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Today, 13 August, is the feast of ... * Hippolytus, martyr (c. 235) - according to the acta of st Laurence (cf FEAST 10 August), this was the officer in charge of Laurence when he was in prison, and was by him converted and baptized; in keeping with someone whose name means 'loosed horse', he was sentenced to be torn apart by horses * Cassian of Imola, martyr (date unknown) - a teacher, Cassian was condemned to be thrown naked in the middle of his 200 pupils, who were ordered to stab their master with their iron pens; the pupils carried out the order - there may be a moral in this * Simplician, bishop of Milan (400) - good friend of Augustine; succeeded Ambrose as bishop of Milan * Radegunde (587) - wife of Clotaire I, son of Clovis; she left the court and became a deaconess, then an abbess in Poitiers. She had two vitae written about her: one by Baudoniva, a nun in the convent of Poitiers, and the other by the poet and bishop Venantius Fortunatus (Translations of these two vitae can be found in Jo Ann McNamara, ed. *Sainted Women of the Dark Ages,* Durham and London, 1992.) * Maximus the Confessor, abbot (662) - a leading exponent of Byzantine mysticism, author of many works (including the *Mystagogia*, an explanation of liturgical symbolism) * Wigbert, abbot (c. 738) - an Englishman, who died in his abbey of Fritzlar (near Cassel); body was translated to monastery of Hersfeld by st Lull * Nerses Klaietsi (1173) - Katholikos of the Armenians * Novellone (1280) - pious self-scourging shoemaking tertiary Franciscan; buried in cathedral of Faenza * Gertrude of Altenberg, virgin (1297) - third daughter of st Elizabeth of Hungary; 'took the cross' during seventh Crusade, but did so spiritually, via prayers and penances of her community * John of Alvernia (1322) - from Fermo in the Marches of Italy, but lived for many years on the mountain of La Verna (where Francis received the stigmata) * Vincent of L'Aquila (1504) - Franciscan lay-brother who died at San Giuliano; had gift of prophecy Carolyn Muessig [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%