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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (13. March) is the feast day of: Euphrasia (d. c. 420) Euphrasia's father died when she was only one year old. Although E. (a kinswoman of Emperor Theodosius I) was betrothed to a senator at age five, her mother became a nun in Egypt and took little E. along with her. Emperor Arcadius eventually sent for E. to marry her senator, but she managed to convince him that she be allowed to give her inheritance to the poor, free her slaves, and continue life as a consecrated virgin. Mochoemoc (d. c. 656) A saint of serpentine nomenclature. "Mo" is an affectionate element---"my"---attached to the names of some Irish saints. Thus Mochoemoc may be the same as St. Kennoch, venerated around Glasgow---who, by the way, was given a sex-change operation by a scribal error and is often called Kevoca. Kevoca is an alternative form of Mochoemoc. (At least that's what John J. Delaney says.) Legend tells that Mochoemoc was a nephew of St. Ita, born in Munster (Ireland). He founded a large number of monasteries. Gerald of Mayo (d. 732) The Northumbrian Gerald became a monk at Lindisfarne. He and other monks left England for Ireland along with St. Colman when Irish liturgical practices were forbidden; G. became a monk on Inishbofin. When the English and Irish monks couldn't get along together, the monastery of Mayo was founded on the mainland for the English; G. succeeded Colman as abbot there. Nicephorus of Constantinople (d. 828) The Byzantine imperial program of iconoclasm certainly produced a lot of saints, including Nicephorus, who became patriarch of Constantinople in 806. When Emperor Leo the Armenian re-started iconoclasm in 813, N. resisted. He was deposed by a synod of pro-iconoclast bishops, several attempts were made to murder him, and he was then exiled to the monastery he had built on the Black Sea. N. spent the last 15 years of his life there, writing treatises against iconoclasts. Heldrad (d. c. 842) Heldrad was a noble of Provence. He inherited a fortune, which he used to build a church and a hospice. H. then became a professional pilgrim, and finally settled at the monastery of Novalese in the foothills of the Alps. In time H. became abbot. He built a hospice at the Lautaret Pass of the Alps and worked out methods to rescue stranded travelers from Mt. Cenis. H's cult was approved in 1903. Roderic and Solomon (d. 857) Roderic was an unfortunate victim of the interreligious tensions in Spain in the 850s. He was a priest at Cabra. One fine day, his two brothers (one a Muslim, one a lapsed Christian) beat him unconscious when he tried to get between them in an argument. The Muslim brother then paraded R. through the streets proclaiming that he wished to become a Muslim. R. escaped, but the same brother then denounced him to the authorities as an apostate from Islam. So R. was imprisoned, loudly protesting that he had never given up Christianity. He met another man charged with apostasy, Solomon, in prison. After a long imprisonment, they were both beheaded. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html