medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (14. May) is the feast day of:
Matthias (1st cent.) The replacement apostle, chosen by lot after
Judas turned out so badly (Acts 1:21-22). It's not really clear what
he did after that, but according to legend the great imperial
relic-finder Helena took his relics from Jerusalem to what is now St.
Matthias' monastery at Trier. He appears in art with a halberd, with
which he was supposedly run through.
Boniface of Tarsus (4th cent.?) One of the two patron saints of the
important monastery of SS Boniface and Alexius in Rome, which did not
save him in the great calendar purge of 1969. He was supposed to
have been martyred at Tarsus in Diocletian's persecution, but it
turns out that his cult was invented from scratch in the ninth
century. Picky people. His relics are still claimed by the church
of SS Bonifacio e Alessio in Rome, though.
Pachomius (d. 346) Pachomius was a native of the Upper Thebaid
(Egypt) who converted to Christianity after some military service and
became a hermit. He took to monastery-building in 320 at Tabennesi,
and went on to found several other communities. The new monastic
(rather than eremitic) ideal caught on, and P. is supposed to have
had thousands of monks under his command by the time he died in an
epidemic.
Carthage the Younger (d. c. 637) Carthage the Younger (Carthach
Mochuda) was a native of Co. Kerry, Ireland. He became abbot and
bishop at a monastery he founded at Rathin (Co. Westmeath) and wrote
the community's rule---in verse, no less. The community moved to
Lismore in 635.
Giles of Santarem (blessed) (d. 1265) One of those nice
late-medieval stories of learned people who went bad but got better,
Giles was a native of Portugal who studied medicine and took to black
magic. He repented, became a Dominican, and ended up as provincial
superior for Spain. His cult was confirmed in 1748.
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