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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On 10/05/12, John Wickstrom wrote: > The logic of moving the feast of Maurus around in the 1960’s Roman Massacre of traditional feast days escapes me. The feast day of St. Maurus and Paul the (first ) hermit on January 15th was fixed by fictional vitae (St. Paul is arguably entirely a fiction, while Maurus has some credibility as a figure in Gregory the Great’s Life of Benedict). Yet in the ‘reform’ of the Roman martyrology, Paul gets to keep January 15th , while Maurus is shoved off to October 5; the latter date, the feast day of S Placid, was only established in the 12th century , whereas Maurus’s date goes back to the 9th century and Paul’s to the 5th); moreover, Placid, as John notes, was entirely confused with a 5th century martyr, whose feast was earlier established on that October date. If the ‘reformers had left it all alone, at least long traditions would have been honored. > With respect, John's summary is not an altogether accurate presentation of the changes that have occurred in respect of the Roman church's commemorations of Maurus and Placidus. Prior to its reworking in the 1960s, the Roman Calendar had under 15. January a Feast (iii. class) of St. Paul, first hermit and a Commemoration of St. Maurus, abbot and under 5. October a Commemoration of St. Placidus and companions, martyrs. The revised Roman Calendar promulgated in 1969 turned both days into Ferias. In the ensuing revision of the Roman Martyrology (version of 2001, incorporating decisions arrived at decades earlier) St Paul the first hermit (Paul of Thebes) was moved to 10. January and St. Maurus, abbot remained under 15. January but now with a geographic specification '_in Francia_'. In the same revision, under 5. October, St. Placidus and companions, martyrs were replaced by Sts. Maurus and Placidus, from their early youth beloved disciples of St. Benedict. In respect of Maurus and Placidus, the only long tradition not being honored is the confusion of Placidus the disciple of St. Benedict with Placidus the early martyr at Messina (of whom we know next to nothing). Maurus the abbot stays under 15. January. If you wish to believe, along with Odo of Glanfeuil, that this Maurus was identical with Benedict's disciple known to us from Gregory the Great's Vita of of St. Benedict (note that the Roman Martyrology does not take a position on this), then he is celebrated twice: once on 15. January and once on 5. October. If, along with what I suppose to be the majority of modern scholars who've thought about the matter, you do not think the two Mauri identical, then the one is celebrated on 15. January and the other is celebrated today along with his fellow disciple Placidus. Best again, John Dillon ********************************************************************** 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