medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (19. September) is the feast day of:
Januarius (d. perhaps 305) Januarius is the highly venerated patron of
Naples. According to tradition, in c. 300 he was the bishop of either
Benevento or Naples. When Diocletian's persecution broke out, Januarius
cared for imprisoned Christians, and was in turn arrested and executed
himself. Legend reports that Januarius was first thrown into a burning
oven---with no results; then he was thrown to the lions, but the lions lay
down at his feet; then he was beheaded. The blood of Januarius is
preserved in two ampules, and is reputed to liquify on his feast day and on
the Saturday before the first Sunday in May each year.
Sequanus (Seine) (d. 580?) Sequanus may well have originally been a Celtic
river goddess, Christianized and given a sex change operation. According
to legend, Sequanus was an abbot and founder of the monastery of
St-Seine-l'Abbaye near Dijon. Sequanus was highly honored as an exorcist.
Theodore of Canterbury (d. 690) Theodore was born in 602 in Tarsus. After
his education in Athens he went to Rome, becoming a monk there. Pope
Vitalianus consecrated Theodore in 668 as archbishop of Canterbury. Upon
reading England, Theodore organized the English Church.
Lucia of Berg (d. 1090) According to a largely legendary account, Lucia
was a Scottish princess, who retreated from the royal life and became a
shepherdess for a farmer family in Lotharingia in the mid eleventh century.
She is supposed to have dedicated herself to prayer and care for her
neighbors, and was greatly venerated by the local population. After her
death, her grave became a pilgrimage site. The cult continued at least
through the early modern period, especially among women praying for
children---Anne of Austria became pregnant with the future Louis XIV of
France after making a pilgrimage to Lucia's shrine.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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