medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (23. July) is the feast day of:
Apollinaris of Ravenna (?) A seventh-century legend tells that
Apollinaris was a native of Antioch and was a disciple of Peter;
Peter appointed him first bishop of Ravenna. Yet another case of a
European see trying to puff itself up. A. was certainly venerated as
a martyr and his cult was popular; nothing more is known of him
except that he inspired two very gorgeous churches, San Apollinare in
Classe (dedicated 549) and San Apollinare Nuovo (rededicated to A. in
the eighth century).
John Cassian (d. 435) Cassian seems to have been a native of
someplace bordering the Black Sea, perhaps what is now eastern
Romania. He went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and became a monk
there, but soon went on to Egypt to study the ascetic life among the
experts. He moved to western Europe, apparently staying after
forming part of a delegation sent by John Chrysostom to the pope. In
c. 415 he founded two monasteries in Marseilles. His *Institutes*
and *Conferences* are prime sources for early Egyptian monasticism.
Joan of Orvieto (blessed) (d. 1306) Giovanna was a peasant girl of
Carnaiola, orphaned at the age of five. Her relatives arranged a
marriage when she grew up, but she ran away and became a Dominican
tertiary. She spent the rest of her life caring for the poor and
praying for anyone who did her harm. She was an ecstatic, especially
spending every Good Friday in a trance-like reenactment of
crucifixion; she also bilocated and levitated. Her cult was approved
in 1754.
Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373) Bridget (Birgitta) was the daughter of a
powerful Swedish family. She was married off when she reached
puberty, and B and her husband had eight children during their 28
years of marriage. B. also started a side career as a visionary and
caregiver to the poor. Her visions became more frequent after her
husband died, and in 1346 she set out to found a religious house at
Vadstena, which became the mother house of the Bridgettine Order. B
was politically active; like her fellow visionary Catherine of Siena,
B tried to get the popes to go back to Rome, but with little success.
Christ himself told B. in a vision that Clement VI was "a destroyer
of souls, worse than Lucifer, more unjust than Pilate, and more
merciless than Judas." In 1349 B moved to Rome, where she remained
for the most part except for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1371.
B was canonized in 1391. Her former feast day was 8. October.
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