medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (22. February) is the feast day of:
Papias of Hierapolis (d. c. 130) Papias was bishop of Hierapolis
(Phrygia). He is known for his *Explanation of the Sayings of the Lord*
(unfortunately no longer extant; or maybe not so unfortunately: Eusebius
had a very low opinion of it). This work is the source of the traditions
that Matthew wrote his gospel in Aramaic and that Mark's gospel was a
summary of Peter's preaching.
Baradates (d. c. 460) Baradates was a great Syrian hermit, specially
praised by Theodoret in his *History of the Monks of Syria*. He was an
extremely rigorous ascetic, practicing what sounds a lot like self-torture.
Athanasius of Nicomedia (d. c. 818) Athanasius was a native of
Constantinople who became abbot of SS Peter & Paul near Nicomedia. He was
an active opponent of the imperial iconoclast policy and suffered
persecution as a result, but avoided outright martyrdom.
John the Saxon (d. 895) Often called John the "Old Saxon" to distinguish
him from inhabitants of England, John was apparently from Lower Saxony. He
was invited to England by Alfred the Great to help restore monastic life.
So John became abbot of the new royal moanstery at Athelney. . . which
failed to become a center of greater renewal. So John's main claim to
sanctity (according to a late 10th-century, somewhat dubious source) lies
in his own unpopularity---two French monks of his own community murdered
him one night in church.
Margaret de Bartolomeo of Cortona (d. 1297) Margaret was a farmer's
daughter from Tuscany. She was a young nobleman's concubine for nine
years, but she was converted to the religious life after her lover was
murdered and she got a good look at his decomposing corpse. M. publicly
confessed her sins, then became a penitential Franciscan tertiary in
Cortona. She founded a hospital where she nursed, along with a community
of other tertiaries she had founded. M. was active in Cortona's political
affairs and slandered, but also noted for her supernatural manifestations
of holiness. She was canonized in 1728.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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