Today, 1 August, is the feast of ...
* the holy Machabees, martyrs (168 a.C.)
- only widespread feast in the West of Old Testament saints
(notable exceptions: the Carmelites celebrate Elias and Eliseus)
* Peter ad vincula
- commemorates Peter's escape from prison; the church built over
the prison is on Rome's Esquiline Hill
* Faith, Hope, Charity and Wisdom, martyrs (?)
- Wisdom was the mother of the other three; subtle onomastic play,
no? :-)
* Aled, Eiluned or Almedha, virgin and martyr (sixth century)
- Giraldus Cambrensis said that on this feast, in a church near
Brecon, people would pantomime, as in a trance, work they had sinfully
done on great feasts; when these people were then led into the church and
brought to the altar with offerings, they would come to their senses again
- any other feasts out there with a tradition of trance?
* Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester (984)
- malcontents found him to be 'terrible as a lion', but the
good-willed considered him 'more gentle than a dove'
* Thomas Welbourn, John Fulthering and William Brown, martyrs (1605)
- executed as traitors in Yorkshire
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
George Ferzoco
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|