medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The date of the solstice will depend, of course, on what calendar
you use. most of us are not good enough at astronomy to figure it out.
An italian friend of mine could not be convinced for the
longest time that her name day (St. Lucia, Dec. 13) was not the
solstice. To quote the Oxford Companion to the Year (and with thanks
to the list members who produced it)
" After Julius Caesars reform of the calendar this was the
conventional date of the winter solstice, and could therefore be
regarded as the birthday of the sun. By the third century AD many
people considered the Sun to be the true godhead, of which other gods were mere
facets, and the authentic guarantor of the empire; in 274 the emperor Aurelian
gave the day official recognition as Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of
the Unconquorable sun" . In choosing the 25th for the birthday of
Christ, the Church was setting up a direct challenge to the
pagan system (and also to the Arians, see the next entry, which has
more on the solar cult as well).
Hoping you all had a wonderful solstice, will have a merry
christmas, and sending my best wishes for the new year,
meg
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>Apropos of the thread on St. Thomas and the solstice, the question came up
>at dinner tonight; if the birth of Christ was placed at the solstice as an
>appropriately symbolic date, why the 25th rather than the 21st?
>jw
>John B. Wickstrom
>Kalamazoo College
>mailto:[log in to unmask]
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Phyllis Jestice
>Sent: Friday, December 21, 2001 8:17 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [M-R] saints of the day 22. December
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>Today (22. December) is the feast day of:
>Chaeremon, Ischyrion, and companions (d. after 250) Bishop Chaeremon of
>Nilopolis and some companions fled from Decius' persecution to the
>mountains of Arabia and vanished without a trace. Ischyrion, the employee
>of an Alexandrian magistrate, stayed behind. His employer ordered him to
>renounce Christianity, Ischyrion refused, and was beaten and then impaled.
>Zeno of Nicomedia (d. 303) Zeno was a soldier. Ordered to make a
>sacrifice to Ceres he did so, ridiculing Diocletian while he did it. He
>had his jaw broken as punishment, and was then beheaded.
>Flavian (d. 362/363) Flavian was urban prefect of Rome, the father of the
>martyr Bibiana (who was commemorated on 2. December). Emperor Julian had
>Flavian branded on the forehead and exiled to a small village, where he
>died. His wife Dafrosa was beheaded.
>Jutta of Disibodenberg (d. 1136) Jutta was born in c. 1090 in Spanheim
>(Germany). In 1106 she became a recluse. Jutta became famous as an
>advisor and teacher, and soon a nunnery grew up around her cell, with Jutta
>(still in her cell) leading the community as abbess. Hildegard reports
>that many miracles were worked at Jutta's tomb, which led to the location
>becoming a popular pilgrimage site.
>Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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