to take the English throne. His reign was marked by gentleness and prosperity. He ended some taxes and reduced others. He was gen- erous to the poor and lived on his family's inheritance, rather than money from the royal coffers. Instead, he re- built churches and monasteries, as well as giving to the poor. He caught a servant stealing from him - three times - but released him. "He needs it more than I do," the king remarked. So austere was Edward's personal life that one source, the BBC, said he was "rather like a crowned monk." Pressed into marriage for appearance's sake, he lived with his wife in celibacy and never sired a child. Edward also avoided war for most of his reign, ex- cept for quelling a Welsh rebellion. When a rival for his throne, Earl Godwin, brought a fleet to fight him, Ed- ward met him and they settled peaceably. Numerous stories said that Edward's very touch could heal. He is said to have healed people from scrof- ula, or tuberculosis of the lymph nodes in the neck. In one story, a man's blindness was cured with water that had washed Edward's hands. In still another, the king hoisted a crippled man onto his shoulders and car- ried him to church - an act that healed the man during the trip. Edward had promised that if he could gain the throne in England, he would visit St. Peter's tomb in Rome, but duties of state prevented him from going. Instead, he built the imposing Westminster Abbey in honor of Peter. He didn't get to visit that apostle, but another one may have visited him . According to a legend, Edward took a golden ring off his finger and gave it to a beggar. Soon after, a stranger met two men in the Holy Land, handed them the ring, and told them to return it to the king. I am John the Evangelist," the man said, according to the legend. He added that in a few months, he would escort Edward to heaven. Edward died soon after, on Jan. 6, 1066. His remains lie at Westminster. But his influence reached beyond death: For cen- turies, people visited his tomb to ask for healing. King Richard II even prayed there for help against the Peas- ants' Revolt in 1381. In 1102, Edward's tomb was opened and his corpse was found incorrupt, even emitting a sweet fragrance. He was honored as the patron saint of England for centuries, before being replaced by St. George in 1348. The south Florida church that bears his name sits about two miles from the Everglades, serving the grow- ing communities of southwestern Broward County. But St. Edward parish is actually a double namesake. It was named first for the English king when the late Archbishop Edward McCarthy announced its creation in 1995. Less formally, the congregants also considered the parish named for Archbishop McCarthy himself, as the last parish he founded before his retirement. Its first pastor was Msgr. Michael Eivers, who was re- assigned from St. Boniface in eastern Pembroke Pines. The members met first in individual homes, then at public schools. But the church had its first building by January 2000. Under the current pastor, Father John Peloso, St. Edward retired its debt with a mortgage-burning cel- ebration in May 2019. By then, the congregation had grown to 2,800 members, with 44 ministries and Mass in Spanish as well as English.
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Above, suspended over the chancel area is the larger-than-life crucifix, with the Christ figure raising a hand in blessing. At right, a statuette of the Holy Family stands in front of a sunburst design in glass. At far right, St. Edward passes out bread in this window, retelling the king's generosity to the poor. (PHOTOS BY JIM DAVIS FC)
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