medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. December) is the feast day of:
Bibiana (d. c. 360) According to legend, Julian the Apostate banished his
prefect Flavianus, who was using his home as a refuge for persecuted
Christians. F's wife and two daughters were imprisoned. The mother and
one sister died in prison, but the other, Bibiana, wasn't so fortunate.
She was tortured for months and finally tied to a pillar of her own house
and flogged to death. Her body was buried in the house, in side the city
walls of Rome (which sounds improbable to me). In the latter part of the
fifth century, Pope Simplicius built a church dedicated to Bibiana on the
site, which still stands. Dust from the pillar is a cure for epilepsy.
Chromatius of Aquileia (d. c. 406) Chromatius was a native of Aquileia,
and bishop from c. 387 on. He was highly educated and a noted exegete.
Much of his energy was devoted to combatting Origenism and Arianism; he
also supported John Chrysostom when the latter was persecuted.
Lucius (5th/6th cent.) Lucius was a priest who worked in the region of
Chur (modern Switzerland?), where he was maybe the first bishop, and maybe
martyred. Ninth-century legend made him a British king who gave up his
throne to come to the continent as a missionary. The legend includes the
interesting account that, when a bear killed one of his oxen, the saint
constrained it to help pull the plow along with the surviving ox. (I
wonder what the ox felt about all this.)
Silverius (d. 537) The son of Pope Hormisdas, in 536 the Ostrogoth
Theodahad made Silverius pope. In what sounds like a case of notable
disloyalty, Silverius then turned Rome over without a fight to the
Byzantine Belisarius who was invading Italy at the time. But the ingrate
Belisarius soon accused Silverius of treason for his continued contact with
the Goths. S. was banished to Patara in Lycia (Turkey). Allowed to return
home after a few months, he found he had already been replaced on the
pontifical throne, and died three weeks later. He's regarded as a martyr.
Jan of Ruysbroek (d. 1381) Jan was a cleric at the cathedral of Brussels.
At the age of 50, he and friends retreated to the forest near Waterloo,
where after a time they founded the Augustinian canonry of Groenendael (Jan
was the first prior). Jan is most known for his several mystical works,
and already in his lifetime was known as "the wonderful," "the divine
teacher," and "the second Dionysius."
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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