Edward was the next-to-last king of England before the arrival of William the Conqueror (in 1066). Volumes have been written about Edward’s holy life, the calumnies hurled against him and his loved ones, his exile, his return to favor, and his overall goodly countenance, humility, and love of righteousness.

What really seems to have put Edward over the top when it comes to canonization is his ability to heal those with scrofula! What, pray tell, was or is scrofula? Well, it comes from the Latin for “little pigs” or “breeding sow.” It clearly refers to swellings of lymph nodes in the neck, and is believed to have been caused by tuberculosis. Clearly, it’s not entirely clear, and whatever scrofula was, it has been classified as a form of myobacterial cervical lympadenitis–or swollen lymph nodes in the neck caused by some bacterial infection. Here are two photos (one suggesting “little pigs” and the other, “breeding sow”) of persons once diagnosed with scrofula:

Whatever the case and whatever the cause, it was apparently a common affliction in medieval Europe. And the way that Saint-King Edward came to be involved is that a woman with scrofula was directed in a dream to go to Edward for healing. Taking this woman’s claim at face value, and believing that the woman’s dream was a Divine Directive:

St. Edward washed the ulcerous sore and blessed it with the sign of the cross; after which the sore burst, and cleansed itself, and the patient was healed.

Various church historians report that Edward became renowned for healing many with scrofula throughout his life thereafter–plus he gave each person who came to him for healing a gold coin! (What would happen if our own wealthier doctors not only helped heal the poor with diseases but then gave them money–rather than to require money from them–to help with their lives?! Granted, kings could afford such beneficence because they could levy taxes; yet health-care providers who can levy insurance might well …. anyhow….)

Butler reports that, beginning with Edward:

Hence was derived the custom of our kings touching for the cure of that species of scrophulous tumour called the king’s-evil.

[Butler does go on to note that, beginning with Elizabeth I (that is, a thoroughly Protestant monarch), this practice began falling to the wayside.] Worth noting, as time went on, the ability of a monarch to heal someone with king’s-evil (scrofula) was proof of God’s pleasure with that monarch, and inability called into question whether God wanted that king on the throne.

What stands out is that Edward did not have a retinue of people to separate him from the poor and sick in his land. I am reminded of Princess Diana’s visits to persons living with AIDS. Both Edward and Diana touched suffering people directly, communicating unequivocally that they were of specific and unquestioned value–human being to human being. This true presence is far more healing than we can measure. To know that, as one with illness, you are being seen, you count, and you are not to be isolated, demeaned, or set aside–this indeed calls forth all of the life-giving powers within you and around you. The accompanying ritual is, as ever, merely the instrumentality, and not the healing power itself

For his saintly exercise of the power given him, we remember Edward this day.