medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (21. November) is the feast day of:
Rufus of Rome (1st cent.) Rufus was a disciple of St. Paul's during the
latter's stay in Rome. Rufus was apparently an important figure in the
early Christian community in Rome; in his epistle to the Romans, Paul
greets him. Later tradition makes Rufus a bishop somewhere in the east.
Agapius (d. 306) Agapius was a victim of the Great Persecution. He was
imprisoned for a long time in Caesarea (Palestine), then thrown to a bear
in the amphitheatre. He survived the experience, so the next day he was
drowned in the sea.
Gelasius I (d. 496) Gelasius was pope from 492 to 496, succeeding Felix
II. He is most famous for his pronouncement of the "2 Powers"
doctrine---that the world is ruled by the power of the Church and that of
the emperor, but that the Church is higher.
Columbanus (d. 615) Columbanus was born in Leinster in 543. According to
his hagiographer, the saint left his family home after being tempted by
women, stepping over the prostrate body of his mother who had laid down in
the doorway to keep him from going. Columbanus went first to the monastery
of Gleenish, on Lough Erne, then to Bangor, where he remained as a monk for
about 25 years. In 587, though, Columbanus decided to go in peregrinatio
to the Continent. On arrival in Brittany with twelve followers, Columbanus
founded the monastery of Annegray. Soon he received support from the
Merovingian King Childebert of Burgundy, and with royal assistance founded
the monastery of Luxeuil in c. 590. However, the saint quarreled with
Childebert's successor Theuderic II. Theuderic's grandmother, Brunhild,
had called on Columbanus to bless Theuderic's bastard children. The saint
refused, cursing them instead. As a result, Columbanus and his Irish
followers were deported in 610. They were sent toward Ireland, but while
still in Frankish territory they escaped from their guards after their ship
ran aground. Columbanus spent some time in the Frankish kingdom of
Neustria, then went on to northern Italy, where he founded Bobbio in 612.
Nicolas Giustiniani (d. c. 1180) Not formally canonized, but venerated in
Venice up to the present. Nicolas was born in c. 1110 to the Venetian
noble family of Giustiniani. He decided at an early age to become a
Benedictine monk. But all of Nicolas' brothers died, so he received papal
permission to leave his monastery and marry. Nicolas and his wife produced
six sons and three daughters, whom Nicolas raised to adulthood and then
passed on their inheritance to them. At an advanced age Nicolas returned
to his monastery, and his wife became a nun.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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