medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (4. May) is the feast day of:
Pelagia of Tarsus (?) Hagiologists say that she never existed, but
Pelagia makes a good story. She is said to have been a young woman
(beautiful and virginal, of course) of Cilician Tarsus, roasted to
death for refusing to marry one of Emperor Diocletian's sons.
Florian (d. 304) These days, one mostly finds Florian in the form of
little statues of a guy in vaguely Roman armor pouring water on a
fire---he is one of the 14 Holy Helpers, and is still invoked (at
least in Bavaria) against the perils of fire. It's not clear why,
though. He was a Roman army officer who according to legend was
thrown off a bridge with a millstone tied around his neck to make
sure that he drowned (at Lorch, Austria).
Silvanus of Gaza and companions (d. c. 311) Silvanus was bishop of
Gaza. He was sentenced to slave labor in the Palestinian mines but
was too old to be any good at the job and so was beheaded instead.
At the same time, 40 other decrepit Christian slaves were killed.
Eusebius gave an account of their deaths.
Conleth (d. c. 519) Conleth was a hermit at Oldconnell (Co. Kildare,
Ireland). Legend tells that he knew St. Brigid and became the priest
of her nunnery at Kildare and in time its first bishop. He had a
reputation as a metalworker, copyist, and illuminator.
Ethelred of Mercia (d. 716) Ethelred was king of Mercia but
abdicated to become a monk at his own monastery of Bardney, in time
becoming abbot.
Catherine of Parc-aux-Dames (blessed) (13th cent.) Catherine started
life in Louvain as a Jewish girl named Rachel. Her father made the
mistake of frequently entertaining the duke of Brabant's chaplain and
Rachel, listening to their discussions too much, converted. She left
home at the age of twelve, was baptized, and became a Cistercian nun
at Parc-aux-Dames. She was a famous miracle worker.
--
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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History Department
University of Southern Mississippi
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