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>Today, 26 April, is the feast of ... >Peter, bishop of Braga (350): A disciple of St James the Greater. >Consecrated as the first bishop of Braga. Suffered martyrdom after he had >cured the leprosy of a king's daughter. Peter must have lived to be quite old to have been James's disciple and died 300 years after his teacher. Is there an explanation for this? Steve Cartwright >Richarius or Riquier, abbot (645) >Paschasius Radbertus, abbot of Corbie (860): Radbertus was adopted by the >nuns of Notre-Dame at Soissons after he had been left on their doorstep as >a motherless babe. He grew up to be one of the most prolific writers of >the ninth century. Amongst his works are commentaries on Matthew >and on the forty-fourth psalm, a treatise on the book of *Lamentations*, >the vitae of the abbot St Adalhard and his brother Wala, and *De >corpore et Sanguine Christi*. >John I, bishop of Valence (1146) >Franca of Piacenza, abbess (1218): As a young woman, Franca became abbess >of the Benedictine convent St Syrus of Piacenza. For a short time all went >well. But the zealous young abbess soon began to tighten the reins of >discipline, prohibiting such practices as the cooking of vegetables in >wine. She was deposed. Eventually she moved to a Cistercian foundation >where her austere practices were venerated by her community. >Dominic and Gregory, Dominican friars (1300): Preached the Gospel in >Aragon. Their labours were carried out in remote districts among the hill >folk inhabiting the steep southern spurs of the Pyrenees. Barefoot, they >went from hamlet to hamlet preaching. They had taken refuge under a cliff >in a severe thunderstorm where they became victims of a rock avalanche. >The ringing of bells startled the inhabitants of the nearest villages, and >a strange light revealed the scene of the catastrophe. The bodies of the >two missionaries were recovered and buried at Besiano where they have ever >since been venerated. >Alda or Aldobrandesca, widow (1309): After her husband's death she gave >away all her possessions and devoted herself to nursing the sick and poor. >She often experienced ecstasies. When she was first seen in a state of >trance resembling catalepsy, some people were sceptical and started to >pinch her, pierce her with needles and apply lighted candles to >her hands. When she recovered consciousness she felt intense pain from the >wounds that had been inflicted, but all she said to her tormentors was: >"God forgive you." >Stephen, bishop of Perm (1396): Stephen was a very worthy successor of SS >Cyril and Methodius, and his missionary methods are reminiscent of theirs. >He believed that every people should worship God in its own tongue, since >languages also are from God. One of his first undertakings was to >translate the liturgical services into the language of the Zyriane. >**************** >Carolyn Muessig >Department of Theology and Religious Studies >University of Bristol >Bristol BS8 1TB >UK >[log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%