medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (1. October) is the feast day of:
Gregory the Enlightener (d. c. 326) Gregory won his nickname by bringing
the light of Christ to Armenia. Gregory is supposed to have been the son
of a Parthian, raised in Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he married and had
two sons. Then he returned to Armenia and converted King Tiridates III to
Christianity. Gregory spent the rest of his life to preaching and
organizing the church in Armenia.
Mylor (?) A very obscure saint, probably of Brittany, with an interesting
later medieval legend. According to this legend, Mylor was a prince only 7
years old when his father was killed by his uncle. The evil uncle wanted
to kill Mylor, too, but was convinced by a council of bishops to spare the
kid, only cutting off his right hand and left foot (which were replaced by
a silver hand and a bronze foot). Mylor was then educated at a monastery,
but by the age of 14 his artificial limbs were working like real ones. So
the evil uncle got Mylor's guardian to behead the youth. The uncle then
touched the severed head and died three days later.
Remigius (Remi) (d. 533) A Gaul, Remigius became bishop of Rheims at a
young age. He is most famous for his baptism of Clovis I. Then, under
Clovis' protection, Remigius preached and founded a series of bishoprics
and churches.
Romanus the Melodist (6th cent.) Romanus was, says Attwater, "the greatest
and most original of the Byzantine hymn-writers. He was a Syrian of Jewish
descent, served as a deacon at Beirut, and then moved to Constantinople.
About 80 hymns attributed to Romanus have survived.
Bavo (d. c. 655) Bavo was a native of Brabant. After his wife died, he
was converted by St. Amand. He joined the monastery at Ghent that was
later named after him. Bavo then joined Amand on several missionary
journeys, and later became a hermit (living for a time in a tree, but he
eventually made it back to the environs of his monastery).
Postscript to 30. September: Can anyone answer the question of what sources
are available for the story of St. Sophia that I mentioned yesterday? A
few sources with a fuller version of her story are listed at
http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/KalenderSeptember/30.htm
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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