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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (22. November) is the feast day of: Philemon (1st cent.) Philemon was a citizen of Colossae in Asia Minor; he was probably converted to Christianity by Paul during Paul's residence in Ephesus. Philemon is mostly known through Paul's letter to him, but according to legend, he was stoned to death in c. 70. Cecilia (d. 230?) Cecilia's life is buried in legend; none of the great early Christian writers mention her, and she does not appear on early calendars. Her veneration seems to have begun in Rome in the fifth century. The legend of Cecilia: Already as a child Cecilia was secretly betrothed to Jesus, and vowed eternal chastity. At her parents' orders, however, she had to married the non-Christian youth Valerianus. She converted him on their wedding night, after which V was baptized and joined Cecilia in the care of persecuted Christians. V. and his brother Tiburtius were arrested and beheaded after being tortured, and in the process Cecilia was discovered. She was tortured and then condemned to be beheaded, but survived three blows of the sword, only dying three days later of her injuries. Cecilia has been the special patron of musicians since the sixteenth century, probably because of the antiphon in her Acts: "as the organs [at her wedding feast] were playing, Cecilia sang to the Lord, saying: may my heart remain unsullied, so that I be not confounded." (Farmer, 94) Dayniol the Younger (d. 621) Dayniol was abbot of Bangor. He apparently survived Ethelfrid of Northumbria's assault on the monastery in 616, when the monks were massacred and the monastery itself destroyed. Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html