The Society of the Fathers and Brothers of St. Edmund won't soon forget their patron saint, as they are responsible for the care of Saint Edmund's parched and decaying arm. Saint Edmund would likely be happy that his right arm is used to inspire, but how did the right hand of a 13th Century, European saint end up in Mystic Connecticut?
The saint himself was a stickler for symbolism and divine inspiration. Born in the 13th Century, Edmund was an academic, who attended Oxford and the University of Paris. During his time teaching at Oxford, a vision of the Child Christ appeared to him as he walked alone in the fields. Every night after that experience, he marked his forehead with the words "Jesus of Nazareth", to remind him of the interaction, and the message that Christ delivered to him. As most academics in those times, Edmund became a clergyman, and took a very serious vow of chastity. As inspiration to uphold his promise he acquired two rings: One for himself to permanently wear, and the other to grace the finger of the "Our Lady's" statue, in St. Mary's, Oxford.
As a clergyman, Edmund quickly elevated through the ranks and became Archbishop of Canterbury, the most esteemed position of the English Catholic Church. With a powerful title, he persistently voiced his objections to the actions Henry III, which brought him into ongoing conflict with the king and Pope Gregory IX. Refusing to support the immorality of English rule, Edmund resigned from his position, and fled to France to live the rest of his days. After his death, St. Edmund's tomb became a pilgrimage site. Edmund himself became a source of inspiration, and miracles were reported at his tomb in France.
When Reverend Jean Baptiste Muard founded the Society of the Fathers and Brothers of Saint Edmund in the 19th century, and became responsible for the relics of Saint Edmund, he found that the arm had been detached for centuries. The Edmundites were driven out of France because of "government anti-clericalism" in 1903. They relocated to England, and then to Mystic, Connecticut in 2002, taking the arm with them around the world.
The blackened, shriveled arm of Saint Edmund now resides in the Chapel of Our Lady of Assumption at Saint Edmund's Retreat in Mystic Connecticut. The severed arm jets out of a red sleeve, displayed in an oblong glass container in the chapel, for everyone to see and be inspired.