medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today, March 18, is the feast day of:
Narcissus of Gerona (d. 307) Perhaps completely legendary, the story is that
Bishop Narcissus of Gerona (Spain) came to Augsburg with his deacon Felix at
the beginning of the fourth century. There they baptized St. Afra and
consecrated her uncle Dionysius as first bishop of Augsburg. After their
return to Gerona, both were martyred. A cult began to develop in the
eleventh century. Narcissus is often depicted in art with a dragon (he's
supposed to have killed one). When king Philip of France took Gerona, his
soldiers pillaged the shrine of S. Narcissus, whereupon a swarm of hornets
issued from it and stung them. Consequently in art he is also represented
with hornets issuing from his tomb. [For this reason, he is also known as St
Ung.]
Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) Cyril got a good education and as a priest
produced a series of (still extant) sermons explaining Christian doctrine
(the *Catechetical Instructions*). He was made bishop of Jerusalem in about
349 and was soon in conflict with his metropolitan, Acacius of Caesarea, an
Arian, who managed to get Cyril driven out of Jerusalem after charging him
with selling church property to help the poor during a famine. He returned,
but was exiled again after being accused of selling an expensive vestment
(an imperial gift, no less), which finally ended up being used by a comedian
on stage. Julian the Apostate allowed Cyril's return (as he seems to have
done consistently, apparently for the pleasure of watching Arians and
Orthodox argue with each other) - but Cyril was expelled again in 367 by the
Arian emperor Valens. In all, he spent 16 of his 35 years as bishop in
exile. He was present at the First Council of Constantinople (381), where he
accepted the term 'consubstantial' as defining the relationship of the Son
to the Father.
In his surviving Catechetical Lectures, which are much earlier (348-50),
Cyril avoids this word. Many others probably heard these doctrinal addresses
to catechumens in the period before Easter as well. The Itinerarium Egeriae
contains an admiring account of such instruction at Jerusalem in the early
380s. His catechetical sermons (or "mystagogical catacheses") were delivered
to those who had just been baptized at Easter. It was not considered proper
to tell people anything about the Christian Sacraments until they had
already become Christians by baptism. It may seem strange to us that you
could not be told anything about the significance of baptism until you had
actually taken the plunge, or about the Eucharist until you had actually
received it. He makes the point himself that had he told the neophytes these
things before their baptism, he would have been regarded as a traitor, not a
teacher. He writes further in his First Catechetical Treatise:
"I long ago desired, true-born and dearly-beloved children of the Church,
to discourse to you concerning these spiritual and heavenly Mysteries; but
knowing well, that seeing is far more persuasive than hearing, I waited till
this season; that finding you more open to the influence of my words from
this your experience, I might take and lead you to the brighter and more
fragrant meadow of this present paradise; especially as ye have been made
fit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, having been counted worthy of
divine and life-giving Baptism. It remaining therefore to dress for you a
board of more perfect instruction, let us now teach you exactly about these
things, that ye may know the deep meaning to you-ward of what was done on
that evening of your baptism."
This post-baptismal catechesis is still observed, under the name of
Mystagogy, in the present day Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in the
Catholic Church. The Catechuments are baptised at Easter, but the
instruction continues until Pentecost, when the Bishop celebrates a special
Mass of welcome for the new Catholics. In 381, S. Cyril was present at the
General Council of Constantinople, and subscribed the condemnation of the
semi-Arians and Macedonians. He died in 386, at the age of seventy.
Cyril as depicted in the earlier fourteenth-century (1330s) frescoes of
the church of the Hodegetria in the Patriarchate of Peã at Peã in, depending
on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's
province of Kosovo and Metohija: http://tinyurl.com/ya5cozk
Braulio (d. 651) The scholarly bishop Braulio belonged to an
ecclesiastically influential aristocratic family in the Visigothic kingdom:
his father later became a bishop (probably of Osma), one of his sisters was
an abbess, and an older brother was bishop of Zaragoza from 619 to 631.
Braulio was educated at, and became a monk of, his city's monastery of St.
Engratia. When he was about thirty he traveled to Seville and there became a
student of his future friend St. Isidore, on whose encyclopedia, the
Etymologiae, he collaborated starting in about 630.
In 631 Braulio succeeded his brother in the see of Zaragoza. He took part
in several Iberian synods, conducted an extensive correspondence some of
which has survived, wrote a brief Vita of St. Aemilian of the Cowl and a
hymn in honor of the same saint and is the probable author of the Passio of
the Martyrs of Zaragoza. The Passiones of other Iberian martyrs have been
ascribed to him. At Isidore's request, Braulio completed and edited
Isidore's Etymologiae. He also added to Isidore's De viris illustribus a
Renotatio containing both a sketch of Isidore and a catalogue of the
latter's works. St. Ildefonsus of Toledo (d. 667) devotes to Braulio a brief
chapter of his own De viris illustribus.
Braulio's cult appears to have begun with an Inventio of his remains at
Zaragoza in about 1120. He is a patron both of Zaragoza and of Aragon.
Braulio (at left) as depicted in a later tenth-century copy of Isidore's
Etymologiae (Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 167):
http://tinyurl.com/ywn78d , http://tinyurl.com/yhed2q2
Edward the Martyr (d. 978) The older son of the Anglo-Saxon king Edgar the
Peaceable and his first wife, Aethelfleda, Edward (Eadweard) succeeded to
the throne in 975 at about the age of twelve. His stepmother arranged his
assassination while he was on a visit to his half-brother and successor
¯thelred at Corfe Castle in Dorset. Edward's murdered body was thrown into a
swamp, but it was discovered by a miraculous light shining down on it and
the archbishop of Canterbury, St. Dunstan, proclaimed his sanctity. On 13
February 979, his body (later said to have been incorrupt) was formally
translated to Shaftesbury Abbey, where on 20 June 1001 it was ceremoniously
enshrined. In 1008 a law of king ¯thelred mandated today as Edward’s feast
day for the entire kingdom.
The town of Shaftesbury came to be known as Edwardstowe (a designation it
lost during the Reformation). In the late eleventh century E. received a
Life and Miracles. Visitors to his initial burial site near Corfe Castle,
Dorset reported miracle cures, and 15 years after his death, in 979 or 980,
his remains were moved to Shaftesbury Abbey (a Benedictine nunnery). When
the cover of his grave began levitating, King Ethelred ordered the erection
of a shrine: "I, King Ethelred, King of the English, with humble prayer,
offer the monastery ... my brother Edward, whom the Lord
himself deigns to exalt in our days by many signs of virtue, after his blood
was shed." This shrine, on the north side of the altar, was consecrated in
1001 and Edward was formally canonized in 1008.
Excavations in 1931 revealed a lead casket with the remains of an
Anglo-Saxon adolescent boy. The Brookwood Cemetery site explains what
happened next: "The Director of the Excavations, John Wilson-Claridge
(1905-1993), whose family then owned the site, began years of painstaking
negotiations with all the major churches in order to find a suitable resting
place for the relics. He imposed two conditions: (1) that they were
recognised as the relics of a saint, and (2) that a shrine would be
established for their reception. These conditions were met only by the
Russian Orthodox Church in Exile, which entered into detailed negotiations
with Mr Wilson-Claridge in the late 1970s.
"At the same time the Orthodox Church purchased the site now owned by the
St Edward Brotherhood, with the intention of using the larger of the two
mortuary chapels for the reception of St Edward's bones. The formal ceremony
of enshrinement took place on 15/16 September 1984. Thus for the first time
in nearly 450 years the remains of St Edward (arguably England's least
important king) have a fitting resting place within a Church whose doctrine
is closest to that which he knew in his lifetime." This second
enshrinement was not without controversy, for Wilson-Claridge's brother
objected to the transfer to theOrthodox Church, and it took a High Court
decision in 1984 to allow it. However, extra security measures were ordered,
and the relics then found a home in a bank vault until 1993 when, as the St.
Edward Brotherhood reported, "on the feast of St. Aethelgifu, the first
Abbess of Shaftesbury, we brought the relics back to the church where, glory
be to God, they remain to this day." Brookwood Cemetery is 4 miles west of
Woking, Surrey.
Anselm of Lucca (d. 1086) Anselm was a native of Mantua. Sometimes called
Anselm the Younger to distinguish him from his uncle of the same name who
became pope Alexander II (both were bishops of Lucca), Anselm was a
supporter of Gregory VII in the investiture controversy. Designated for his
office by his uncle, Anselm accepted appointment from Gregory in 1073 but
contrary to Gregory's wishes also accepted investiture from Henry IV.
Shortly thereafter he resigned to become a Cluniac monk at the abbey of St.
Benedict at Polirone near Mantua; ordered back to Lucca by Gregory, he
continued to live as a monk and attempted to impose a similar lifestyle on
his canons, who would have none of it. These sided with Henry and in 1081
got him expelled from Lucca.
Anselm sought refuge with his political ally, Matilda of Tuscany, and
spent the rest of his life in papal service, being named papal vicar for
Lombardy. Unsuccessful with human canons, he turned his attention to written
ones and produced an important, pro-reform collection of the latter. Also
surviving from his pen are five prayers he wrote for Matilda. He died at
Mantua and was promptly recognized as its patron saint; though he had
arranged to be buried at the abbey at Polirone, on Matilda's command his
remains were instead conveyed to Mantua's cathedral, where they are today.
Anselm was canonized in 1087.
Fra Angelico (d. 1455) Fra Angelico (Guido da Vicchio) was born near
Florence. When about 20 years old, he and his brother became Dominicans at
Fiesole. "Brother John of the Angels" (or "Fra Angelico" as he became known
outside of the convent) became one of the great artists of the quattrocento,
especially noted for his fresco cycles in Rome and his frescos at San Marco
in Florence, where he served as prior for several years.
happy reading,
Terri Morgan
--
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in
school. ~Albert Einstein
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|
