medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (5. August) is the feast day of:
Addai and Mari (2nd cent.) Unfortunately little is
known about these two,
the apostles of Persia. Addai was probably a
missionary bishop of Edessa;
the latter may have founded a church near Ctesiphon,
which was the first
church in the Persian Empire. The Chaldean liturgy
is named after the
pair.
Afra of Augsburg (d. c. 304) The cult of Afra at
Augsburg dates back to
ancient times; she probably died during Diocletian's
persecution. Much
more dubious (aka "extremely unlikely") is that she
was a Cypriot
prostitute, although it makes a good story.
Cassian of Autun (d. c. 350) According to a
ninth-century vita, Cassian
was a native of Egypt and a famous miracle worker.
He became bishop of
Autun in 314.
Eusignius (d. 362) The 110-year old (!) Eusignius,
who had served in the
Roman army for 60 years (!!) was beheaded at Antioch
in the reign of Julian
for refusing sacrifice.
Nonna (d. 374) Nonna seems to have been a model of
appropriate female
sanctity. She was the wife of St. Gregory Nazianzen
the Elder, whom she
converted to Christianity, and was the mother of
Sts. Gorgonia, Gregory,
and Caesarius.
Oswald of Northumbria (d. 642) Oswald became king
of Northumbria after
Edwin (who had seized the throne from Oswald's dad)
was killed in battle.
Oswald strongly encouraged the conversion of his
kingdom, calling in St.
Aidan and even acting as his translator. In 642
Oswald in turn was killed
in battle, and the fact that his enemy Penda wasn't
a Christian led to
Oswald's veneration as a martyr. Penda also
conveniently subdivided
Oswald's corpse, so his popular cult was able to
spread to several areas.
His head, by the way, is sitll in St. Cuthbert's
coffin at Durham.
Abel of Lobbes (d. c. 751) Abel was either English
or Irish. He
accompanied Boniface to Francia, where he was
elected archbishop of Rheims.
But the archbishopric was taken over by an intruder,
so Abel went to
Lobbes and became its abbot.
Dr. Phyllis Jestice
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