medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (8. October) is the feast day of:
Demetrius of Sirmium (d. early 4th cent.) Demetrius was a soldier,
martyred in Serbia in the time of Maximian. He became extremely popular in
the East, where he is called "the Great Martyr." Demetrius is especially
helpful to invoke against evil spirits.
Pelagia of Antioch (d. c. 311) Unlike some early female saints with
exciting stories, it seems certain that Pelagia really existed---Ambrose
and John Chrysostom both preached sermons in her honor. Pelagia was a girl
of fifteen, arrested by soldiers during the persecution. She asked for
permission to go upstairs to change her clothes, then jumped off the roof
into the river, killing herself. She is venerated as a martyr.
Keyne (6th cent.?) According to legend, Keyne was a daughter of St.
Brychan. She was very beautiful but refused to marry, instead becoming a
solitary first in South Wales, then Cornwall. She met St. Cadoc at Mt. St.
Michael, who persuaded her to return to Wales.
Iwi (7th cent.) Iwi was a Northumbrian monk, a disciple of Cuthbert. He
decided to follow the Irish ideal of peregrinatio, and thus randomly sailed
off with some sailors. He ended up in Brittany, where he became a hermit.
Farmer adds the interesting tale that c. 250 years later a group of Breton
clerics arrived at Wilton Abbey with Iwi's relics. They enjoyed the
nunnery's hospitality, leaving the relics---temporarily, they thought---on
the altar. But when they were ready to leave, Iwi's relics refused to
move. Finally the abbess gave them 2000 solidi to console them for their
loss, and Wilton kept the relics permanently.
Triduana (?) Triduana is a Scottish saint of dubious antecedents: she may
have been an abbess who came to Scotland, perhaps with St. Rule (the
supposed bearer of the relics of St. Andrew). She is said to have lived a
monastic life with two companions at Roscoby. Her relics attracted many
pilgrims (making her shrine at Restalrig a particular target of Scottish
reformers in December 1560). Triduana was especially invoked for curing
eye diseases; according to legend, when a suitor admired her eyes she took
them out and gave them to him.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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