medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (4. February) is the feast day of:
Theophilus the Penitent (?) Legend tells that Theophilus was a
Cilician church administrator who was so furious when dismissed by
his bishop that he made a pact with the devil. He later repented,
and the Virgin Mary kindly got back his satanic contract for him.
This is the origin of the Faust tale.
Isidore of Pelusium (d. c. 450) Isidore was an Alexandrine who
became a monk near Pelusium. He became abbot and seems to have spent
his career writing letters---he is reputed to have written 10,000
letters in his lifetime, of which 2,000 still survive. These include
a lot of pious exhortation and theology. I. was a strong opponent of
the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies.
Nicholas Studites (d. 863) Nicholas was a Cretan who became a monk
at the Studion monastery in Constantinople and in time was elected
abbot. He went into voluntary exile when the emperor exiled the
patriarch of Constantinople and imposed a controversial figure. N.
was eventually brought back to his monastery and imprisoned there for
the rest of his life.
Rimbert (d. 888) Rimbert was the spiritual heir of yesterday's St.
Ansgar. He assisted Ansgar in his missionary work and succeed him as
archbishop of Hamburg/Bremen in 865.
Andrew Corsini (d. 1373) Andrew was a Florentine who entertained
himself thoroughly in his youth before converting to the religious
life. He became a Carmelite and bishop of Fiesole in 1349. A. was
famous for prophecy and miracles, care for the needy, ascetic life,
and peacemaking abilities. He was canonized in 1629.
Joan of Valois (d. 1505) Joan was the daughter of Louis XI of France
and Charlotte of Savoy. She was born with birth defects, but was
married off to Duke Louis of Orleans. Her husband eventually became
king as Louis XII---whereupon he got the pope to annul the marriage.
J. settled down in the duchy of Berry and lived a life of prayer,
forming a contemplative order of nuns. She was canonized in 1950.
John de Britto (d. 1693) John de Britto was a Portuguese noble who
became a Jesuit. In 1673 he set out for missionary work in India.
He spent the rest of his life as a missionary in Asia, except for a
short time that he was sent back to Portugal after being tortured by
devotees of Shiva. He was arrested and beheaded at Oriur, India, by
order of the local rajah, on a charge of teaching things opposed to
the local gods. J. was canonized in 1947.
**********************************************************************
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
|