medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (20. December) is the feast day of:
Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy, Ingen, Theophilus (d. 249) During a trial of some
Christians in Alexandria, these five men (four guards and one bystander)
encouraged a Christian defendant who was being ridiculed by the judge and
the crowd. The judge ordered them added to the prisoners, and had them
beheaded.
Eido of Meissen (d. 1015) In 992 Eido became the third bishop of Meissen.
My source says he was an active missionary among the Saxons---whom I
thought were all converted by this time (?).
Dominic of Silos (d. 1073) Dominic was born to a peasant family of Navarre
and worked on the family farm before becoming a monk. He worked his way up
to the priorship, but was exiled after a dispute with the king of Navarre.
D. then took refuge in Old Castile, where Ferdinand I gave him and his
companions the monastery of St. Sebastian, Silos. Dominic became abbot and
restored the buildings, reformed the community, and recruited new members.
His work was aided by his reputation for personal holiness; miracles were
attributed to him both before and after his death, including both healings
and liberation of captives from the Moors. Dominic was especially renowned
as a saint to be invoked by pregnant and would-be pregnant women; the more
famous Dominic (founder of the OP) was named after the saint, thanks to a
pilgrimage his mother made to Dominic's shrine at Silos before his birth.
Dominic's pastoral staff was used to bless queens Spain; it was kept by
their bedside until they had a safe delivery.
Peter de la Cadireta (d. 1277) (blessed) Peter had been a companion of
Raymond of Penafort, and in 1258 became inquisitor of Spain. In 1277 he
was captured (my very unsatisfactory source doesn't say by whom) and stoned
to death at Urgell.
I add as a curiosity the following from the Oekumenisches Heiligenlexikon,
where she is listed as an "evangelisch" saint:
Katharina von Bora (d. 1552) Martin Luther's wife. Katharina was a
Cistercian nun. She and nine of her fellows fled the convent in 1523 after
reading one of Luther's reform tracts. Knowing how their families would
receive them (not to mention ecclesiastical authorities) the group went to
Wittemberg, where Luther undertook to care for them. He found husbands for
all but Katharina; she then suggested that he marry her himself, which he
did. She fixed up his house, managed to keep the household solvent despite
the constant ebb and flow of visitors, bore Luther six children and cared
for eleven more adopted kids, etc. She met her end when fleeing from the
plague: a horse shied, she jumped from the wagon to protect one of her gang
of children, tripped and fell into a water-filled ditch, not only injuring
herself but getting a chill that led to her death.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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