medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
(And a quick reminder that I am not using the current RM as a date/feast
guide, so some 'familiar' feasts may not be mentioned on the dates you
expect. But then - that is where YOU step in, yes?)
Today, February 1, is the Feast Day of:
Pionius, martyr (250?)- He was a priest in Smyrna. According to an
eyewitness account, Pionius and his fifteen companions were martyrs of the
Decian persecution. He and his congregation were arrested while celebrating
the anniversary death of St. Polycarp but he had been warned in a dream and
prepared himself and his companions by placing fetters around their necks to
show that they would submit to their imprisonment. They were arrested,
imprisoned for several weeks, tortured, and then finally nailed to a stake
and burned but his body appeared to be in fine form, with his hair and beard
unsigned.
Severus of Ravenna (d. c. 350) According to legend, Severus was a wool
weaver in Ravenna. One day, when a new bishop of Ravenna was being elected,
a dove hovered over Severus' head and he was immediately chosen. A further
legend reports that, as his death approached, Severus had the tomb of his
wife and daughter opened, put their skeletons to one side, and laid himself
in the grave and died.
Brigid or Bride, abbess of Kildare, virgin (c. 525) - patroness of Irish
women, she has been called 'the Mary of the Gael'. She is, with Patrick and
Columcille, one of the three patron saints of Ireland. She was probably born
in c. 453; legend reports that St. Patrick baptized her. It seems certain
that she founded the monastery of Kildare in c. 500; it may have been the
earliest monastery on the island. Beyond that, it is hard to discover the
historic woman, especially since there are at least 15 saints and 3
goddesses named Brigid, and Brigid of Kildare took on characteristics of
many of them. My favourite story is that, when she came to be veiled, the
celebrating bishop accidentally read the service for consecrating a bishop
over her---which is why (says the legend) the abbesses of Kildare had the
honour and status of bishops until 1152.
Brigid of Fiesole (9th century) A rather dubious legend tells that Brigid
was a sister of St. Andrew the Scot. She became a hermit near Florence but
was carried by angels to her faraway brother's deathbed. She died as a
recluse in the Apennines.
Clarus of Seligenstadt (d. c1048) was a monk of Seligenstadt near Mainz. He
became a hermit for 30 years, known for his asceticism, and his constant
motto of "Christ and him crucified."
John 'of the Grating', called "Breton John", bishop of Saint-Malo (died
c.1170) was from Chatillon-en-Vendelais (Brittany) and became an Augustinian
canon in Blois and a friend of Bernard of Clairvaux, he was sent by Bernard
to found another house; his success as fair administrator led to his
episcopal appointment as bishop of Aleth, transferring the see to
Saint-Malo, at the same time serving as abbot of Guingamp. He came from
Bourgmoyen monastery (in the area of Blois) to Guingamp (in western part of
Brittany) where he established circa 1130 a community of Augustinian canons
in the church of Sainte-Croix founded at the beginning of 12th century by
the comtal dynasty of Penthievre: John became the first "abbot" of this
community and, in 1143 or 1144 he was elected bishop of Alet (the modern
Saint-Servan); he moved the episcopal see from Alet to Saint-Malo; he lived
together with his clerics under the rule of saint Augustine until his death
in 1163. His cult has been "approved" by Pope Leon X in 1517.
He is known as "of the grating" because of the fencing placed around his
tomb to protect it from visitors.
Ela Longsword (blessed) (d. 1261) Ela was a widowed countess of Salisbury
who became a disciple of St. Edmund Rich. She founded a Carthusian
monastery at Hinton, and an Augustinian nunnery at Lacock, becoming abbess
of the latter.
Antony Manzoni the Pilgrim (1267)- a native of Padua, he was shunned by
friends and family after he gave away his inheritance; he then set off to
visit Rome, Loreto, Compostela, Cologne and Jerusalem; on his return, he
lived in the colonnade of a church - after his death, the pope did not begin
canonization proceedings, stating that it was enough for Padua to have one
Saint Antony.
Andreas de Comitibus/Andrea Conti (blessed) (d. 1302) Andreas, born in 1240
in Anagni (Italy), was related to four popes. Boniface VIII offered to make
him a cardinal, but Andreas refused and became a Franciscan friar. Until
his death, he lived as a hermit near Anagni. His cult was approved in 1724.
home again,
Terri Morgan
--
"The fundamental particle of confusion is the jargon. If a jargon and an
anti-jargon collide, they annihilate each other, with the emission of a pair
of high-energy grammar rays." - Jordin (indefinite particle) Kare
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