medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (23. January) is the feast day of:
Parmenas (d. c. 98) Parmenas was one of the original seven deacons of
Jerusalem; he appears in the book of Acts. According to tradition, he went
on to preach for many years in Asia Minor, and was finally martyred in
Philippi under Trajan.
Asclas of Antinoe (d. c. 287) At one time a popular saint, legend reports
that Asclas was a native of Egypt. He was arrested as a Christian, but
then miraculously stranded the Roman governor in the Nile until he would
profess Christianity. The governor *said* he did and returned to shore,
but then had Asclas dorwned in the Nile. Apparently he couldn't take a
joke.
Emerentiana (d. c. 304) A virgin martyr. According to legend, she was the
foster-sister of Agnes and was stoned to death while praying at her tomb.
Eusebius of Mt. Coryphe (4th cent.) Eusebius was a Syrian hermit, head of
a community near Antioch. He treated himself much more harshly than his
disciples, normally eating only one day in four, etc. But the act that
made him most famous makes one wonder about the boundaries between holiness
and mental illness: E's mind wandered one day while listening to the
scriptures being read. To punish himself he locked himself into a heavy
iron collar and a heavy iron belt, with a bar connecting them so he
couldn't bend or look down. And he lived that way for 40 years.
John the Almsgiver (d. c. 620) John was a native of Cyprus. He spent time
as a husband and father, but all his children and his wife died and he
turned to the church. Emperor Heraclius chose J. as patriarch of
Alexandria thanks to the influence of J's adopted brother. John proceeded
to live very simply and to give everything possible to the poor---not just
of Alexandria, but by sending aid to Jerusalem after it was sacked by the
Persians. He had considerable success converting the monophysites to
orthodox doctrine.
Ildephonsus (d. 677) Ildephonsus was born to a noble family of Spain, and
perhaps was educated by Isidore. He became a monk at a young age, bbot at
Agalia in c. 650, and archbishop of Toledo in 657. He was an important
religious writer, most notably author of a treatise on the virginity of
Mary, which led to a later legend that Mary had appeared to him and
presented him with a chasuble.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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