medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
With regard to Placid and the Sicilian martyrs: there was another Placid who
was an early disciple of St. Benedict, whose formation in the early days of
Benedict's monastic leadership forms one of the important themes in Gregory
the Great's important Life of St. Benedict (Dialogues, book ii). In the 12th
cent. the martyrology of Monte Cassino contained a notice of Placid et al.
martyrs of Sicily, another saint coincidentally of the same name. The (in)
famous 12th c. chronicler of the abbey and forger of many documents in its
favor, Peter the Deacon, identified Benedict's ancient young student with
this Sicilian martyrs. Peter then wrote 3 (!) lives of Placid, all
attributed to other earlier writers, which told of Placid's journey to
Sicily on Benedict's orders to protect large properties there which his
father had donated to the abbey (thus substantiating Monte Cassino's claims
to such lands). There, as Phyllis noted, along with the other Sicilian
martyrs, whom Peter the Deacon identified as Placid's brothers and sisters,
were heroically martyred by invading Moslems (a chronological impossibility
of course, Benedict and the original Placid being mid-sixth century
figures). Placid thus became the "proto-martyr" of Monte Cassino, a
characteristic Peter much celebrates in one of these lives.
Overall, Peter's work is an endlessly interesting attempt -perhaps misguided
by our lights--to shore up the failing prestige of Monte Cassino in the 12th
century, by glorifying its founders in many forged documents and
hagiographies (he also forged many documents regarding Benedict, and his
other early disciple Maurus, and hugely exaggerated the lands and powers of
Monte Cassino in its early days.)
As Phyllis notes, the cult of Placid and the Sicilian martyrs on Oct 5 was
suppressed by Vatican II scholars, However, Placid is still liturgically
celebrated as the disciple of St. Benedict, along with his fellow oblate of
Monte Cassino, St. Maurus, on January 15th and both are still honored in
Benedictine houses.
jw
-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Phyllis Jestice
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 10:01 PM
To: John Wickstrom
Subject: saints of the day 5. October
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (5. October) is the feast day of:
Placid, Eutychius, Victorinus, Flavia, and companions (d. c. 300) An
interesting case of saint creation. These *were* real martyrs of Messina
in Sicily; that is all that is known of them. In 1115 a priest at
Montecassino cooked up a document proclaiming that Placid was a disciple of
Benedict of Nursia and the others were his siblings; the group was
supposedly sent to Messina to found a monastery, where they were killed by
Muslim raiders (!) Their "relics" were found in a Roman cemetery at
Messina in 1588. The cult was suppressed in 1969.
Galla (d. c. 550) Galla was a Roman noblewoman, the sister-in-law of
Boethius. She was widowed after one year of marriage and became a hermit
"at the Vatican" (I assume this means somewhere in the vicinity of St.
Peter's basilica, on the Vatican hill), living a life of extreme asceticism
until she died of breast cancer.
Attilanus (d. c. 916) Attilanus was from near Saragossa (Spain). He
became a monk at Moreruela, in time serving as prior when Froilan was
abbot. The two were consecrated together as bishops, A. of Zamora and
Froilan of Leon.
Aymard of Cluny (d. 965) Perhaps the least important of the great abbots
of Cluny in the worldly sphere, Aymard served as abbot from 942 to 952,
resigning after he went blind. He was known for his patience in adversity.
Raymund delle Vigne of Capua (blessed) (d. 1399) Raymund was a Dominican;
from 1374 on he was spiritual director of Catherine of Siena. Later he
became master-general of the Order of Preachers, restoring discipline with
such success that he's credited as the second founder of the order.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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