St Edmund Rich was a child of great piety, brought up in a devout Catholic family. He was severe to himself, yet gentle and kind to others, especially the poor and the sick. When he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1234 he strongly defended the English church against the corrupt King Henry III, but after a few years the King's greater power and the opposition of other English bishops drove him into exile at Pontigny. He is the patron of the Diocese of Portsmouth (his feast was on Wednesday) On the left you can see how he appears on the stained glass window in the sanctuary of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy. The delightful image on the right is from the Nuremberg Chronicle.
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