medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Perhaps it is the concept of "confessor" that changed, from confessing the
faith through sufferings (but not death) to confessing the faith against error.
Tom Izbicki
At 12:49 PM 3/6/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> Yes, Tom in earlier times the formal documentation of miracled or
> examination of the saint's life were not required for canonization, which
> came about as the outgrowth of a local cult. Nevertheless, yes, Angus, we
> do need something substantial to recognize Martin as a saint. And,
> Stephen, to say that 'sainthood was the result of a holy life and his
> battles against heresy' is much more than a guess, and hits the nail
> right on the head.
> In the sixth century, particularly in the late sixth century, I think
> we can discern a shift from sainthood being equated with martyrdom to
> sainthood being, to sainthood perceived as steadfastness in faith against
> various heresis, and good works. In his Expositio Psalmorum Cassiodorus
> remarks that "we cannot all be virgins or martyrs, but we can all do good
> works", and the whole context of the Expositio is the orthodoxy of the
> Catholic faith as opposed to the various heresies du jour. This is a
> close parallel to the passage of Gregory of Tours quoted by Stephen. If I
> may toot my own horn, in 1991 I published a little paper on the catacomb
> of Domitilla, in the sixth century center of the cult of Sts. Nereus and
> Achilleus, both martyrs, pointing out that in their Passio, written in
> the sixth century, and in a memorial homily by Gregory the Great,
> orthodoxy and martyrdom are closely related as perquisites of sainthood.
> Martin of Braga, a most articulate, indeed brilliant, confessor of the
> faith, would fall quite naturally in this development.
>
>Luciana Cuppo Csaki
><mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/9891
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