medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (10. November) is the feast day of:
Theoctista. A fictional saint. The story goes that she lived on the
island of Lesbos, but was kidnapped by Arabs. They brought her to
the island of Paros where she escaped and lived as a hermit for 30
years.
Leo the Great (d. 461) Pope Leo I was probably born in Rome to
Tuscan parents. In 440 he was elected to succeed Sixtus III in
absentia, while he was off on a mission to make peace between two
rival imperial generals in Gaul. Leo was a vigorous opponent of
pretty much every heresy known in his time (Manichaeism, Pelagianism,
Priscillianism, and Nestorianism) besides the Eutychian controversy
with the emperor. He is probably most famous today for convincing
Attila and his Huns not to sack Rome in 452; L. only had partial
success with the Vandal Genseric in 455---who sacked the city but
agreed not to burn it. He seems to have been the first to enunciate
the Petrine Doctrine. L. was declared a doctor of the church in 1754.
Aedh Mac Bricc (d. 589) An early Irish saint, whose life is hard to
disentangle from later extravagant legends that credit him with lots
and lots of miracles, flying, and curing St. Brigid of a headache (so
he is invoked to help with headaches). He founded a monastery at
Cill-air in Westmeath and became a bishop.
Justus of Canterbury (d. c. 627) Justus was one of the second wave
of missionaries sent by Gregory the Great to reinforce Augustine's
mission in England. He was a monk, consecrated as first bishop of
Rochester in 604. When Christianity's royal protector died, J. found
it best to retreat to the kingdom of the Franks, along with the
bishop of London. But J. soon returned and became fourth archbishop
of Canterbury in 624.
John of Ratzeburg (d. 1066) John appears to have been a Scot who got
the missionary bug and evangelized both Germanic people and Slavs.
He was a missionary in Iceland for a time before becoming bishop of
Ratzeburg (near Bremen). He was missionizing on the Baltic coast
when he was martyred in 1066.
A modern saint: Andrew Avellino (d. 1608) Andrew was born at
Castronuovo in Italy. He became a canon lawyer but turned to
pastoral work and reforming with such success that his disgruntled
reformees tried to kill him. AA moved out and went to become a
Theatine. He became superior of the Theatine house in Naples, an
office he held for the rest of his life with long interludes to
introduce reforms in Lombardy, fight Protestants, and found other
communities. He is credited with many miracles and, in accordance
with the Neapolitan specialty, a vial of his blood is reported to
have bubbled after his death.
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