medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today, March 1, is the feast day of:
Eudokia "the Samaritan" (d. 107?) Legend tells that Eudokia was a beautiful
whore who lived in what is now Lebanon. She was converted to Christianity
(and to a life of chastity), giving all her goods to the poor (which earned
her the nickname "the samaritan"). Eudokia's former lovers denounced her as
a Christian and she was brought before the emperor Aurelian. But Eudokia
healed Aurelian's son, and converted the emperor to Christianity, so he
released her. Then the governor of Heliopolis arrested Eudokia- but she
worked a miracle in his presence and he released her. The *next* governor of
Heliopolis finally beheaded the woman.
Senan (6th cent.) Senan was an Irish monk and monastic founder, born in
County Clare. His most important foundation was on Scattery Island in the
Shannon estuary. Perhaps the best legend about Senan is one that makes him
look bad: St. Cannera (a woman) wanted to visit the Scattery community, but
was forbidden because of her sex. She responded: "God did not become
incarnate for men more than for women. He did not suffer for men more than
he did for women. Heaven is open to both sexes equally. In fact, Christ did
not in the least refuse the companionship of holy women who ministered to
him and his disciples." She won.
Albinus/Aubin of Angers (d. c550) was born at Vannes (Brittany) and became a
monk at a young age. He went on to become abbot and then bishop of Angers in
529. He preached daily, caring for the poor, widows, and orphans, ransoming
slaves, etc. He is said to have performed many miracles and was much admired
by King Childebert. He was important at the third council of Orleans (538)
and also won a significant posthumous cult: the monastery of St. Aubin at
Angers was dedicated to him and he also has a shrine at St. Aubin de
Moeslain.
Dewi/David of St Davids (d. 589/601?) is the patron saint of Wales. His cult
was already established by the eighth century but we have no Vita until the
eleventh. He was supposed to be the son of the king of south Wales and St.
Non. He is presented as a monastic founder, as the preeminent bishop of
Wales, and as a saint of a stature at least equal to that of St. Patrick and
certainly greater than that of St. Gildas. His abbey at Vallis Rosina (also
Mynyw, latinized as Menevia) came to be known as Dewi's House (Tyddewi) and
was the nucleus of medieval and modern St Davids (Pembrokeshire), where he
was both abbot and bishop to an advanced age. Legend says he was consecrated
archbishop of the Cambrian church by the patriarch of Jerusalem while on
pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
St. David was purported to have encouraged the natives to wear a leek in
their cap when they fought their battle with the pagan Saxon invaders in a
field full of leeks, so as to easily distinguish friend from foe. The battle
was a victorious one for the Welsh and, according to legend, the leek was
thereafter adopted as the national emblem. The afore-mentioned era is
documented in the Red Book of Hergest, the largest of the medieval
vernacular manuscripts, which contains a copy of most Welsh literature
written before1400.
Supposedly Callistus II approved his cult in c1120, making him the only
Welsh saint formally canonized. Pope Calixtus II (Pope from 1119 to 24)
decreed that one pilgrimage to St David's was equal to two to Rome. He is
represented in art as standing on a mound with a dove on his shoulder, in
allusion to a legend that once while preaching a dove descended next to his
ear, and the earth beneath his feet rose up to form a hill so that David
could be better heard.
In 1275, John de Gamages, an Abbot based 60 miles from here, dreamt about
the resting place of St David and following his instructions a body was
found in the cathedral grounds. It was placed in a new shrine in 1275. King
Edward I was one of the first to visit and make an offering.
"The prosperity of St Davids continued with a steady traffic of visitors
until the sixteenth century. The Dean said: "In 1538, Protestant William
Barlow was appointed bishop at St David's. He wanted to shut down the
cathedral and confiscated the reliquaries. As far as we know, they were all
destroyed. In the nineteenth Century some bones were found walled up in a
recess at the back of the High Altar and they were later believed to be
those of St. David. I had these carbon dated and it was revealed they are
actually from the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It would
appear that no relics have survived.'
Rudesind / Rosendo (d. 977) was a noble Galician, made bishop of Dumium
(Mondonedo) at the age of 18. He was also put in charge of the see of
Compostela while its bishop was imprisoned. In the absence of King Sancho he
led an army that drove Viking raiders from Galicia and went on to force
raiding Moors to leave Portugal. In 940 when the imprisoned bishop of
Compostela won his freedom and threatened to kill Rudesind if he didn't give
up the see, Rudesind retired to Celanova, a monastery he had founded, then
going on to found several other communities. In c970 Rudesind was given the
control of the bishopric of Compostela until his death. He was canonized in
1195.
Bonavita (1375) - a blacksmith and Franciscan tertiary, he lived and died in
the village of Lugo, fourteen miles west of Ravenna; there, he was noted for
his simplicity and his many miracles.
Christopher of Milan (1484) was a Dominican, one of the many outstanding
mendicant preachers of the fifteenth century. He preached especially in
Liguria, and is called the apostle of that region.
happy reading,
Terri Morgan
--
"Nobility depends not on parentage or place of birth, but on breadth of
compassion and depth of loving kindness. If we would be noble, let us be
greathearted." - anon.
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