Today, 18 February, is the feast of ...
* Simeon, bishop and martyr (c. 107)
- according to some early writers, he was the son of St
Joseph's brother and the Virgin Mary's sister; appointed to
succeed St James the Lesser as bishop of Jerusalem
* Leo and Paregorius, martyrs (?)
- after the martyrdom of his friend Paregorius, Leo
deliberately vandalized a pagan temple so that he too would
die for his faith
* Flavian, patriarch of Constantinople, martyr (449)
- after a series of bitterly debated councils, he was
lynched by a mob of soldiers and thugs
* Helladius, archbishop of Toledo (633)
- a member of the Visigothic courts, he spent so much time
helping the monks of the monastery of Agali that he left
the world to join them, became abbot, and was then
appointed archbishop
* Colman, bishop of Lindisfarne (676)
- although he supported the losing side in the debates at
the synod of Whitby, Bede forgave Colman's 'strange
practices' regarding the date of Easter, and said of him
and his priests: 'The whole care of those teachers was to
serve God, not the world, to feed the soul rather than
pamper the belly.'
* Angilbert, abbot (814)
- known by his contemporaries at Charlemagne's court as
'Homer' (as in the Greek poet, not the father of Bart
Simpson), he entered the monastery of Centula, near Amiens,
following a vow he had taken in a time of trouble; when he
became abbot, he instituted the *laus perennis*, or
continuous choir service whereby the praise of God would
not cease, day and night
* Theotonius (1166)
- when about to celebrate mass at the palace of the Count
of Portugal, he received a note from the queen, asking him
if he would mind abbreviating the mass that day, as she was
very busy; he said that he was serving a greater sovereign
than herself, and that she was free to leave at any time;
the queen, penitent, remained for the entire service, and
then asked his forgiveness
* William Harrington, martyr (1594)
- after his death, he was accused by an apostate Catholic
woman of having had a child by her before he was ordained
**************
Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
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