Today, 8 November, is the feast of ...
* The Four Crowned Ones, martyrs (306?)
- the original legend tells of five martyrs from Pannonia, but the
better known one narrates the martyrdom of four Romans
- one legend says the four were stone-masons; they have been adopted as
patrons of such craftsmen (including English Freemasons, whose journal
is entitled *Ars Quatuor Coronatorum*)
- church where they are buried is one of the titular churches of the
cardinal-priests of Rome
* Cybi or Cuby, abbot (sixth century)
- most information on him is from a thirteenth-century Latin vita
- born in Cornwall, went to Ireland, until forced to leave over a
dispute concerning a cow that kept straying
- almost all places with his name are on or near the sea
- quotable quote: 'There is no misfortune like wickedness'
* Deusdedit, pope (618)
- Roman, son of a subdeacon, he was pope for three years; said to be
the first pope to have used the leaden seals called bullae (hence the
term 'papal bulls')
* Tysilio or Suliau, abbot (seventh century?)
- abbot of Meifod, he was forced to flee from a widowed sister-in-law
who wished to marry him; went to Brittany, near St-Malo, where he died
* Willehad, bishop of Bremen (789)
- Northumbrian, friend of Alcuin, went eventually to area of Utrecht,
then to the court of Charlemagne; sent first to evangelize the Saxons
in general, and Bremen in particular; last of the great English
missionaries of the eighth century
* Godfrey, bishop of Amiens (1115)
- oblate of Mont-Saint-Quentin, became abbot of Nogent, a house that was
almost abandoned; he built it up, before becoming bishop of Amiens
- noted for his rigid discipline; became so discouraged with his critics
that he considered resigning and joining the Carthusians, but did not do
so
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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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