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January 27, is the feast day
of:
Devota (d. c304) According
to her Passio of uncertain date (BHL 2156; published by the historian of Lérins,
Vincent Barralis, in 1613 from an old manuscript of the monastery of
Saint-Pontius at Nice), Devota was a Corsican serving girl of Christian
upbringing who during the Diocletianic persecution refused to sacrifice to the
Roman gods. So the ruthless official sent to implement the persecution (his name
is consistently printed as Barbarus Praeses, i.e. "Governor Barbarian”)
had her employer, the honorable Euticius Senator ("Senator
Goodfortune"), secretly poisoned and had the still recalcitrant Devota tortured
to death on an equuleus (a sort of rack).
Still
according to the Passio, to prevent cremation of the martyr's remains, two
priests spiced her corpse with preservatives and set off with her in a not very
seaworthy boat, headed for Africa. Winds and waves came close to sinking their
vessel but Devota, appearing to the pilot in a dream, told him to change course
for Monaco by following the dove he would see leaving her mouth. He did and
their boat arrived at the entrance to Monaco's valley of Les Gaumates, where she
now reposes in a church dedicated to her. Since some of the names in this
account are significant, it should be noted that devota signifies in
Latin a female who has willingly sacrificed her life for a higher cause.
In Barralis' text Devota is consistently called Deivota ("Vowed of
God"); otherwise she is always Devota (or other-language versions
thereof).
Along with its St. Julia, Devota is a post-medieval
patroness of Corsica. She is also patroness of the Principality of Monaco.
Herewith some views of Monte Carlo's originally eleventh-century église
Sainte-Dévote (rebuilt several times from 1536 to 1870), sited near the place
where her body is said to have come ashore: http://tinyurl.com/3t2ob , http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1182/812179221_314ca74eb8_o.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/4190036.jpg
One of Devota's putative relics on display: http://tinyurl.com/ygfp5nc
Julian/Julianus
of Le Mans (d. 4th century, supposedly) is the legendary protobishop of the city
of the Cenoman(n)i, a Gallic people inhabiting what later came to be called
Maine. Their city acquired a definite article and is now Le Mans (Sarthe).
Julian's nicely written Vita by the late tenth-/early eleventh-century
Letaldus of Micy (BHL 4544) numbers him among the famous apostles of Gaul and
places their work in the years following the great persecutions. Legend reports
that he was sent to Le Mans by Pope Clement I (c100), but this seems to have
been a later pious fabrication. Founding a hermitage in what would become his
diocese, Julian overcame opposition by operating miracles, of which the most
dramatic was his causing a spring to burst forth from solid rock. Many
conversions followed and when Julian had baptized the local chief (one Defensor)
his work was assured. Later miracles of note included raising people from the
dead and freeing others of demonic possession.
In Letaldus'
telling, miracles attended both Julian's peaceful death at his hermitage and the
transport of his remains to the city for burial. He had a magnificent funeral
that drew a great crowd not only from the city proper but also from the
surrounding countryside and villages and even from nearby castella. Many
miracles were reported at his tomb. A church already stood above Julianus' tomb
in the fourth century, and the cathedral of Le Mans was dedicated to
him.
Two early fifteenth-century manuscript illuminations
depicting the miracle of the spring:
Paris,
Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève, ms. 1267, fol. 410r: http://liberfloridus.cines.fr/photos_niveau3/C030856.jpg
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, ms. M. 105, fol. 43r: http://tinyurl.com/yvnams
Julian's consecration as bishop as depicted in a c1480-1490 copy of the
Legenda aurea in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (Paris,
BnF, ms. Français 244, fol. 66v): http://tinyurl.com/yfts8ks
Roger I and Roger II of Sicily owned relics of Julian that ultimately found a
home in the Cappella Palatina at Palermo. In 1077 Roger I renamed the fortress
town of Gibel Hamid in northwestern Sicily after Julian. The town remained Monte
San Giuliano until 1934, when it resumed its classical designation of Eryx in
the Italian form Erice; the elevation on which it stands is still Monte San
Giuliano. That last is also the name of the hill underlying the central Sicilian
town of Caltanissetta, a former Muslim strongpoint that became part of Roger I's
demesne in 1087. Twelfth-century service books from Sicily show particular
attention to Julian's feast. A twelfth-century patron of the cathedral in Le
Mans was Henry II of England, who had been baptized in that church and whose
father was buried there. Julian's cult in England is said to have received a
boost during his reign.
Here's Julian in the later
twelfth-century mosaics of the nave in the Cappella Palatina: http://tinyurl.com/25wxcx
John
Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople (407) - this doctor of the church, on
account of his sweet eloquence, obtained (after his death) the nickname
'Chrysostom', or 'Golden Mouth'; patron of preachers.
Little-known facts about well-known people: W.A. Mozart, born 27 January
1756, was in fact baptized Johannes Chrysostomos Wolfgangus Theophilus
Mozart. So far as is known he never used the names Johannes Chrysostomos,
and preferred the Latin "Amadeus" to the Greek "Theophilus."
Alruna
of Cham (d. 1045) was married to a Bavarian count and, when widowed, became a
recluse at Niederaltaich. She won popular fame as a spiritual
counsellor.
John of Warneton/-of Therouanne (blessed) (d. 1130) was from
Warneton in Flanders, and was a student of Ivo of Chartres and Lambert of
Utrecht. He became a canon regular near Arras. Under papal pressure, he became
bishop of Therouanne in 1099 and spent over 30 years as a strict but good
official, especially noted for his foundation of several monasteries and
promotion of monasticism. After an attempt to murder him, John refused to take
action against the would-be assassins.
Michael Pini (blessed) (d. 1522)
Michael, born in c1445 in Florence, held several high offices under the Medici.
In 1502 he entered the Camaldolese order. He then had himself walled into
a cell in Florence and lived as a recluse the final twenty years until his
death.
Angela Merici (d. 1540) An interesting transitional figure at the
end of the Middle Ages, the Italian Angela Merici was born in 1474 in Desenzano.
She was orphaned at an early age, and became a Franciscan tertiary. At first she
dedicated herself to carminative works, then in 1525 went on pilgrimage to the
Holy Land. When she returned, Angela devoted herself to the care and
education of the young, especially girls. She and a group of women put
themselves under the patronage of St. Utrsula, but didn’t take formal vows. In
1535 she founded the Ursuline order for this purpose, becoming its first leader,
although it wasn’t approved papally until
1565.
happy
reading,
Terri Morgan
--
'Many are chosen few are Pict.' - Gail
Whitehouse
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