Today, 24 December, is the feast of ...
* Forty Virgins, martyrs at Antioch (250)
* Gregory of Spoleto, martyr (303)
- among his many tortures, he was put in an iron pot over a fire, but an
earthquake upset the pot before Gregory was quite cooked; typically, his
torturers got fed up at a certain point, and cut off his head
* Euthymius, martyr at Nicomedia (304)
* Delphinus, confessor (404)
- bishop of Bordeaux, who baptized and taught St Paulinus of Nola
* Tarsilla, virgin (sixth century)
- aunt of St Gregory the Great; after her death, her knees were found to
be as hard as camel hide, due to her continual kneeling in prayer (this,
according to Gregory's testimony)
Last year Julia Bolton Holloway added this interesting bit of
information:
The same is said in St Birgitta of Sweden's Vita, that her knees became
as hard as those of a camel. Presumably her daughter Catherine saw them.
I had thought this was noted because both mother and daughter would have
seen camels on their Holy Land pilgrimage in 1372. but now I sadly
realise it is just a hagiographical topos! |However, I can remember as a
novice when my knees got calloused!
* Levan, confessor (sixth century)
- a native of Cornwall, he crossed over to Brittany, where he was
consecrated regionary bishop and lived in a cell at Tre'darzec, near
Tre'guier
* Irmina and Adela, virgins (c. 707)
- daughters of Dagobert II, king of the Franks, who lived as virgins
after Irmina's husband-to-be was murdered by one of her servants
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
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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