Exult, O Holy church of the English nation; behold unto thee is given to praise Edmund, the illustrious king and most invincible martyr, who, triumphing over the prince of this world, most victoriously ascended unto Heaven.
Today is the feast day of St Edmund, King of East Anglia, martyred this day in c869 AD. I'm not quite sure where the text quoted above comes from, but I think it may be from a Sarum Antiphoner. In the Middle Ages Edmund was one of those saints, along with St George and St Gregory the Great, associated with the realm of England. His cult was deeply popular; there are some 78 churches dedicated to him in England with, unsurprisingly, the majority being in East Anglia and Essex. He is also depicted on the Wilton Diptych. Apparently (according to wiki) it wasn't until the Tudor period that St George became the sole patron Saint of the nation.
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