medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (11. November) is the feast day of:
Mennas (3rd cent.) Legend tells that Mennas was an Egyptian who
became a soldier. When the great persecution began, M. took to the
hills of Phrygia. But when he worked up the nerve, he went down and
proclaimed his faith in the amphitheater during the games. He was
immediately tortured and then beheaded. M's relics were taken back
to Egypt and an extremely popular cult grew up at his tomb near
Alexandria.
Martin of Tours (d. 397) A native of Pannonia (Hungary), Martin was
the son of an army officer so he in turn had to join the army. He
was a good guy even as a soldier, cutting his cloak in half to share
with a beggar, etc. He converted to Christianity and is one of the
few Christian soldiers who refused to serve in the Roman army,
winning his discharge thanks to a miracle. M. went on to become a
hermit, eventually settling in Gaul and forming a monastic community
at Liguge. Much against his will, M. became bishop of Tours in 371,
after which he worked fewer miracles, according to Sulpicius Severus.
M. was, despite that, an extremely active bishop, evangelizing,
arguing with heretics, encouraging monasticism, etc. His shrine at
Tours was one of the most popular pilgrim centers of Europe, and M.
is one of the patron saints of France.
Theodore the Studite (d. 826) Theodore was a Constantinopolitan monk
and abbot. He denounced Emperor Constantine VI for leaving his wife,
for which he was exiled. Later, T. became abbot of the Studios
monastery in Constantinople, which he brought from a state of decay
to a flourishing community with (reportedly) a thousand monks. He
was exiled and/or several more times for denouncing emperors (it
seems to have been a bad habit of his), especially iconoclasts.
Finally he founded a monastery in Bithynia for his faithful disciples.
Bartholomew of Grottaferrata (d. 1050) Bartholomew was a disciple of
St. Nilus at the eastern-rite monastery of Grottaferrata (near Rome).
B. succeeded Nilus as abbot, completing the monastic buildings and
turning the place into a center of learning.
Some modern saints (or at least beati): Josaphat Chichkov, Pavel
Djidjov, and Kamen Vitchev (d. 1952) These three Bulgarian priests,
beatified in 2002, were arrested by the Communist government of
Bulgaria for the crime of being priests and were shot by a firing
squad.
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