Today, 20 July, is the feast of ...
* Wilgefortis or Liberata or Uncumber or Ontkommer or Kummernis or
Regenfledis or Livrade, virgin (no date) - I like Butler on this one: 'Her
story is a curiosity of hagiology and is hardly worth including in a
collection of lives of the saints but for the fact that it has the
unenviable distinction of being one of the most obviously false and
preposterous of the pseudo-pious romances by which simple Christians have
been deceived or regaled'. - basically, she miraculously grew a beard and
moustache as a way of avoiding marriage and remaining a virgin
* Margaret or Marina, virgin and martyr (no date) - object of an extremely
popular cult; patron of women in childbirth
* Joseph Barsabas (first century) - he was put in competition with
Matthias to succeed Judas in the apostleship; Peter drew lots to settle
the matter (Speaking of lots, last week at the excellent Sanctity and
Ritual conference organized by the Hagiography Society, Christian Krotzl
discussed how lot-drawing was used in Scandinavian countries to determine
what saint should be invoked for a particular cure.)
* Aurelius, bishop of Carthage (429) - a close friend of Augustine; when
he complained to Augustine that he had to deal with many degenerate monks
who were simply lazy under the pretence of contemplation, Augustine wrote
a treatise *On the Work of Monks*
* Flavian, patriarch of Antioch, and Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem (518) -
driven from their sees for their refusal to co-operate with the imperial
support of Monophysism
* Vulmar, abbot (c. 700) - relics preserved at the abbey of St Peter at
Gent; does anyone know how he came to be separated from his life before
entering the religious life (i.e. was it an amicable split, or did he run
away)?
* Ansegisus, abbot (833) - compiled authoritative law books
Last year Michael Hynes added the following information:
Ansegisus compiled the Legiloquus liber-- a collection in 4
books of Carolingian capitularies (often excerpted and
abbreviated/truncated). His collection was often copied along w/the
Capitularia of the pseudonymous Benedict the Levite. The later included
material from both religious and secular fontes (sometimes derived
frrom A) and much material which was spurious and together w/ the Ll of A
formed the last 3 bks of a 7 book conflated collection. The conflated
compilation is from the PsI atelier and was an important and authoritative
source of pre-Gratian canon law. Numerous mss containing it can be found
all over Europe.
* Girolami Miani, founder of the Somaschi (1537) - when imprisoned after
fighting in the mountains near Treviso, this soldier gave up his worldly
ways, escaped from prison, and devoted the rest of his life to helping
teach children; in fact, some claim he was the first ot introduce the
practice of teaching Christian doctrine to children by means of a set
catechism drawn up in the form of questions and answers
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Carolyn Muessig
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