medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (25. December) is the feast day of:
The Nativity (c. 4 BCE) This is not a good time of year to hold a census,
and there is in fact no early evidence of the date of Jesus' birth. The
most likely explanation why the nativity came to be celebrated on this date
is that it was a counter-move by the young Church against the festival of
the Sun, the "Natale Solis Invicti," on 25. December, which was declared a
holiday by Emperor Aurelian in 275. The connection is scriptural, of
course, since Jesus is the true light of the world (John 8:9) and the Sun
of Righteousness (Mal 4:2). The festival spread in the fourth century
throughout the entire western empire and most of the east (the exception
was Armenia, where the nativity is still celebrated on 6. January); it is
attested in Rome from 336/7. While the nativity was depicted in art as
early as the fourth century, my impression is that the birth and infancy of
Christ really only took center stage in the second Christian millennium.
Isn't it only in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that most of the baby
teeth, swaddling clothes, umbilical cords, etc. of Jesus were "discovered"?
Anastasia (d. c. 304) A was a martyr who died at Sirmium. Her relics made
it to Constantinople, but she was venerated at Rome at least since the
fifth century. Traditionally, the pope sang the second mass on Christmas
day at the church of S. Anastasia near the Circus Maximus.
Eugenia (?) Eugenia was apparently an early Roman martyr. The legend that
was later attached to her name reports that she dressed as a man and became
abbot of a monastery in Egypt, was accused of sexual misconduct and cleared
herself by declaring her sex, went to Rome, and was finally beheaded.
Peter the Venerable (d. 1156) The last great abbot of Cluny.
Petrus Nolaskus (d. 1256) Peter was the son of a knightly family. After
an apparition of the Virgin Mary in c. 1220, he set out to found a
religious order (with the help of Raymund of Penaforte)---the Mercedarian
order, dedicated to the redemption of Christian prisoners and slaves of the
Muslims. Peter led the order until 1249.
Jacopone of Todi (d. 1306?) Several attempts at canonization, but his cult
has never been formally approved. Jacopone studied in Bologna, where he
became a lawyer and married. After his wife died within a year of
marriage, he gave his goods to the poor (which gave him a reputation as a
fool of Christ). Jacopone then travelled around Umbria, where he wrote his
Laudi spirituali in Umbrian dialect. In time he joined the Franciscan
third order, and then became a friar. When the break between the
conventuals and spiritual Franciscans came, J. sided with the latter, and
wrote satires against Pope Boniface VIII (who had ruled against the
spirituals) to such good effect that J was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was only released in 1303 when Boniface died.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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