medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
John Briggs said:
> Just to clarify: the translation is the removal of a saint's body from one
> place to another (normally with papal permission!). It usually means from
> the original grave to a shrine (at, near, or behind the high altar). The
> feast thus usually commemorates the canonisation.
Usually, perhaps but here is a different example, admittedly from the very
fringes of Christendom
The Norwegian Feast of the Martyrs of Selja and Saint Sunniva is celebrated
on July 8, the day confirmed by - or possibly decreed by - King Olav the
Holy in c 1024. The bones of the presumed martyr Saint Sunniva and her
followers had been discovered in a cave on the Island of Selja off the west
coast of Norway just south of Cape Wrath and roughly half way between
Trondheim and Bergen. At that time, the bones were housed in a chapel close
to the cave and not far from a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint
Alban [of Verulamium / England] which was also the centre of the diocese and
an important Royal staging post for anyone travelling [by boat naturally] up
the west coast of Norway.
In 1170 the diocese switched its HQ to Bergen and built a cathedral there,
and the bone of Saint Sunniva were Translated to Bergen and were installed
in a posh shrine in the cathedral on September 7th. [This shrine vanished
during the Reformation.] This day is kept as the Feast of the Translation of
St Sunniva.
There cult is still extant in a quiet way. The Church of Norway is Reformed
but the locals have a very soft spot for Sunniva and her followers.
Brenda M.C.
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