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Today, 20 July, is the feast of ... * Wilgefortis or Liberata or Uncumber or Ontkommer or Kummernis or Regenfledis or Livrade, virgin (no date) - I like Butler on this one: 'Her story is a curiosity of hagiology and is hardly worth including in a collection of lives of the saints but for the fact that it has the unenviable distinction of being one of the most obviously false and preposterous of the pseudo-pious romances by which simple Christians have been deceived or regaled'. - basically, she miraculously grew a beard and moustache as a way of avoiding marriage and remaining a virgin * Margaret or Marina, virgin and martyr (no date) - object of an extremely popular cult; patron of women in childbirth * Joseph Barsabas (first century) - he was put in competition with Matthias to succeed Judas in the apostleship; Peter drew lots to settle the matter * Aurelius, bishop of Carthage (429) - a close friend of Augustine; when he complained to Augustine that he had to deal with many degenerate monks who were simply lazy under the pretence of contemplation, Augustine wrote a treatise *On the Work of Monks* * Flavian, patriarch of Antioch, and Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem (518) - driven from their sees for their refusal to co-operate with the imperial support of Monophysism * Vulmar, abbot (c. 700) - relics preserved at the abbey of St Peter at Gent; does anyone know how he came to be separated from his life before entering the religious life (i.e. was it an amicable split, or did he run away)? * Ansegisus, abbot (833) - compiled authoritative law books * Girolami Miani, founder of the Somaschi (1537) - when imprisoned after fighting in the mountains near Treviso, this soldier gave up his worldly ways, escaped from prison, and devoted the rest of his life to helping teach children; in fact, some claim he was the first ot introduce the practice of teaching Christian doctrine to children by means of a set catechism drawn up in the form of questions and answers * * * * * * * * George Ferzoco %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%