Today, 20 July, is the feast of ...
* Wilgefortis or Liberata or Uncumber or Ontkommer or Kummernis or
Regenfledis or Livrade, virgin (no date)
- I like Butler on this one: 'Her story is a curiosity of
hagiology and is hardly worth including in a collection of lives of the
saints but for the fact that it has the unenviable distinction of being
one of the most obviously false and preposterous of the pseudo-pious
romances by which simple Christians have been deceived or regaled'.
- basically, she miraculously grew a beard and moustache as a way
of avoiding marriage and remaining a virgin
* Margaret or Marina, virgin and martyr (no date)
- object of an extremely popular cult; patron of women in
childbirth
* Joseph Barsabas (first century)
- he was put in competition with Matthias to succeed Judas in the
apostleship; Peter drew lots to settle the matter
* Aurelius, bishop of Carthage (429)
- a close friend of Augustine; when he complained to Augustine
that he had to deal with many degenerate monks who were simply lazy under
the pretence of contemplation, Augustine wrote a treatise *On the Work of
Monks*
* Flavian, patriarch of Antioch, and Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem (518)
- driven from their sees for their refusal to co-operate with the
imperial support of Monophysism
* Vulmar, abbot (c. 700)
- relics preserved at the abbey of St Peter at Gent; does anyone
know how he came to be separated from his life before entering the
religious life (i.e. was it an amicable split, or did he run away)?
* Ansegisus, abbot (833)
- compiled authoritative law books
* Girolami Miani, founder of the Somaschi (1537)
- when imprisoned after fighting in the mountains near Treviso,
this soldier gave up his worldly ways, escaped from prison, and devoted
the rest of his life to helping teach children; in fact, some claim he was
the first ot introduce the practice of teaching Christian doctrine to
children by means of a set catechism drawn up in the form of questions and
answers
* * * * * * * *
George Ferzoco
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