medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. July) is the feast day of:
Visitation of the Virgin Mary (1st cent.) According to Luke 1: 39-56, when
Mary found that she was pregnant she went and visited her cousin Elisabeth,
who was six months pregnant with John the future Baptist. The event marks
the first recognition of Jesus, and according to the gospel account
inspired Mary's great praise song, the Magnificat. (Although the
chronology seems strange, since we just celebrated the nativity of John the
Baptist, and at the Visitation he wouldn't be born for another three
months.) The Visitation was first celebrated in the East, but in 1263
Bonaventure introduced its observance in the Franciscan order as the octave
of the feast of St. John; in 1389 it was adopted by the whole Western
Church.
Processus and Martinian (?) P and M were early Roman martyrs, venerated at
least since the fourth century, when a church was built over their tomb.
Gregory the Great preached a homily there on their feast day, reporting the
cure of the sick and demoniacs at the shrine. A late legend makes P and M
the keepers of Peter and Paul in the Mamertine prison, converted and
baptized by Peter. In the ninth century their relics were moved to St.
Peter's, and are still under their altar in the south transept.
Oudoceus (d. c. 615) Oudoceus, according to a much later vita, was the son
of a Breton family that migrated to Wales in c. 545. Oudoceus became a
monk in Llandogo (and bishop from c. 580 on). Legend reports that he went
to Augustine of Canterbury for consecration; as a result, O. is
commemorated in many English calendars. His shrine was at Llandaff until
1540.
Otto of Bamberg (d. 1139) Otto was a noble German who was accepted by both
the emperor and the pope as bishop of Bamberg. A skilled negotiator, he
played an important role in making peace between emperor and pope (the
Concordat of Worms, 1122). He is most famous, though, for his missionary
work in Pomerania.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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