Today, 25 October, is the feast of ...
* Chrysanthus and Daria, martyrs (?)
- Chrysanthus' father got so upset when he heard his son had been
baptized, he hired five prostitutes to get the lad to lose his religion;
didn't work, though
- he then arranged for his son to marry a priestess of Minerva,
Daria; although they did get married, the husband converted the wife,
and they lived in chastity
- furious, the father consigned them to the Roman soldiers;
imagine how angry he got when they (and their commander and his family)
converted
- the emperor put a stop to all these conversions, and killed the
lot of them
* Crispin and Crispinian, martyrs (?)
- sent from Rome to Soissons, they preached by day and made shoes
by night
- placed in the hands of a Roman agent, they so resisted torture
that in a fit of pique the agent himself, out of frustration, jumped
into the fire that was not harming the two Christians; he was harmed,
mortally
- eventually they were beheaded
- notable cult in northern Europe, especially England; they are
mentioned by Shakespeare (Henry V, iv, 3)
Last year Hilary M Carey supplied us with the speechK
Have just given a lecture on the Battle of Agincourt and have a copy of the
crispy speech to hand. It looks as though even in Shakespeare's day there
was a tendency to merge the two martyrs together. Harry's speech begins
with Crispian, moves to Crispin, then Crispin Crispian, then Crispin.
Pretty understandable really.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:Õ
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.Õ
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
>From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
* Fronto and George, bishops (?)
- several different legends exist for this pair, including one
saying they were baptized by St Peter; Fronto was first bishop of
Perigueux; George the first bishop of Le Puy
* Gaudentius, bishop of Brescia (c. 410)
- consecrated by Ambrose of Milan; on a papal mission to defend
John Chrysostom, was imprisoned in Thrace
- renowned for his preaching; Rufinus called him 'glory of the
doctors of his age'
* Thomas of Florence (1447)
- after wild youth, became great penitent of the Observance at Fiesole
- preached to the Muslims, and was ransomed from them at the last
minute by pope Eugenius IV; he was so disappointed by this that he tried
to return to the Muslims again, so that this time they might finish the
job and kill him; but he died en route, at Rieti
- so many miracles took place at the tomb that John of Capestrano
went there and ordered Thomas to stop it, so that the pope could proceed
smoothly in the matter of canonizing Bernardino of Siena; Thomas obeyed,
and because of that (?) never got canonized himself
* Balthasar of Chiavari, OFM (1492)
- friend of Bernardino of Feltre, but had to stop accompanying him
due to illness (but still remained much in demand by locals who wished
to see him or have him as their confessor)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
3 Woodland Road
Bristol BS8 1TB
UK
fax: +44.117.929.7850
phone: +44.117.928.8168
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