medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (9. September) is the feast day of:
Dorotheus, Peter, and Gorgonius (d. 303) The story of these saints is
recorded by Eusebius. They were favored eunuchs at the court of
Diocletian. But when Christians were blamed for a fire that destroyed the
palace in Nicomedia, the three were arrested and tortured; G. and D. were
eventually hanged, P. died while being grilled on a gridiron. The bodies
of the three were thrown into the sea.
Isaac (Sahak) I the Great (d. c. 440) Isaac was the son of Patriarch St.
Nerses the Great of Armenia. Isaac studied at Constantinople and married,
but when his wife died became a monk. He became patriarch of Armenia
himself in 390, in which post he was extremely active. He gained
metropolitan rights for Armenia, ended the married episcopate, enforced
canon law, fought Zoroastrianism, built churchs and schools, and supported
the translation of the Bible and other religious texts into the vernacular.
He was forced into retirement when the Persians invaded Armenia in 428.
Isaac is considered the founder of the Armenian church.
Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (d. c. 545) The son of a Connacht (Ireland)
carpenter, Ciaran showed his generous spirit and miraculous powers at an
early age (at least if later hagiographers are to be believed, he once
"helped" his fostermother with her dying and turned *everything* blue,
including the cat (!)). Ciaran studied under Finnian of Clonard, Enda, and
then Senan. He and several companions then settled at Conmacnoise (Co.
Meath). But Ciaran died young, at the suspiciously Christ-like age of
33---perhaps at his own prayer, perhaps because the other saints of Ireland
were jealous of his holiness and prayed against him, or perhaps more
prosaically of the plague.
Omer (d. c. 699) Omer was born near Coutances, and became a monk at
Luxeuil. In c. 637 he became missionary bishop in the Pas-de-Calais, where
he founded the monastery of Sithiu (now Sant-Omer).
Bettelin (early 8th cent.) The English Bettelin was a disciple of St.
Guthlac, and became a hermit at Crowland.
Wulfhilda (d. c. 1000) Wulfhilda was brought up in the convent of Wilton
(England). While still a novice, King Edgar decided he wanted to marry
her, and her aunt (the abbess of Wherwell) tricked W. into coming to the
king. But W. escaped through the drains of Wherwell, Edgar pursued and
caught her in the cloister of Wilton, but she managed to win free to take
sanctuary in the church. After that Edgar gave up, giving Wulfhilda the
convent of Barking (and taking W.'s cousin as a substitute mistress).
Joseph of Volokolamsk (d. 1515) A Russian, Joseph became abbot of Borovsk
in 1477. He was an ardent reformer, but his monks weren't interested in
being reformed. So he finally left and founded a new monastery,
Volokolamsk, which was dedicated to helping the broader community outside
of the monastery---a new and controversial ideal for Russian monasticism.
Joseph's views on proper monastic goals were accepted by the council of
Moscow in 1503.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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