medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (24. July) is the feast day of:
Christina of Bolsena (3rd cent.) The Roman Christina converted to
Christianity while still a girl. Legend says that she then went
around her parents' house destroying all the cult images, and when
her father reacted by throwing her into Lake Bolsena with a rock tied
around her neck she was miraculously saved from drowning. She
then---legend goes on to report---had her tongue cut out and survived
five days in a furnace, after which she was finally killed with
arrows.
Christina of Tyre (?) This Christina's legend seems to be mixed up
with that of C. of Bolsena. She was a young girl, imprisoned for her
Christianity, tortured extravagantly---a fire was lit under her but
got out of control and burned 100s of people to death; her breasts
were cut off and milk flowed from them; her tongue was cut out but
she spoke even more clearly than before and when she threw her tongue
at the judge he lost the sight of an eye; best of all, when she was
thrown into the sea she was baptized by Christ and returned to land
by the archangel Michael.
Lewina (?) Nothing is known of Lewina except that she was a Briton
believed to have been martyred by invading Saxons.
Declan (c. 6th cent.) The Irish Declan was a disciple of one of the
many saints named Colman. At least according to later legend, D.
made two pilgrimages to Rome, and later became bishop of Ardmore.
Boris and Gleb (d. 1015) Boris and Gleb were sons of Vladimir of
Kiev. When Vladimir died, there was an anti-Christian reaction, led
by their brother Svyatopolk. B and G were good Christians and
refused to fight against their brother; they were killed. Miracles
were soon reported at their graves in Vyshgorod, which became a
popular pilgrimage center. Boris is the patron saint of Moscow.
Christina the Astonishing (d. 1224) Christina was born at Brusthem
(near Liege). She had a death-like experience at the age of 21,
during which she visited hell, purgatory, and heaven. This was the
beginning of a truly astonishing life that included visions, floating
to the rafters of churches, etc. A lot of people thought she was
insane, but many others venerated her.
A modern saint: Joseph Fernandez (d. 1838) Joseph (Jose?) was a
Spanish Dominican, sent to Vietnam in 1805 where he became
vicar-provincial in Tonkin. He was beheaded there, part of a major
persecution after the reunification of Vietnam in 1802, during which
a large number of foreign missionaries were killed. 117 of the
martyrs, both foreign and native, were canonized in 1988 in the
biggest mass canonization in history.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|