 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Herewith a link to an earlier (2010) 'Saints of the day' for 26. November (including pope St. Siricius; St. Alypius the Stylite; St. Conrad of Konstanz; St. Bellinus; St. Silvestro Guzzolini; Bl. Delphine of Pui Michel): http://tinyurl.com/bmj6d2k Further to Alypius the Stylite: A better image of Alypius the Stylite as depicted in a thirteenth-century mosaic in Venice's basilica cattedrale di San Marco: http://geolocation.ws/v/L/4623233842/saint-alipius/en Further to Delphine of Pui Michel: In that earlier post's notice of this Beata, the link to the views of Elzéar's and Delphine's _fête_ in 2008 no longer functions in that way. Today (26. November) is also the feast day of: Nikon 'ho Metanoeite' / 'o Metanoeitai' (d. ca. 1000). We know about this Middle Byzantine itinerant preacher and monastic founder chiefly from the two versions of his Bios (BHG 1366, 1367), both of which descend from a now lost bipartite original (biography; miracles) seemingly written at Nikon's own monastery in Sparta in the earlier and mid-eleventh century (the biography ca. 1025, the miracles ca. 1050). Nikon's founder's testament for his monastery (BHG 1368) survives as well and contains an account of that institution's foundation that differs in some respects from what one reads in the Bios. The son of a wealthy landowner in Pontus, he became a monk at the Chryse Petra monastery on the borders of Pontus and Paphlagonia. Eluding his father's attempts to force his return, he stayed at this monastery for a dozen years and then began a period of wandering, first in unspecified 'eastern regions', then in newly reconquered Crete, where he proselytized among the island's Muslims, and finally in mainland Greece, settling down in Sparta probably in the 970s. A key theme in Nikon's preaching was repentance and his byname (which means 'the "You should repent" one') derives from this. Nikon's posthumous cult was noted for healing miracles. Thus far Nikon's Bios. The latter borrows matter from the Bios of St. Luke the Younger and it is at the latter's monastery, Hosios Loukas near Distomo in Phokis, that our earliest portrait of him survives among the earlier eleventh-century mosaics (restored betw. 1953 and 1962) of its katholikon: http://eikonografos.com/album/albums/uploads/osios%20loukas/52.jpg That portrait in turn is in all likelihood a copy of the posthumous one that Nikon's Bios says was made working from a verbal description but perfected only with divine assistance. Nikon's Bios has been edited synthetically from its two versions and translated into English by Denis F. Sullivan as _The Life of St. Nikon: Text, Translation and Commentary_ (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1987). Best, 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