Today, 27 November, is the feast of ...
* Barlaam and Josaphat (?)
- in a vita once attributed to St John Damascene, story is
told of how the ascetic Barlaam converted the young prince
Josaphat and eventually his father, king Abenner; all three
left the world and lived as hermits
- this vita appears to be a borrowing of the legend of
Siddartha Buddha
* James Intercisus, martyr (c. 421)
- executed by having his fingers, then his toes, then his
arms, then his legs cut off, and then having his thighs
ripped out of his hips; throughout this process, James
Intercisus (= 'chopped-to-pieces') praised God (that is,
until his head was chopped off)
- possibly the inspiration of a character in the film
*Monty Python and the Holy Grail*
* Secundinus or Sechnall, bishop (447)
- one of three 'seniores' sent from Gaul to assist St
Patrick; noted as a composer of hymns
* Maximus, bishop of Riez (c. 460)
- second abbot of Lerins, he tried to avoid becoming bishop
of Riez in Provence by escaping in a boat, but failed in
the attempt; lived like a monk even after he became bishop
* Cungar, abbot (sixth century)
- founded a monastery in a marshy place near Yatton,
Somerset, now known as Congresbury; according to a Breton
tradition, he died at Saint-Congard in Morbihan
* Fergus, bishop (eighth century?)
- he left Ireland for Scotland, where he founded three
churches in honour of St Patrick
* Virgil, bishop of Salzburg (784)
- he left Ireland on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but did
not make it past Bavaria; apostle of the Slovenes
- supposedly he was once denounced (by St Boniface) for
teaching that beneath the earth there exists another world
and other men and also a sun and moon
* Bernardino da Fossa (1503)
- refused bishopric of L'Aquila in order to live a simpe friar
Dr Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
Bristol BS8 1TB
UK
phone: +44(0)117-928-8168
fax: +44(0)117-929-7850
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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