Today, November 30, is the feast of:
Andrew the Protoclete, apostle (d. 60) was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and was the brother of Simon Peter, a fisherman from Capernaeum. After spending time as a disciple of John the Baptist, Andrew became one of the first apostles. According to tradition, after the resurrection Andrew worked as a missionary in Greece, south of the Black Sea, and in Bithynia. Eusebius supports the Scythia version; Theodoret says it was Greece. An early medieval forgery claims that Andrew founded the church of Constantinople, another says he founded the Christian community in Kiev, while ancient legend also reports that he traveled to Ethiopia. Some traditions say he preached in Scythia or Epirus; from the 4th century on it was agreed that he was martyred in Patras. The idea that he had been crucified on an X-shaped (St. Andrew's) cross didn’t appear until the 10th century and gained strength after the 13th century. In 357 relics venerated as Andrew's were brought from Patras to Constantinople's church of the Holy Apostles. Scot believe that in the eighth century under angelic direction their St. Regulus (Rule) brought Andrew’s relics from Constantinople to today's St Andrews in Fife. But all in Campania know that in 1208 Andrew’s remains were brought from Constantinople to Amalfi, where they are now housed in the cathedral dedicated to him. His head reached Rome in 1462, but was returned to Patras by Pope Paul VI. He is the patron of Russia and Scotland. In the 1460s the Despot of Morea, Thomas Palaeologus, brought with him into exile in Italy a head said to be that of St. Andrew - Pius II acquired it for the Roman church and use it as a propaganda device for his projected crusade against the Turks. In that context Cardinal Bessarion gave a welcoming speech to Andrew in his (partial) presence in 1462, in 1964 Paul VI returned this relic plus a finger bone from Andrew's relics in Amalfi to the Greek Orthodox church in Patras.
Amalfi's cattedrale di Sant'Andrea was begun in the tenth century and much reworked since then. Andrew’s remains rest in the crypt (1253 & redone in 1719), in the area shown here: http://www.splendido.net/caruso_download.php?a=26&view=amalficoast . Some medieval frescoes survive in the church. The one shown here portrays the first Grand Master of the Hospitallers of St. John, Bl. Gerardo Sasso of Scala, a local boy who made good: http://ecostieramalfitana.it/diocesiamalfi/ordinema.htm . Or perhaps not so local. There's also a view that he came from Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône) in Provence.
Andrew's martyrdom as depicted in an illuminated initial in the mid-ninth-century Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, BnF, ms. Latin 9428, fol. 98v): http://tinyurl.com/ye4gqbk
Andrew as depicted in a manuscript illumination (c1020) in a sacramentary now at Rouen (Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 274, fol. 164v): http://tinyurl.com/y8rsfuf
Andrew as depicted in the eleventh-century frescoes of the chiesa collegiata di San Orso in Aosta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/renzodionigi/3375394732/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/renzodionigi/3375397470/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/renzodionigi/3374574641/
Andrew's martyrdom as depicted in a manuscript illumination (before 1096) in an Office lectionary for the cathedral of Reims (Reims, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 295, fol. 215r): http://tinyurl.com/yg4zarg
Andrew's twelfth-century statue (probably later 1140s; aliter, 1170s) from the destroyed tomb of St. Lazarus in the latter's collegiate church in Autun, now in that city's Musée Rolin: http://tinyurl.com/29nuaer , http://tinyurl.com/27gw3sr and http://www.wga.hu/art/m/master/yunk_fr/yunk_fr1a/04andrew.jpg
Andrew (at right; at left, St. Paul) as portrayed in relief on the portal (between 1180-1190) of the ex-cathedral of St. Trophime in Arles: http://tinyurl.com/2b7gzw8 and http://tinyurl.com/2aumtyx
Andrew as depicted in a manuscript illumination (c1234-1266) on a map of the Mediterranean (Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 175, sheet 9): http://tinyurl.com/ylf7lwr
Andrew's martyrdom as depicted in a manuscript illumination (c1230-1240) in a psalter from Hildesheim, now in the BnF in Paris (ms. Nouvelle acquisition latine 3102, fol. 6v): http://tinyurl.com/ygjj2cn
Andrew as depicted in a manuscript illumination (c1266) of the Calling of Peter and Andrew, in a Gospels for the use of Cambrai (Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 189, fol. 170r), Andrew at left: http://tinyurl.com/yju77bh
Andrew as depicted in a late thirteenth- or very early fourteenth-century fresco, attributed to Manuel Panselinos, in the Protaton church on Mt. Athos: http://tinyurl.com/29nymec Detail view: http://tinyurl.com/27z6pn2
Andrew as depicted in the frescoes (between c1313 and 1320) of the King's Church (dedicated to Sts. Joachim and Anne) in the Studenica monastery near Kraljevo (Raška dist.) in Serbia: http://tinyurl.com/yzh4h93
Andrew as depicted in a panel painting (c1326) by Simone Martini, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:
http://www.wga.hu/art/s/simone/4altars/5agostin/8andrew.jpg
Andrew's martyrdom as depicted in the frescoes (between 1335-1350) in the narthex of the church of the Holy Ascension at the Visoki Dečani monastery near Peć: http://tinyurl.com/yfwotnx
Andrew (at right) as depicted in a panel painting (1395) by Taddeo di Bartolo, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest:
http://www.wga.hu/art/t/taddeo/virgin.jpg
Andrew as depicted in a panel painting (1408) by Andrei Rublev, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow:
http://www.icon-art.info/masterpiece.php?lng=en&mst_id=1289
Andrew as depicted in an earlier- to mid-fifteenth-century window in the Church of St Michael, Doddiscombsleigh (Devon; photographs by Gordon Plumb): http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/3634778405/ Detail view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/3634781825/
Andrew as depicted in a glass window (c1440-1450) in the Church of St Mary, Orchardleigh (Somerset; photographs by Gordon Plumb): http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/2492789738/ Detail view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/2492794548/
Andrew as depicted in a late fifteenth-century panel painting (c1480-1485) by Antoniazzo Romano, now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome (Andrew at far left, Lawrence at far right): http://www.wga.hu/art/a/antoniaz/nativity.jpg
Andrew's martyrdom as depicted in a panel painting (c1490) by Carlo Braccesco, now in the Galleria Franchetti, Ca' d'Oro, Venice: http://www.wga.hu/art/b/braccesc/standrew.jpg
Andrew carrying his cross as portrayed in a pen-and-ink drawing (1527) by Hans Holbein the Younger, now in The British Museum, London: http://tinyurl.com/ybh7upy
Mirocles (d. early 4th century) As bishop of Milan Mirocles participated in the synods of Rome in 313 and of Arles in 314 that dealt with the Donatist question. With the exceptions of the Arian Auxentius (355-74) and of a line of bishops in exile in the later sixth and earlier seventh centuries, all the early bishops of Milan from its early third-century protobishop Anatolus through Natalis (d. 751) are considered saints. Among these, Mirocles had in late antique and early medieval tradition a certain profile, probably because he was the incumbent when the Edicts of Milan were promulgated. St. Ambrose names him among his exemplary Catholic predecessors and St. Ennodius thought it worth mentioning that St. Epiphanius of Pavia was through his mother's family related to Mirocles. Today is his dies natalis.
Shapur / Sapor, Isaac, Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon (d. 339) Shapur was bishop of Beth-Nictor and Isaac of Beth-Seleucia in Persia at the time of Shah Shapur II's persecution of Christians. Their early acta (in Chaldaic) reports that they were interrogated and when they spoke harshly of Zoroastrianism, Shapur was beaten to death in prison while Isaac was stoned to death. Of their companions, the skin of Mahanes was flayed from the top of his head to his navel, Abraham’s eyes were poked out with a hot ion and Simeon was buried in the ground up to his chest and shot full of arrows.
Constantius (d. c418) was a Roman priest, a vigorous opponent of Pelagianism. A group of Pelagians murdered him.
Trojan / Troyen of Saintes (d. 533) According to tradition, Trojan had a Jewish father and a Muslim (yes, the dates are wrong – perhaps just Arabic?) mother, but converted to Christianity and became a disciple of St. Vivian of Saintes. He succeeded Vivian as bishop.
Tudwal/Tual /Tugdual (6th century) was a Welshman. He is considered one of the seven founding saints of Brittany and is first recorded in a Breton liturgy of the tenth century. According to his Vitae, along with other monks and numerous members of his family he left Wales and went to Brittany in the sixth century, where he erected the monastery of Lan Pabu at today's Tréguier (Côtes-d'Armor). Later Tugdual went on pilgrimage to Rome, was elected pope (taking the name of Leo), and returned to Tréguier, where he died and was buried. Underlying this story is a misapprehension about the significance of Tugdual's appellation Pabu (Breton for 'father'), applied to Breton monastic founders and to the monasteries named for them. The hagiographical dossier of the saint is a very interesting one, including 3 vitae, all composed in the 11th-12th centuries, mainly to support Tréguier bishops defending their territorial rights against their neighbors, bishops of Saint-Brieuc, Cornouaille and Léon.
The diocese of Tréguier was erected in 848. Its first cathedral is thought to have been destroyed by Northmen or, when the place was abandoned under the pressure of their attacks, to have succumbed to the elements. When a new cathedral was built in the later tenth century it was dedicated to Tugdual, as was also its originally fourteenth- and fifteenth-century successor, now a cathedral of the diocese of Saint-Brieuc et Tréguier. The relics of St Tugdual were claimed by Chartres Cathedral in the Middle Ages, apparently brought there to escape Norman depredations. There was a shrine, and St Tugdual is represented in the east window of the St Piat Chapel, just off the chevet of Chartres Cathedral. In art, he is portrayed holding a dragon with his stola - it only appears as a dragon. In actuality, it was a fallen angel, condemned to Hell for the crime of stealing consecrated hosts. Which latter it had been distributing just prior to its downfall: hence both the presence of the stole and the etymology of this particular vestment.
His feast days: Nov 30, Dec 1
Attroban, Benjamin, Emming, Folkard, Gerwald, and Grisold (d. 782) This group of priests had assisted Willehad's missionary efforts in Saxony. They were caught and executed during Widukind's rebellion against Charlemagne. Only Willehad was able to escape. The group of martyrs was venerated until the Reformation.
Joscio / Josbert / Joscius Roseus of St. Bertin) (not formally canonized) (d. 1163 or 1186) was a monk at St-Bertin in the diocese of Arras. He was famous for his great veneration of the Virgin Mary. According to legend, after his death a rose bush grew out of his mouth, with the name of Mary inscribed on its leaves (or blossoms).
John of Vercelli (blessed) (d. 1283) was born in c1210 in Italy. He studied in Paris, and then taught law both in Paris and Vercelli. Then he entered the Dominican order in Vercelli. He held several offices within the order, and in 1264 became the sixth general of the order.
Andrew of Antioch (blessed) (d. 1348) was a descendent of Robert Guiscard. He became an Augustinian canon at the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem; his position was ‘holder of the key’. Sent to Europe on a fundraising mission, he died at Annecy (Savoy) with a great reputation for holiness.
Happy reading,
Terri Morgan
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“The nice thing about studying history is that you can always find people who are a lot weirder than you are.” – Delia Sherman