medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (1. January) is the feast day of:
1) Mary, the Mother of God. Medievally, this was the day of the Feast of the Circumcision.
2) Justin, active in Campania and Abruzzo (?). Prior to 2001, this less well known saint of the Regno was commemorated in the RM as Justin of Chieti. Under that persona he is the legendary evangelist and protobishop of Teate, the Roman-period antecedent of modern Chieti (CH) in Abruzzo. He has collections of Miracula from 1160 and 1297 and a fifteenth-century Passio that is said to be based on those of other saints of this name, chiefly the Justin of Justin, Felix, Florentius, and Justa, formerly of 25. July, whose equally legendary Passio (BHL 4586; a related text is in the AA.SS. on 1. August under Justa V. M. Aquilae in Vestinis) makes them members of a family from Siponto in northern Apulia but active as evangelists in the late third and/or early fourth century in the vicinity of today's L'Aquila in Abruzzo.
J. is credited with having saved Teate from a plague of harvest-threatening locusts in 593 when the locals carried his arm in procession. He is also said to have repelled, in the form of a graceful bird, a Muslim attack on Teate/Chieti in the late tenth or early eleventh century. The latter miracle is recalled in these lines of his hymn: _Praedictus Pater sedulis, motus eorum lacrymis, per volucrem mitissimam, gentem fugavit barbaram_. Another version has J. conceal the town from the attackers in a blanket of clouds.
Also included in today's commemoration in the RM, as these two are now thought to be the same saint, is the aforementioned Justin of Justin, Felix, et al. (a.k.a. the Saints of Siponto). He is the patron saint of Paganica, a _frazione_ of L'Aquila (AQ) in Abruzzo. According to his legend, his _dies natalis_ is 31. December. Today was once J.'s feast day in Chieti, where, however, he is now celebrated liturgically on 11. May.
Chieti's cathedral is said to have been dedicated to J. since at least the ninth century. The present structure goes back to the eleventh century but has undergone significant modifications over time. The belltower is of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; the facade, portal, and steps are modern (1930s). An illustrated, Italian-language guide is here:
http://tinyurl.com/y2egmd
Other exterior views:
http://tinyurl.com/279lmw
http://www3.flickr.com/photos/maxime/158600310/
Belltower:
http://tinyurl.com/35op4w
These three pages of multiple views begin with two showing the restoration of 1931-47 in progress:
http://tinyurl.com/y4e557
An extensively illustrated, Italian-language page on the cathedral's restoration of 2005-2007:
http://www.lucafalconi.it/?p=293
Two views of the crypt (de-baroqued in a restoration of 1970-76, with J.'s tomb in the altar (said to contain most of his relics):
http://tinyurl.com/y89qow
http://tinyurl.com/y4wcvk
Multiple views of the crypt, including two showing medieval frescoes, are here:
http://tinyurl.com/3clnld
Paganica's eighth-/twelfth-century basilica of San Giustino is locally notable for its use of spolia. According to a very problematic Inventio and Translatio from L'Aquila (BHL 4587), in 1330 the remains of all of the Saints of Siponto were found in its crypt. An exterior view is here:
http://tinyurl.com/yynxxb
and a page of views, exterior and interior, is here:
http://tinyurl.com/y8ark2
Best wishes for the coming year,
John Dillon
(last year's post revised and with further visuals)
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