Today, 8 September, is the feast of ...
* the Birthday of Mary the Virgin
- feast first mentioned in the West c. 600, in the Auxerre
*Hieronymianum*; for legends of her birthplace, see *Analecta Bollandiana*
62 (1944) 272-273
* Adrian and Natalia, martyrs (c. 304)
- Adrian was a pagan officer moved to convert when he witnessed
the torture of 23 Christians; his wife Natalia, to spare her husband
having to see others being killed, actually helped the executioners carry
out their task; she took away his severed hand as a relic, and travelled to
the Christian community in Argyropolis, where she died a peaceful death.
Hmmm...
* Eusebius, Nestabus, Zeno and Nestor, martyrs (c. 362)
- the first three were brothers, and Nestor was a fellow Christian
martyred in Gaza; all were made famous by the brothers' relative, also
named Zeno, when he eventually was made bishop in the reign of Theodosius
* Disibod (c. 674)
- an Irish bishop, he went to Germany where he founded a monastery
on a hill near Bingen; his vita was written by St Hildegard, based on her
visions
* Sergius I, pope (701)
- after Sergius was elected as pope, the imperial exarch John
extorted a huge sum of money from him; as pope, he ordained that the Roman
church should observe the four feasts of Mary, including her birthday
(which is today -- coincidence?)
* Corbinian, bishop (725)
- early apostle of Bavaria; one day when he met a woman accused of
being a magician, he 'unsympathetically' stole her provisions and beat her
soundly with his own hands; no wonder his hagiographer Aribo says that
Corbinian was a man quick to anger
* * * * * * * * *
George Ferzoco
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