Miracles of Edward the Confessor

The English monarch Edward the Confessor, who reigned from 1042 to 1066 was renowned for his humility, piety and justice.

The Annals of Roger of Hove den, written in the twelfth century, record three miracles that epitomize Edward’s virtues.

                Not long after he became king, Edward passed a leper on his way to church. Officials tried to move the leper on, but Edward told them to leave him where he was. Then the leper called out to the king, ‘ I conjure thee, by the living God, to carry me on thy shoulders into the church.’ Ignoring the protests of his courtiers, Edward bent down and ordered them to lift the leper onto his shoulders. He prayed for the man to be cured, and as they entered the church, the leper was indeed make whole again.

                25 April. Since his death in 1566 this has happened four times – most recently in 1943. It will happen next in 2038.

                Self-appointed prophets, such as charismatic American sect leader William Miller, also drew conclusions from ancient texts. He was proved wrong twice, in 1843 and 1844. On 1 January 1971, 150 members of the True Light Church of Christ in the American South were surprised to be celebrating. They had been convinced the world would end in 1970.

                As AD 2000approaches, millenarian ism has surged in popularity among the prophets of doom. However, we may be reasonably confident that humanity will continue to defiantly march on into the twenty-first century.