Today, 13 February, is the feast of ...
* Polyeuctus, martyr (259)
- a Roman officer of Greek parentage, he was converted to
Christianity, and then was tortured severely until his
prison guards tried to get him to return to his old
religion, as did his wife, children and father-in-law;
instead, our saint walked joyfully to his martyrdom,
converting bystanders to Christianity along his way
* Martinian the Hermit (?)
- the story of his c. 30 years as a hermit is marked with
tales of wayward women who were converted by him; he spent
several years on a rock surrounded by water, without
shelter, and seeing only one person who brought him
supplies every six months
* Stephen of Rieti, abbot (c. 560)
- Gregory the Great praised him as one 'whose speech was so
rude, but his life so cultured'
* Modomnoc (sixth century)
- a bee-keeper in Wales, when he moved to Ireland the bees
loved him so much that they followed him in a swarm,
becoming the first bees on the island
* Licinius or Lesin, bishop of Angers (c. 616)
- became a priest when his betrothed contracted leprosy on
the eve of their marriage
* Ermengild or Ermenilda, abbess of Ely, widow (703)
- one of the bunch of royal abbesses running the conventual
show in eastern England at that time
* Beatrice of Ornacieu, virgin (1309)
- Carthusian nun and mystic, she would rake the hot coals
out of the convent's kitchen fire and yet not burn her
hands (amazing party trick); she would also drive nails
through herself, yet only pure water would come from these
wounds, not blood
* Cristina da Spoleto (1458)
- daughter of a physician, she grew up near Lake Lugano;
after a very disorderly youth, she spent three or four
years doing great penance before dying at age 23
- a more fictitious version of her life makes her a member
of the Visconti family, who escaped an arranged marriage
became a penitent in Umbria
* Eustochium da Padova (1469)
- daughter of nun, she remained in the convent where she
was born; she often seemed to be possessed, and suffered
greatly from her illnesses
* Arcangela Girlani, virgin (1494)
- became prioress of a Carmelite convent in Mantova at a
young age; after her death, whenever a pear would fall off
a tree she had planted, someone in the community would die
soon afterward
* Caterina dei Ricci (1590)
- Dominican stigmatist, who received a wedding ring from
Christ in a vision (as the ring is described as golden,
with a diamond, it was unlikely the same sort of ring worn
by Caterina da Siena)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
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