Today, 7 March, is the feast of ...
* Paul the Simple (339)
At the age of sixty, after discovering that his wife was unfaithful, he
sought solace in the desert as a disciple of St Antony. Had the power
to read minds.
* Drausius, or Drausin, Bishop of Soissons (674)
It was believed that those who spent a night in intercession at the tomb
of Drausius would become invulnerable against all hostile machinations.
In 1166, John of Salisbury reported that Robert de Montfort spent the
night at the shrine in prayer before his encounter with Henry, Earl of
Essex.
* Esterwine, abbot (686)
Esterwine was abbot of Wearmouth. The abbey was founded by his kinsman
Benedict Biscop.
* Ardo (843)
Ardo is remembered chiefly through the life he wrote of his superior,
Benedict of Aniane whom Ardo called 'the reviver of monastic
discipline, the second father of monasticism in the West'.
* Theophylact, bishop of Nicomedia (845)
When Leo V revived Iconoclasm, Theophylact prophesied the following: 'I
know you are scornful of the patience and long-suffering of God. But
like a hurricane, calamity and a terrible death will overtake you, and
there shall be none to deliver you.' Leo was infuriated and had
Theophylact imprisoned in a fortress in Caria, where he died thirty
years later. As for the words of his prophecy, they were fulfilled to
the letter. In his chapel on Christmas day 820, Leo
was attacked by conspirators and killed before assistance could arrive.
* Thomas Aquinas, doctor (1274) John Wickstrom has, in the past,
explained to our list why Thomas's feast was changed from this date
recently:
"The second Vatican Council (may God forgive it) changed a number of
feasts for what seem to be a variety of reasons. A number were shifted
to get them out of Lent, which was seen to be compromised in its
penitential character by the celebration of major feasts. Some of these
were moved to medieval "translatio" days: Benedict is a case in point,
from 21 March to 11 July. TA may have fallen victim to the same
housecleaning, that always seemed to prefer theological purity
over tradition, no matter how venerable...but I digress."
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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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