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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (22. January) is the feast day of: Vincent (d. 304) Vincent was a deacon of Saragossa, arrested along with his bishop (St. Valerius) by the governor of Spain. They were imprisoned at first, then Valerius was exiled and Vincent was tortured to get him to stop being so stubborn about that Christian business. He refused to sacrifice to the state gods or surrender his church's sacred books, though, so was returned to prison and soon died of the effects of the torture session. Anastasius the Persian (d. 628) Originally named Magundat, Anastasius was a Persian soldier who was attracted to Christianity when he saw the True Cross (carried away from Jerusalem in the Persian sack of 614). He gave up military life and was baptized in Jerusalem, going on to become a monk. He was arrested in Persian-controlled territory for preaching against Zoroastrianism, was tortured, then finally strangled and beheaded---after 68 other Christians had suffered the same fate before him, to make sure he had a good idea of how nasty it was going to be, I presume. Berhtwald (d. 731) Berhtwald was a noted biblical scholar who served as abbot of Reculver (Kent) before being elected archbishop of Canterbury, to succeed Theodore, in 692. He was archbishop of 37 years. Dominic of Sora (d. 1031) Dominic was a native of Foligno (Italy) who became a monk and founded a number of monasteries around Italy. A modern saint: Vincent Pallotti (d. 1850) Vincent Pallotti was the son of a Roman grocer. He became a priest and got his doctorate in theology before becoming a theology teacher at the Spaienza in Rome. He got involved in a clerical/lay group working for conversion and social justice around the world, and in 1835 founded the Society of the Catholic Apostolate. This organization includes laypeople and nuns as well as priests and was especially dedicated to work among the poor. VP was canonized in 1963. ********************************************************************** 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