medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. April) is the feast day of:
Mary of Egypt (5th cent.?) Mary is blessed with a rich legend, which
tells that she was an Alexandrian actress and high-class prostitute.
She changed her way of life when she went on pilgrimage to the church
of the Holy Sepulcher---but an invisible force kept her from
entering. So she fled to the desert beyond the Jordan, spending the
rest of her life in penance. She was only discovered when close to
her death, by St. Zosimus, who was just in time to bury her (with the
aid of a friendly lion who seems to have done all the work).
Constantine II of Scotland (d. 874) Constantine was a king of
Scotland who was killed in battle against non-Christian viking
invaders. He was buried at Iona and venerated locally as a martyr.
Francis of Paola (d. 1507) Francis was the son of a poor Calabrian
family. At the age of 13 he became a hermit and in 1454 founded a
monastery for the disciples he had collected---this was the first
house of the new order of Minim Friars. Francis himself, though,
ended his life far from the community; the pope sent him to France in
1482 to attend King Louis XI on his deathbed, and the new king valued
F. so much that he wouldn't let him go back to Italy. F. was
canonized in 1519; he was declared a patron of seafarers in 1943.
--
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
[log in to unmask]
History Department
University of Southern Mississippi
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|