Today, May 16, is the feast of:

Peregrine/Peregrinus/Pellegrino of Auxerre (d. 259, perhaps) According to his very late sixth- or early seventh-century Vita, he was a Roman priest whom pope St. Sixtus (II) consecrated bishop and sent to Gaul with some companions to assist Christians who were being persecuted there. After converting through his eloquence numerous pagans at Auxerre, He then went on to today's Entrains-sur-Nohain (Nievre) and preached Christianity on a feast day of Jupiter. Commanded to make sacrifice to the idols, he refused and was imprisoned at today's Bouhy (Nievre). The emperor, who was passing through, interrogated Peregrine and then ordered him decapitated. He is one of the saints of Auxerre and vicinity whose entries in the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology are thought to date from ca. 592. His entry, which notes his martyrdom at Bouhy, calls him the first bishop of the city (i.e. Auxerre). But he is absent from Auxerre's official calendar of ca. 570. In about 700 an oratory dedicated to him was erected there. Pope St. Leo III (795-816) erected outside the Leonine City next to a hospice for Frankish pilgrims a little church dedicated to him, today's San Pellegrino. Rome's Porta San Pellegrino is named from a street leading to it. The chiesa di San Pellegrino at Viterbo, after whose homonymous piazza that city's medieval quarter is named, is said to be dedicated to today's Peregrine.  Already in existence in 1045, it has been rebuilt so often that it has lost almost completely its medieval aspect.

Theodore of Tabennisi (d. 368) Theodore continued the tradition of Pachomius. He was born in c. 314 in Egypt, and at the age of 14 became a monk and disciple of Pachomius. In 350, after Pachomius' death, Theodore became abbot of Tabennisi, going on to found further monasteries.

Felix and Gennadius (??) are martyrs of Africa already called ancient by our sole source for their existence, Evodius of Uzala (d. c426), who in his De miraculis Sancti Stephani protomartyris refers to their suburban martyrium at Uzala. They entered the RM under Bl. Cesare Baronio, who assigned their commemoration to today's date.

Audas/Abdas and Companions (d. 420) Audas was a Persian bishop. He and seven priests, nine deacons, and seven virgins were martyred in Persia, starting another general persecution of Christians.

Alypius of Tagaste (d. c430); Possidius of Calama (d. after 436) were close friends of St. Augustine of Hippo and members of his monastic community in that city before being named bishops of, respectively, Tagaste in Africa and Calama in Numidia (now Guelma in Algeria). We know about them chiefly from Alypius' correspondence and other writings, though for Possidius we also have his biography of Augustine and a notice by Prosper of Aquitaine telling us that the Vandals drove him out of Calama in 437; Augustine died in his arms. Possidius had major difficulties with the Donatist church in Calama, was one of Augustine's ambassadors to the emperor Honorius in 410, and took part in the following year's council in Carthage.  Baronio entered him in the RM under today's date (along with St. Alypius of Tagaste, now commemorated on August 15).

Possidius of Calama (d. after 436).  The north African Possidius was a close friend of St. Augustine of Hippo and a member of his monastic community in that city before being named bishop of Calama in Africa Proconsularis (now Guelma in Algeria).  We know about him chiefly from Augustine's correspondence and other writings, from Possidius' own biography of Augustine (written between 430 and 435), and from a notice by Prosper of Aquitaine telling us that he was driven out of Calama by the Vandals in 437.  Possidius had major difficulties with the Donatist church in Calama, was one of Augustine's ambassadors to the emperor Honorius in 410, and took part in the following year's council in Carthage.  Baronio entered him in the RM under today's date (along with St. Alypius of Tagaste, now commemorated on August 15).

Carnech, abbot and bishop (about 530) was of the princely house of Orgiel, and maternal grandson of Loarn, the first chief of the Irish or Scottish settlers in North Britain. Little more is known of him.

Fidolus, abbot (549) was a youth of noble birth, reduced to slavery by Thierry, son of Clovis, king of the Franks. As he was being led chained with other slaves past the abbey gates of Celle, St. Aventine saw and pitied him, and bought him. He placed the young man in the cloister, and educated him as his son.

Germerius, bishop of Toulouse (560) A great lover of the poor, he appointed almoners whose special work it was to assist the needy.

Brendan the Navigator (d. 577 or 583) Little is known of the historical figure Brendan except his reputation as the founder of several monasteries, including Clonfert (Co. Galway), Annaghdown (Co. Galway), Inishadroum (Co. Clare), and Ardfert (Co. Kerry).  There are also a few anecdotes of his spiritual authority during his extensive missionary travels, which included trips to Wales and, according to late tradition, Rome. He was said to have been fostered by St. Ite, and it is she who advised Brendan to go away to Britain to atone for his sin in causing a brother to be drowned by his anger. In a tenth-century tale, the Archangel Michael came and made such sweet music to the saint that afterward Brendan refused to listen to earthly music, sticking wax plugs in his ears when in the presence of musicians.  Brendan's fame and importance rest on a legend, "The Navigation of St. Brendan" (Navigatio s. Brendani), probably written by the late eighth century, perhaps on the Continent. This enormously popular work (at least 120 manuscripts survive from the Middle Ages) tells of Brendan's long search on the Atlantic for the Promised Land of the Saints. The saint and his 30 companions, voyaging in a hide coracle, spend seven years at sea, returning each year to the same place. In the course of their journey they encounter the Paradise of Birds, inhabited by fallen angels. Elsewhere the monks discover saints of earlier times (both Irish and Egyptian), Judas Iscariot sitting on a barren rock in the midst of the ocean, and a whale named Jasconius, who permits the travelers to celebrate Easter mass on his back each year. In the end, they reach the Land of Promise and return to Ireland after filling their boat with jewels and fruit. The Life of Brendan adds some interesting details, including the statement that Brendan and his companions failed to reached the Land of Promise on their first voyage, because their ships, coracles, were made of the hides of dead animals and thus not fit to touch consecrated land. So they built ships of wood and the second time reached their goal.

      Some additions: the tale of Brendan is, as Phyllis said, a Christian tale, in fact it's a new use of an older Irish genre called the imram, often translated as voyage. The Navigatio Brendani is generally accepted to be an amalgamation of native Irish and imported Christian imagery, based in part on the Imram of Bran, a figure who appears in both Irish and Welsh tales. The imrama  (spelling varies) are generally voluntary voyages, as opposed to those that are forced in some way.

Domnolus of Le Mans (d. 581) Domnolus was an abbot near Paris who became bishop of Le Mans in559. He founded a large number of monasteries and churches, and also a hospice on the Sarthe for poor pilgrims.

Carantoc (6th or 7th century) A pan-Celtic saint, Carantoc was most likely a Welshman. Carantog, in Latin Carantocus, son of Corun ab Ceredig, prince of Cardigan and brother of S. Tyssul, was the founder of the church of Llangrannog in Cardiganshire. He built a monastery in Somerset, and led a band of missionary monks in central Cornwall. From there he went to Brittany. He may even have spent time in Ireland.

Honoratus, bishop of Amiens (600) - His cult became widespread in France in 1060.

Forty-four Martyrs of Mar Saba (d. 614) These monks of the Great Lavra of St. Sabas, in the valley of the Kidron some nine miles southeast of Jerusalem, were killed by invading Persians under Shah Chosroes II of Persia, who also destroyed their monastery. The latter was soon revived and there were again monks at Mar Saba to be killed by Arabs in 797 (Martyrs of Mar Saba; 19. March). Skulls said to be those of today's forty-four are on display in a chapel at St. Sabas' Cave on the monastery grounds on the opposite side of the gorge from the main buildings.

Ubald of Gubbio (d. 1160) Bereft of his parents while still a boy, the wealthy Ubald was educated at a community of canons at Fano (in today's Pesaro Province in the Marche), embraced an ascetic lifestyle, and returned to his native town of Gubbio in Umbria, where he was made first a canon of Gubbio's cathedral chapter and later its prior. After a disastrous fire he also undertook the rebuilding of the cathedral church. He was ordained priest and in 1129 became Gubbio's bishop. Noted for his pastoral zeal and careful management of church property and revenues, he refused to be dissuaded or even angered when physically threatened during a period of factional strife in the city. Gubbio's victory in 1151 over an attacking force from Perugia and other cities was credited to the efficacy of Ubald's prayers and in 1155, already elderly and infirm, he succeeded in convincing Friedrich Barbarossa, who had just burned Spoleto, to lift his siege of Gubbio and spare the city similar destruction. In his last illness, the people of Gubbio were broken-hearted because Easter approached, and he would not appear to communicate them with his beloved hand. Hearing of their sorrow, the bishop made an effort, and on Easter Day celebrated the holy mass, preached to the people, gave them his pastoral benediction, and went back to bed, never to rise from it again. He is Gubbio's patron saint.

   Ubald is the subject of two very early lives, the first emphasizing his leadership in the nascent Augustinian Canons and the second; two versions, of which the longer, dedicated to Barbarossa, is the earlier) on his merits as a reforming bishop. Celestine III canonized him in 1192. Two years later, his body, exhumed for transportation to the predecessor of the early sixteenth-century Basilica di Sant'Ubaldo atop Monte Ingino above the city, was found to be incorrupt. His cult remained local until the latter half of the fourteenth century and the early fifteenth, when it spread across northern Italy chiefly in Augustinian contexts. Also in the fourteenth century it crossed the Alps and found a home at Thann in Alsace, where a collegiate church was dedicated to him under the name of Theobald (that being, probably not coincidentally, the name of his successor as bishop at Gubbio and author of his Vita secunda). Thann's Vita santi Theobaldi presents a form of U.'s Vita secunda thought to be intermediate between its two aforementioned versions from Gubbio and Thann's finger relic of its Saint Theobald is said to have been shown to have come from the body preserved on Monte Ingino.

   Every year in Spring (on or about 16 May) the town of Gubbio hosts the Corso dei Ceri - a festival celebrating San'Ubaldo with a race from the town up to the Sanctuary of San'Ubaldo (wherein lie his remains) on top of the hill. The race is carried out by three teams - one representing San'Ubaldo dressed in yellow, one San Giorgio (blue), and one San' Antonio (black). The teams each carry an enormous 'Cero' ('candle') made of solid wood and surmounted by a figure of the saint. The teams run, carrying the Cero and followed by all the townsfolk (and visitors/tourists). San' Ubaldo always wins (because he always gets to start first) and San Giorgio usually comes second (although this is not always the case). Townsfolk traditionally support one team or another (this appears to be determined by geography and/or profession - usually students support San'Antonio, the traditional loser!). The night before the race the town hosts a celebration with much food, wine and dancing.

Simon/Simeon Stock (d. 1265, supposedly)  was a native of Kent who became a hermit and then went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He joined the Carmelites in the Holy Land, but returned to Kent when Muslims drove the Carmelite community out in 1247, and was elected superior general of the order. He shepherded the order through a major expansion, establishing new houses throughout the British Isles, in France, and in Italy. He also had a vision of the BMV promising salvation to all Carmelites who wore a brown scapular. This became a widespread devotional practice in the following centuries. By the early fifteenth century Carmelites believed him to have been a member of their English province who became prior general, died on this day, and was buried at Bordeaux. Although he is absent from earlier Carmelite writing, the Dominican Gerard de Frachet in his thirteenth-century Vitae Fratrum tells of a Carmelite prior general named Simon who had a vision of Bl. Jordan of Saxony after the latter's death. According to his legend, before joining the Carmelites in 1201 he had resided as a hermit in a hollow tree (hence his byname Stock). He has never been formally canonized, but has been venerated for a long time.

John Nepomuck (d. 1393) The Bohemian John was born at Nepomuk c1340/50, studied at Prague, and became vicar general to the archbishop of Prague - and court chaplain and confessor to Queen Sophia of Bohemia. According to tradition, he angered King Wenceslas IV by refusing to reveal what the queen had told him in confession; there was apparently rather a lot of political disagreement also/instead involved. He ruined the king's plans to grant a monastery to a favorite by arranging the very quick appointment of a new abbot. The king ended up so mad at John (over a disputed abbatial election) that "during the evening he tortured them on the rack, or at least one of them, John of Nepomuk, stretching him out on the rack, and applying lighted torches to his sides with his own hands. The others were allowed to depart with a reprimand, but John of Nepomuk was taken down half dead, a piece of wood was placed in his mouth to prevent him speaking, and he was, by the king's orders, taken to the bridge over the Moldau and cast into the river, with his hands tied behind his back.” Already by c. 1600 John was patron of Bohemia, and his cult had spread not only throughout Europe but beyond (thanks to the Jesuits and Franciscans). He was beatified in 1721, and canonized in 1729 and is the principal patron of Bohemia.

Happy reading,

Terri Morgan

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