medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (22. February) is the feast day of:
Papias (2nd cent.) A bishop of Hierapolis (Phrygia), Papias appears
in the pages of Eusebius. P. wrote a work called *The Sayings of the
Lord Explained* (only fragments still extant). He was influential in
transmitting apostolic teachings to the second century.
Thalassius and Limnaeus (5th cent.) These were two hermits.
Thalassius, the elder of the two, made himself a hermitage in a cave
in Syria; his disciple Limnaeus later joined him there. L. in
particular had a great reputation as a healer; he later walled
himself up as a recluse, but had crowds turn up at his window.
Maximian of Ravenna (d. 556) The first bishop in the west to use the
title "archbishop," Maximian was clearly an important guy. He went
to Constantinople as a young man and won the attention of Emperor
Justinian, who in 545 gave M. the see of Ravenna. M. was very active
during his episcopate, completing the basilicas of St. Michael and
St. Vitalis and embellishing others. He also produced a large number
of books, including chronicles and twelve volumes of sermons, as well
as an annotated edition of the entire Bible.
Isabel of France (blessed) (d. 1270) Overshadowed by her even more
saintly brother, King Louis IX of France, Isabel turned against royal
life as an adolescent---fasting almost to the point of death,
refusing to wear fine clothes, etc. She also refused to marry---even
a papal appeal that she accept King Conrad of Jerusalem for the sake
of Christendom didn't get her to change her mind. In time she
founded a convent of Poor Clares and lived in the community, although
she did not herself become a nun.
Margaret of Cortona (d. 1297) Margaret came from a poor Tuscan
family. She escaped that life by becoming a noble's mistress. When
the lover was murdered, though, M. got religion. She took to a life
of extremely public and spectacular penance. She also took to
nursing sick poor people, in time forming a group of Franciscan
tertiaries into a nursing community. She was a noted visionary. M.
was declared a saint on the day of her death and the citizens of
Cortona started building a church in her honor; formal canonization
followed in 1728.
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