medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (11. April) is the feast day of:
Barsanuphius (d. c. 550) The Egyptian Barsanuphius was a monk at
Gaza, then went to be a hermit. Many people came to him for
spiritual advice: he refused to speak to them, but wrote them notes
that were delivered by his secretary. About 850 of his letters are
extant (a large number probably not by B), and they are an impressive
source for the spiritual life of the sixth century.
Guthlac (d. 714) Guthlac was a Mercian noble. He did a lot of
raiding along the Welsh border, but after nine successful years he
gave up the pillaging life to become a monk at Repton. G. took to
extreme asceticism, and soon left the relative ease of monastic life
to become a hermit on the island of Crowland in the Fens.
Stanislas of Cracow (d. 1079) Stanislas was a native of Szczepanow
(Poland), born to a knightly family. He became a canon of Cracow
Cathedral and was appointed bishop in 1072. Unfortunately, he got on
the wrong side of King Boleslas II. The traditional account tells
that S. tried to get the king to clean up his immoral behavior, going
so far as to excommunicate Boleslas. The king ordered his guards to
kill S. But S. took refuge in a chapel, the guards refused to kill
him there, so the king did it himself. Gregory VII then put the
whole country under and interdict. S. was canonized in 1253, and
he's now the patron saint of Poland.
Celsus (d. 1129) Celsus (Ceallach mac Aedha) became archbishop of
Armagh in 1105---his family had provided archbishops by hereditary
right for eight generations. An inauspicious beginning, but C.
turned out to be a zealous reformer. He worked on clerical
discipline, most notably presiding (with a papal legate) over the
Synod of Rath Bresail in 1111. C. worked with St. Malachy,
eventually naming M. as his successor.
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