medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (9. October) is the feast day of:
Dionysius the Areopagite (d. c. 95) Dionysius appears in Acts 17,
converted by Paul at Athens. According to legend he became the first
bishop of Athens and was martyred there. His name was later connected to
the fifth-century writer Pseudo-Dionysius.
Dionysius of Paris and companions (d. c. 250) Dionysius (Denis) was,
according to Gregory of Tours, sent from Rome with five other missionary
bishops to evangelize Gaul. He became first bishop of Paris. He and two
companions were beheaded in the reign of Decius; later tradition says that
he then picked up his head and carried it to the place he had selected for
burial. In the ninth century he was linked to both Dionysius the
Areopagite and to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (the mystical writer),
making him a Very Important Saint indeed.
Publia (d. 362) This is a great story. Publia is supposed to have been a
widow of Antioch who founded a community of consecrated virgins. Julian
the Apostate happened to pass by one day just as they were singing the
psalm verse "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands,"
which he took as a personal insult. He had his bodyguard beat up the
singers and promised that he would have them killed when he returned. But
he was on his way to his great Persian campaign, during which he was
killed, so the community was spared.
Andronicus and Athanasia (5th cent.) Popular saints in Egypt and Ethiopia,
A and A were a married couple of Antioch. Legend tells that when their
children died the two separated to become hermits in Egypt. Many years
later they ended up coming to the same hermitage, where they had adjoining
cells without recognizing each other until Athanasia died.
Ghislain (d. c. 680) Ghislain was a hermit who lived in a forest near
Mons, Belgium. He was the founding abbot of the monastery later known as
St. Ghislain. He wrote a rule for his community, which somehow avoided
being replaced by the Benedictine Rule until 930.
Deusdedit of Montecassino (d. 834) Deusdedit became abbot of Montecassino
in 828 and was famous for his almsgiving. But he ran afoul of the duke of
Benevento, who tried to get hold of some of the monastery's property by
imprisoning and ill-treating D. D. apparently starved to death in prison.
Gunther the Hermit (d. 1045) Gunther was a German noble, reformed by St.
Godehard of Hildesheim after which he became a monk at Niederaltaich. He
lived the last 28 years of his life as a hermit in Hungary, serving as an
important spiritual guide and mediator.
Aaron of Cracow (d. 1059) According to tradition, Aaron was a monk of
Cluny who in 1040 became first abbot of the monastery of Tyniec in Poland,
and first archbishop of Cracow in 1046.
Goswin (d. 1165) Goswin was a native of Douai, who studied at Paris before
returning to his home town to teach theology. He soon became a Benedictine
monk and in 1133 became abbot of Anchin. He was a well-known monastic
reformer, and under his leadership Anchin became an important source of
illuminated manuscripts.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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