Edward the Confessor King Henry II and Pope Alexander III He was called 'Confessor' as the name for someone who was believed to have lived a saintly life but was not a martyr. In the 1230s King Henry III became attached to the cult of Saint Edward, and he commissioned a new life by Matthew Paris. Henry also constructed a grand new tomb for Edward in a rebuilt Westminster Abbey in 1269. He named his eldest son after him. Until about 1350, Edmund the Martyr, Gregory the Great and Edward the Confessor were regarded as English national saints, but Edward III preferred the
Samuel the Confessor him as a sun-worshipper. Yet, Samuel did not deny his faith and remained strong in his Christian faith. Eventually, after healing his master's son who was on the verge of death, he was released and permitted to return to Mount Qalamoun. After his return, he prophesied about and witnessed the Arab invasion of Egypt in 641 AD. Samuel the Confessor departed on 8 Koiak 412 AM (17 December 695 AD). Samuel the Confessor Saint Samuel the Confessor (referred to in academic literature as Samuel of Kalamoun or Samuel of Qalamun) is a Coptic Orthodox saint, venerated in all Oriental Orthodox