Today, 7 March, is the feast of ...
* Paul the Simple (339)
At the age of sixty, after discovering that his wife was unfaithful, he sought
solace in the desert as a disciple of St Antony. Had the power to read minds.
* Drausius, or Drausin, Bishop of Soissons (674)
It was believed that those who spent a night in intercession at the tomb of
Drausius would become invulnerable against all hostile machinations. In 1166,
John of Salisbury reported that Robert de Montfort spent the night at the shrine
in prayer before his encounter with Henry, Earl of Essex.
* Esterwine, abbot (686)
Esterwine was abbot of Wearmouth. The abbey was founded by his kinsman Benedict
Biscop.
* Ardo (843)
Ardo is remembered chiefly through the life he wrote of his superior, Benedict of
Aniane whom Ardo called 'the reviver of monastic discipline, the second father of
monasticism in the West'.
* Theophylact, bishop of Nicomedia (845)
When Leo V revived Iconoclasm, Theophylact prophesied the following: 'I know you
are scornful of the patience and long-suffering of God. But like a hurricane,
calamity and a terrible death will overtake you, and there shall be none to
deliver you.' Leo was infuriated and had Theophylact imprisoned in a fortress in
Caria, where he died thirty years later. As for the words of his prophecy, they
were fulfilled to the letter. In his chapel on Christmas day 820, Leo was
attacked by conspirators and killed before assistance could arrive.
* Thomas Aquinas, doctor (1274) John Wickstrom has, in the past, explained to our
list why Thomas's feast was changed from this date recently:
"The second Vatican Council (may God forgive it) changed a number of feasts for
what seem to be a variety of reasons. A number were shifted to get them out of
Lent, which was seen to be compromised in its penitential character by the
celebration of major feasts. Some of these were moved to medieval "translatio"
days: Benedict is a case in point, from 21 March to 11 July. TA may have fallen
victim to the same housecleaning, that always seemed to prefer theological purity
over tradition, no matter how venerable...but I digress."
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George Ferzoco tel ++ 44 (0)116 252 2654
Director of Studies for Italian fax ++ 44 (0)116 252 3633
University of Leicester e-mail [log in to unmask]
School of Modern Languages
LEICESTER LE1 7RH UNITED KINGDOM
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