medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today, February 7, is the Feast Day of:
Adauctus (d. 304) Adauctus was an Italian, an imperial minister of finance
(guaestor) employed at Nicomedia (Asia Minor) under Diocletian. Brought to
trial in Phrygia, Diocletian ordered him killed when he discovered that
Adauctus was a Christian. Rufinus connects his death to the destruction of
the entire Phrygian town of Antandro by burning after it was found that he
had other Christian friends there.
Moses (d. c. 372/389) Moses was an Arab hermit who lived a long time as a
hermit Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula (modern El-Arish). A
Bedouin chieftainess said she would convert to Christianity provided she
could have him as bishop, so imperial soldiers grabbed him from the desert
and had him ordained and consecrated. He became a bishop without fixed see
who wandered around converting a large number of nomad Bedouin bands of the
Syro-Arabian desert (who were called 'Saracens' by later Greeks and Romans).
He is known as "the apostle of the Saracens."
Wunna (d. c. 700) Wunna was the mother of Saints Wilibald, Wunibald, and
Walburga, and the wife of St. Richard (see below). Her brother was St.
Boniface.
Richard "the king" (d. 720) Richard was a West Saxon, husband of St. Wunna,
the father of SS. Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga, and brother-in-law of
St. Boniface. He and his family went on a pilgrimage to Rome but he died at
Lucca and was buried there in the church of San Frediano. His tomb became a
popular miracle-working shrine, and the tale of his life grew until he was
"king of the English." A cult developed around his tomb, and also in
Eichstatt (where there was a strong cult of his son Willibald).
Luke the Younger (d. 946/955) Luke was member of a peasant family from the
island of Aegina that moved to Thessaly to avoid Muslim raiders. As he grew
up, he developed the habit of giving everything to the poor and sowing the
fields of poor neighbours rather than his father's. Despite this, they still
wanted to keep him and protested when he tried to become a monk. So he ran
away, only to be caught and imprisoned under suspicion that he was an
escaped slave. Sent home again, he finally won his parents over and became a
monk (at Athens), and then aged 18, a hermit near Corinth and finally
settling on a mountain in Phocis. He became famous and was credited with so
many miracles that he got the nickname "thaumaturgus" and the mountain was
renamed "Soterion" to commemorate his miraculous powers, including being
credited with levitation during prayer.
Rizzerio/Ricerius (1236) - Rizzerius, born in c. 1200 in Muccia (Italy), he
heard Francis of Assisi preach on August 15, 1222 while Rizzerius was
studying in Bologna and immediately joined him. They became close friends,
and Rizzerius was present at Francis' deathbed. Rizzerius became the
Franciscan Provincial of his native region. His cult was approved in 1838.
Antonio da Stroncone (1461) - Antony became a Franciscan at the age of 12.
He spent years suppressing the Fraticelli, then spent the last thirty years
of his life practicing extreme asceticism. For most of the last 30 years of
his life, he would normally eat only bread and water seasoned with wormwood
- some believed that knocking could be heard from his tomb (or from images
of him) at the moment of a devotee's death. He was beatified in 1687.
happy reading,
Terri Morgan
--
"Learning compassion eventually means unlearning hatred." - Dianne Sylvan
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