medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. May) is the feast day of:
Euphrasius (1st cent.?) Euphrasius was one of the Spanish "varones
apostolicos," believed to be disciples of the apostles sent to evangelize
Spain. E. is believed to have been bishop of Illiturgi, and was martyred.
E's relics were taken north to Galicia when the Muslims invaded.
Dympna (7th cent.) A popular saint whose biographical details have been
lost (if there was indeed ever such a person). The folkloric legend of
Dympna reports that D. was the daughter of a Celtic king, perhaps in
Britain. Her mother died when she was young, and D. grew up looking so
much like her mom that her father fell in love with her. To avoid incest,
D. fled with her confessor. dad pursued them, and when they refused to
return, killed them.
Hallvard (d. 1043) The Norwegian Hallvard was martyred thanks to a good
deed. One day when he was in his boat, a woman begged H to take her across
the fjord, since she had been falsely accused of theft and was being
pursued. Sure enough, the guys chasing her caught up and demanded that H.
surrender her. H. believed the woman to be innocent and refused, so the
archers shot both of them dead. H's body was thrown into the sea, weighted
with a stone---but it floated, so he was clearly a martyr. H. became the
patron saint of Oslo.
Isidore the Farmer (d. 1130) Isidore was a farm laborer near Madrid.
After a son died young, he and his wife lived chastely; in other ways
Isidore was a model of lay piety. Legend reports that angels helped I.
with his plowing, and that I's kindness in feeding grain to starving birds
was repaid when the remaining grain produced twice as much flour as usual.
There were many miracles after I's death, including the saint appearing in
a vision to Alphonso of Castile, guiding the king to make a surprise attack
on the Moors. I. finally received formal canonization in 1622, after his
relics cured King Philip III of a fever.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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