medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Monday, February 13, 2006, at 7:21 pm, Phyllis wrote:
> Today (14. February) is the feast day of:
> Antoninus of Sorrento (d. 830) Antoninus was a Campanian who
> became
> a monk. He and the bishop of Sorrento were great friends;
> eventually
> the bishop went off to commune with the archangel Michael on a
> nearby
> mountain, leaving his friend to deal with care of the diocese. So
> A.
> settled down at a monastery in Sorrento and eventually became abbot.
Our sole medieval source for A. is his Vita (BHL 582), a charming late
ninth- or tenth-century text that is one of the few surviving monuments
of the short-lived duchy of Sorrento. According to this, A. and the
bishop of Stabiae (today's Castellammmare di Stabia) were great friends.
Turning over his duties to A., the bishop retired to eremitical life on
a nearby mountain (today's Monte Faito, between Castellammare di Stabia
and Sorrento); after a few years A. joined him and the two proceeded to
erect upon one of the mountain's peaks a rude oratory dedicated to the
archangel Michael. The bishop (saint Catellus; 19. January) was charged
with dereliction of duty and with spreading heresy; arrested, taken to
Rome, and imprisoned, he was able to clear himself and return only after
there had been a change of pope. While the bishop was away, A. came
down from the mountain and proceeded to the outskirts of Sorrento, where
he entered a monastery dedicated to saint Agrippinus (of Naples; 9.
November) and in time became both its very model abbot and a spiritual
father to the adjacent town. So beloved was he by both his monastic
community and the citizens of Sorrento proper that as he was dying the
two groups argued over who should have his corpse. A., already _in
extremis_, resolved this dispute by ordering that neither should have
him completely and that he should be buried instead inside the city
wall. This was done, though afterwards a becoming oratory was erected
in his honor next to his mural resting place. On the city side,
presumably, as it is from the latter's perspective that the Vita is written.
Happy St. Antoninus of Sorrento day to all!
Best,
John Dillon
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