medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Herewith a link to an earlier 'Saints of the day' for 2. January (including pope Telesphorus; Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus; John the Good of Milan; Sylvester of Troina):
http://tinyurl.com/7nt4hx8
In that earlier post's notice of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, the caption for a portrait of Gregory in the church of the Theotokos at Studenica:
http://www.maletic.org/picture/lf066.jpg?pictureId=294957
identifies the figure at the right as St. Nicholas. Although that's how this figure is identified at the Serbian-oriented site hosting this image <http://www.maletic.org/serbian-frescoes/>, the identification is clearly wrong: to cite only the most obvious discrepancy, in Byzantine art Nicholas is routinely shown with a short, rounded white beard and not a long, pointed dark one. Both the iconography and what can be read of the identifying inscription indicate that this is a portrait of St. Cyril of Alexandria. My apologies for my earlier inattention.
In the same notice, here's a better view of Basil (at left) and Gregory (at center; the figure at right is Cyril of Alexandria) as depicted in the apse of the exonarthex of the Chora church in Istanbul:
http://tinyurl.com/7yardty
The link given there for a distance view no longer functions. Use this instead:
http://tinyurl.com/7c6lmlv
Still in that notice, the link to the fourteenth-century portable icon of Sts. John Chrysostom, Basil, Gregory, and Nicholas no longer functions. The object in question is in the collections of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (W-1125) and had formed part of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ("Byzantium: Faith and Power, 1261-1557").
In the notice of Sylvester of Troina, the link to a view of the early modern church at Troina in which he reposes no longer functions. Here's another view:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/4726638393_01f6a19372.jpg
Further to Basil the Great and to Gregory of Nazianzus:
Further visuals will be forthcoming later today or tomorrow.
Further to Sylvester of Troina:
Three more recent -- and slightly expandable -- views of Sylvester's effigy reliquary (in this case, on temporary view in Troina's chiesa madre during his patronal festival in early June) will be found in the third row here:
http://www.criluge.it/isolainfesta/?p=4047
2. January is also the feast day of:
Bladulfus (also Blidulfus; d. earlier 7th cent.). The little that we know about this disciple of St. Columbanus at Bobbio comes from Jonas of Bobbio's Vita of that house's abbot St. Attala (BHL 742). According to Jonas, Bladulfus was in Pavia one day on the monastery's business when he encountered the Lombard king Arialdus. That worthy, who was an Arian, knew that the monks of Bobbio avoided him for doctrinal reasons. Going up to Bladulfus, he offered the monk an ironic greeting. Bladulf responded that he for his part would gladly greet the king if only Arialdus would accept the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity. Taking umbrage at Bladulph's contumacy, Arialdus ordered his servants to give the monk a beating. The one who carried this out beat Bladulfus to within an inch of his life and left him for dead near the house of a priest. The priest rescued Bladulfus, who was returned to his monastery. There he soon died of his injuries; his attacker was divinely punished with a series of major illnesses. Seeking forgiveness Arialdus offered gifts to Bobbio but abbot Attala insisted that house would accept nothing from an Arian. But he did ask all the brothers to pray for the attacker. When the attacker died his grave was situated at a distance from others' and was pointed out as that of someone who had been cruel to the monks of Bobbio. Thus far Jonas.
In the tradition of Bobbio, Bladulfus died in the year 630 and enjoyed an immediate cult. In 1482 relics believed to be his were translated in the abbey church along with those of others. Today is Bladulfus' day of commemoration in the RM; at Bobbio he is celebrated liturgically on 16. March with other saints of the abbey.
Best,
John Dillon
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