Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 13, 2019
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Founder’s Day, the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor, was Father Edward Sorin’s patronal celebration (and my own as well). It was a holiday for the student body and an opportunity to invite special speakers to the campus and to celebrate the life of the Notre Dame community in prayer and organized fun.
Every institution needs such moments which provide an opportunity to step back from the normal routines of life and to become more aware of one’s collective good fortune and the ways that God has blessed the work of so many hands. This same impulse was, of course, the genius behind the Jewish establishment of the Sabbath, one day out of seven in which the Jewish people’s divine election would be recalled, particularly the liberation from slavery in Egypt, and there would be ample time for rest and renewal in the face of the vigorous demands of life in this world.
We at Notre Dame, and all of our alumni spread throughout the world, might well pray on Founder’s day in thanksgiving for Father Edward Sorin and all of his Holy Cross colleagues and lay collaborators who began the work of creating a great Catholic university with such limited resources. It was their faith, their perseverance in the face of numerous obstacles, and their devotion to the work of Catholic education under the tender maternal care of Notre Dame, Our Lady, that sustained them in those first, formative years.
We are inheritors of a sacred legacy. May each of us in the way we live our lives, in the service we render our neighbor in need, and in the integrity of our professional responsibilities, be fitting representatives of this University that was so nobly founded.
Prayer
Mercy, Lord! We ask for your mercy! How many times have we begged you, O Jesus, for healing, for health, for conversion, for a miracle? Ten lepers were made clean, but only one of the lepers even saw that he was made well. Even though we are often blind to your grace, to your love, to your healing, you shower it upon us still. You rain down abundant love and blessing on even the hardest of hearts. And we are filled with joy and with gratitude because you are good. We prostrate before you, O Christ, and we thank you! Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Edward the Confessor was one of the great kings of England. Because he is the patron saint of University founder Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C., his feast day has traditionally been a day of celebration for Notre Dame.
Edward the Confessor’s name reflects less his own piety or status as a sacramental minister than the fact that he is a saint who did not suffer martyrdom. In ancient Christian tradition, saints were those who had been martyred for Christ. As Christianity grew, and local persecutions did not define sainthood as much, different titles were given to saints to designate their particular path to holiness. Confessors were those whose lives confessed the creed in a nonviolent manner.
Edward is a particularly prominent saint, as he was the last Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman conquest of England, which happened during the reign of his successor.
Edward was the seventh son of King Æthelred the Unready, and the first son of Æthelred’s second wife, Emma of Normandy. Edward was born between 1003 and 1005 in Oxfordshire, England.
When Edward was a child, England was plagued by Viking raids. A Viking chieftain, Sweyn, seized the English throne in 1013, causing several decades of turmoil and fighting. Sweyn’s son took over the throne and married Edward’s mother Emma, subsequently banishing Edward and his brothers. Edward was exiled most likely to Normandy but finally returned to England in 1042, invited back to take up the English throne. He was crowned king of England in 1043 in Winchester Cathedral. Winchester was the seat of the Saxon kings before Westminster Abbey, which, incidentally, Edward began the construction of. Westminster Abbey is a beautiful example of Norman Romanesque architecture, and it exhibits the Norman sensibilities of Edward, who spent large amounts of time in exile in Normandy.
Edward the Confessor was the first Anglo-Saxon and the only English king to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. There is considerable dispute over whether his canonization was politically motivated, or whether his cult grew from devoted Englishmen and women who truly loved King Edward. Edward has long been a patron saint of England, before finally being replaced by Saint George.
Edward died of an illness in 1066, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. St. Edward’s Hall, a men’s residence hall on campus, is named after this English king because he was the patron saint of Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C., founder of the University. The stained glass window above comes from the chapel in St. Edward's hall, and this statue of St. Edward stands in the courtyard in front; he holds a model of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in his hand.
Today marks Founder’s Day for the University of Notre Dame, as it is the celebration of Edward Sorin's "name day," i.e., the feast of the saint after whom he is named. In Notre Dame's earlier years, classes were canceled and the day was marked by games, performances, and a large feast. Today the University commemorates Founder’s Day with a special Mass in the Basilica, celebrated by the university president.
Whether or not King Edward was “saintly,” as popular imagination defines it, does not diminish his extraordinary legacy in the building of Westminster Abbey. Westminster has been a home for countless English Catholics and Christians for nearly a millennium. It has been a home for pilgrims seeking a space to pray, beautiful liturgy, and heavenly music.
Much like his namesake Edward, Fr. Edward Sorin was also known for a rather prickly temperament—not a particularly “saintly” disposition. Fr. Edward Sorin, like Edward the Confessor, founded a place that became much larger than the cult of his own personality, which became a place for prayer, learning, and growth, that has been a source of grace for countless visitors and students for almost two hundred years.
St. Edward the Confessor, patron saint of Father Edward Sorin—pray for us!