medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today, March 19, is the feast day of:
Joseph of Nazareth (1st century) The foster-father of Jesus. Almost
everything known about Joseph comes from the gospels of Luke and Matthew.
Legend makes Joseph an old man at the time of his marriage to the Virgin
Mary, chosen miraculously in a contest for her - his staff burst into
flower. His cult is said to have been established in Eastern Christianity in
late antiquity. It certainly existed in the West in the 8th century, when it
begins to appear in local martyrologies, e.g. that of Tallaght (ca. 790) and
he is mentioned in a martyrologium of Reichenau from 850, some churches
began to celebrate his feast in the 11th century, but the cult really "took
off" only in the late Middle Ages. The first Western record of a church
dedicated to Joseph comes from Bologna in 1129. That his sanctity was then
not universally recognized is apparent from a capital (1125-1130) in the
nave of Basilique Saint-Andoche at Saulieu (Côte d'Or), where he appears
without a halo though in the same composition the BVM and the Christ Child
have theirs. Joseph has often been depicted as elderly. His first Office
comes from Liège in the thirteenth century. His feast on this day was
adopted by some orders in the fourteenth century; it entered the Roman
Calendar in the later fifteenth century under Sixtus IV.
John the Syrian of Pinna/-of Panaca (4th century) was a Syrian hermit who
fled to Italy to escape Monophysite persecution and settled at Pinna near
Spoleto, first as a hermit, then founding a convent. He served as abbot
there for 44 years, and founded another monastery at Pesaro.
"Now it was the month of December, and according to the custom of the
month, it froze hard, and all the ground was stiff; but the tree under which
the blessed John reposed, blossomed as the lily."
Adrian of Maastricht (d. c. 668) Adrian was a disciple of Landoald. He was
sent out to collect alms for his monastery, but was killed by robbers,
whereupon a martyr cult developed.
The Martyrs of Mar Saba (d. 797) 20 monks of St. Sabas, killed by Arabic
raiders in an attack on their monastery. It was a two-fold raid. First a
large number of monks were wounded in an attack that was interrupted in
mid-pillage by a rescue party. But then the raiders came back. Some of the
monks hid in a cave; the raiders lit a large fire at the entrance and slowly
asphyxiated them, offering release in return for the monks revealing where
their treasure was hidden. Their account was recorded by a survivor, Stephan
the Wonderworker (known as ‘the Poet’).
Alcmund of Northumbria (d. c. 800) According to legend, Alcmund was a son of
King Alchred of Northumbria. He spent years as an exile in Scotland before
being killed in Shropshire at a young age, perhaps by King Eardwulf, a
successor of Alchmund's father. Many miracles were worked at Alchmund's
grave in Lilleshall, and a popular cult developed. His cult center was first
at Lilleshall and later at Derby.
Andrew/Andrea de'Gallerani (d. 1251) Andrew was a soldier of Siena (fought
against Orvieto) who was so angry at a man he heard blaspheming that he
accidentally got carried away and killed him. Andrew was exiled, living a
life of extreme penitence and charity. When he returned to Siena he founded
the short-lived "Society of Mercy" (it lasted until 1308), whose members
wore a cloak bearing a cross and the letter “M”.
Clement of Dunblane (d. 1258) Clement joined the Order of Preachers under
Dominic himself while studying at the University of Paris. Clement then
brought the new order with him to Scotland, working with King Alexander II
to found 8 convents. He became a bishop in 1233, moving his episcopal see
from the difficult-of-access Iona to Dunblane. He then spent the rest of his
life as a very dedicated bishop, traveling constantly to outlying areas,
restoring his diocese, preaching, etc.
Giovanni Buralli / John of Parma (Blessed; d. 1289) Giovanni was educated in
his native Parma and at some unknown time in the early thirteenth century
entered the Order of Friars Minor. Ordained priest, he taught at Bologna and
at Naples before lecturing on Peter Lombard's _Sentences_ at Paris. He was
elected minister general of his order in 1247. In 1257 he resigned his
office, apparently under pressure because of his association with the
Spirituals. His successor was St. Bonaventure. John retired to his order's
hermitage at Greccio (famous for St. Francis' Nativity crèche) and later
underwent a heresy trial for his alleged Joachite beliefs. Exonerated, he
returned to Greccio, where he kept in touch with Spirituals (Ubertino da
Casale visited him there in 1285). During his generalate John had travelled
to Nicaea to promote a union between the Greek Orthodox and Roman churches
and in his great old age he undertook a similar mission when the union
agreed to in 1274 was no longer acceptable in Constantinople. But he only
got as far as Camerino in the Marche, where he died on this day at the local
Franciscan convent.
happy reading,
Terri Morgan
--
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in
school. ~Albert Einstein
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