medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Colleagues, To to anyone interested I will be happy to send a copy by regular mail of Richard McBrien's article that contends "we must reject the simplistic, mechanistic notion of apostolic succession -- the passing the baton theory." He cites Fr Francis Sullivan, former professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and now professor at Boston College. George Brown >medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > >Tom, > >I'm well aware of the tradition that Peter was >the first pope of Rome from the "early" sources >cited; it's what we learned as seminarians. The >point that Fr. McBrien and his contemporary >authorities now make is that the tradition was >established in the late antique period or early >Middle Ages, so what we learned in History of >the Church class needs to be revised a bit >because the earliest records (e.g. Acts) have >the apostles as missionaries and the churches >local chosen leaders. The Apostolic Tradition >therefore has to be understood somewhat >differently from the belief that bishops are >"directly" descended from the Apostles "as the >fist bishops." >As for the Irenaeus tradition dropping out of >the Western tradition: No. In the Roman canon of >every Mass the commemorations of the popes still >begin with Linus: "Linus, Cletus, Clement, >Xistus, Cornelius"; they follow upon the >Apostles in the Canon. > >GHB > >>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >>X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to >>quoted-printable by bofur.jiscmail.ac.uk id >>m8NK4Pns002286 >> >>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture >> >>Peter is established as first bishop of Rome by >>the time the Liber pontificalis was compiled in >>the 9th century. See The Book of Pontiff, >>trans. Raymond Davis (Liverpool UPrm=, 1989), >>pp. 1-2. >>Platina takes up that version in the 15th >>century. Did the Irenaeus list drop out of the >>Western tradition? >> >>Tom Izbicki >> >>John Wickstrom wrote: >>>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture >>> >>>John, your first sentence seems (perhaps >>>intentionally) ambiguous. Traditional Catholic >>>teaching makes Peter the first bishop of Rome >>>(2nd and 3rd century sources according to, >>>most recently, Mc Brian's new book on /The >>>Church/); in that tradition your sentence >>>should read "L. was Peter's successor and >>>[therefore] the second bishop of Rome." My >>>understanding is that Linus appears as the >>>first name in the list by Irenaeus that you >>>mention, making him, not Peter, the first >>>bishop of Rome. Peter's "primacy" of the Roman >>>church then would be, if anything, a more >>>informal recognition, both during his time at >>>Rome and elsewhere as the New Testament >>>appointed (thou art Peter) leader of the >>>church (?) >>> >>>jbw >>> >>> >>>John B. Wickstrom >>> >>>Kalamazoo College >>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>> >>>> From: medieval-religion - Scholarly >>>>discussions of medieval religious culture >>> >>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dillon >>> >>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 12:43 AM >>> >>>> To: [log in to unmask] >>> >>>> Subject: [M-R] saints of the day 23. September >>> >>>> >>> >>>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture >>> >>>> >>> >>>> A reprise of that last post with the date >>>>corrected for the Archives. Apologies for >>> >>>> the duplication. >>> >>>> --JD >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Today (23. September) is the feast day of: >>> >>>> >>> >>>> 1) Linus, pope (d. 1st cent.). According >>>>to most early sources for him L. was >>> >>>> Peter's successor and the first bishop of >>>>Rome. Irenaeus (_Adv. haer._ 3. 3. 13) >>> >>>> identifies him with the L. of 2 Tim 4:21. >>>>The Liberian Catalogue dates his >>> >>>> pontificate to the years 56-67; Jerome >>>>places in the years 67-78. L. is named in >>> >>>> the Roman and the Ambrosian Canons of the >>>>Mass. He was venerated medievally >>> >>>> as a martyr (traditional Catholics still think of him as one). >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Here's L. officiating at the sepultures of >>>>Sts. Peter and Paul in panels of an early >>> >>>> fourteenth-century fresco in the basilica of >>>>San Piero a Grado (San Petro ad >>> >>>> Gradus Arnenses) in the Pisan _frazione_ of that name: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3qmw4z >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/4emvhh >>> >>>> More views of this originally tenth- and >>>>eleventh-century church and of its >>> >>>> important series of depictions of early popes: >>> >>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/cienne/sets/72157600114508041/ >>> >>>> >>> >>>> L.'s Vita in the Liber Pontificalis says >>>>that he was Tuscan. The late fourteenth- >>> >>>> and early fifteenth-century papal official >>>>and polymath Piero Maffei asserted in >>> >>>> his _Commentariorum rerum urbanarum_ (finished, 1506) that L. came from >>> >>>> Volterra. In 1519 (remember, folks, in this >>>>list we go up to the year 1550) Leo X >>> >>>> granted Volterra an Office of L. accepting >>>>as traditional L.'s Volterran origin. >>> >>>> Volterra's church of San Lino was built for >>>>Maffei (d. 1522) on a site purported to >>> >>>> have been where L.'s family once dwelt. >>>>Herewith two views of the terracotta >>> >>>> bust of L. attributed either to Giovanni >>>>della Robbia (d. 1529) or to Benedetto di >>> >>>> Buglione (d. 1521), now in Volterra's diocesan museum: >>> >>>> http://www.tuttipapi.it/TombeMausoleiRitratti/78-Lino.jpg >>> >>>> http://www.toscanaoggi.it/musei/foto/grandi/11-2.gif >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> 2) Thecla of Iconium (d. late 1st cent., >>>>supposedly). We know about T. from the >>> >>>> romance-like, late second-century apocryphal >>>>Acts of Paul and Thecla (BHG 1710- >>> >>>> 22; BHL 8020-25; BHO 1152-56). This makes T. a nobly born young woman of >>> >>>> Iconium (today's Konya in Turkey) whose >>>>determination to remain virginal arouses >>> >>>> the hostility of parents and lovers, who is >>>>converted to Christianity by St. Paul, >>> >>>> who is condemned to death by the Roman state, survives two attempted >>> >>>> executions, converts her mother, lives as a >>>>recluse, miraculously avoids being >>> >>>> raped by brigands, and finally dies a >>>>natural death. Her many sufferings make >>> >>>> her a martyr. Widely venerated in medieval >>>>and modern Christianity, T. was >>> >>>> dropped from the RM in 2001. Her feast >>>>today remains on local calendars (e.g., >>> >>>> at Tarragona, which has her putative relics >>>>said to have been translated from >>> >>>> Armenia and where she is the patron saint). >>>>Orthodox churches celebrate T. on >>> >>>> 24. September. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> T. on the remains of a pilgrim flask from >>>>one of her Eastern cult sites, now in the >>> >>>> Yale Art Gallery, New Haven (CT): >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/46a939 >>> >>>> Here's T., again between two beasts, on a >>>>sixth-century flask depicting both her >>> >>>> and St. Men(n)as of Egypt. now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris: >>> >>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/antiquite-tardive/128179152/ >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Two views of the entrance to the cave at >>>>Ma'aloula in Syria traditionally said to >>> >>>> have been T.'s resting place: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3fh6kc >>> >>>> http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2054404.jpg >>> >>>> >>> >>>> In this view of the late twelfth-century >>>>ciborium in the basilica di Sant'Ambrogio >>> >>>> in Milan T. is the center figure in the group at the left: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3hnbg3 >>> >>>> A smaller but clearer view: >>> >>>> http://www.jemolo.com/alta/imgl0063.jpg >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Here's T. with St. Sebastian in the central >>>>panel of the Retable of Sts. Thecla and >>> >>>> Sebastian (late fifteenth-century; >>>>attributed to Jaume Huguet) in the cathedral >>>>of >>> >>>> Barcelona: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/488zel >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> 3) Sossus (Sossius, Sosius; d. 305, >>>>supposedly). Today's less well known saint of >>> >>>> the Regno is the early Christian martyr of >>>>Misenum (now Miseno [NA]) in coastal >>> >>>> Campania. S. is mentioned by the >>>>fifth-century exile in Campania Quodvultdeus >>> >>>> of Carthage, was depicted in the now lost >>>>mosaics of the late fifth- or very early >>> >>>> sixth-century church of St. Priscus at old >>>>Capua, is listed for today in the early >>> >>>> sixth-century calendar of Carthage, appears >>>>in a non-Januarian sixth-century >>> >>>> fresco in the catacombs of St. Gaudiosus at >>>>Naples, and is the subject of a verse >>> >>>> epigram placed by pope St. Symmachus >>>>(498-514) over a relic niche in his chapel >>> >>>> of St. Andrew next to old St. Peter's on the >>>>Vatican. The latter calls S. a >>> >>>> _minister_ (a term often designating a deacon) who attempted to save his >>> >>>> bishop's life and who suffered martyrdom along with him. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> A text of that epigram (PONTIFICIS VENERANDA SEQUENS... ) together with an >>> >>>> Italian translation can be read about halfway down the page here: >>> >>>> http://www.tuttofrattamaggiore.it/chiese/chiesa_sansosio.htm >>> >>>> >>> >>>> In the late sixth- or seventh-century _Acta >>>>Bononiensia_ of the St. Januarius >>> >>>> venerated especially at Naples (BHL 4132) >>>>and in subsequent versions of this >>> >>>> account, S. was a deacon of Misenum who was >>>>already in prison when J., who was >>> >>>> _not_ his bishop, became involved the >>>>tribunals that led to his own martyrdom, >>> >>>> along with that of S. and others, at the >>>>Solfatara in the Phlegraean Fields outside >>> >>>> of Pozzuoli. S. was one of the saints of >>>>coastal Campania whose cult came early >>> >>>> to England (probably with abbot St. Hadrian >>>>of Nisida) and traveled thence to the >>> >>>> Low Countries, as evidenced by the Calendar >>>>of St. Willibrord, written between >>> >>>> 702 and 706 and now Paris lat. 10837. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> According to a translation account (BHL 4116) of Januarius and some of his >>> >>>> companions whose earliest witness is of the >>>>ninth century as well as to the >>> >>>> historical martyrologies from Bede onward, >>>>S.'s remains were soon removed from >>> >>>> their resting place at the Solfatara to a >>>>church at Misenum where they were >>> >>>> venerated. In John the Deacon's account >>>>(BHL 4135) of S.'s early tenth-century >>> >>>> translation to Naples S.'s tomb in this >>>>church, which is said to have become >>> >>>> ruinous, was recognized only because it >>>>still bore a few letters of his name. Be >>> >>>> that as it may, remains said to have been >>>>those of S. from Misenum were then >>> >>>> deposited in a newly built Benedictine >>>>monastery in Naples that had recently >>> >>>> acquired the relics of St. Severinus of >>>>Noricum and that shortly became known as >>> >>>> the monastery of saints Severinus and >>>>Sossius (in the earliest sources, S.'s name >>> >>>> appears as 'Sossus' but by this time the >>>>form with palatalizing 'i' was already >>> >>>> standard). >>> >>>> >>> >>>> From there S.'s cult spread medievally to >>>>such other Benedictine monastery towns >>> >>>> as Falvaterra (FR) in southern Lazio and San >>>>Sossio Baronia (AV) in Campania. In >>> >>>> 1806 the monastery was secularized and in >>>>1807 the remains or putative remains >>> >>>> of Severinus and Sossius were formally >>>>translated to Fratta (now Frattamaggiore >>> >>>> [NA]), just north of Naples, where they >>>>remain today in the originally twelfth- or >>> >>>> thirteenth-century church of San Sossio, >>>>shown here with its baroque facade and >>> >>>> sixteenth-century belltower: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/nsvcp >>> >>>> This building, an Italian national monument >>>>sometimes said to go back in part to >>> >>>> the tenth century and since last year a >>>>papal basilica, was gutted by fire in >>> >>>> November 1945: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3bovg9 >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/2w6wly >>> >>>> and has been restored in the interior to a "romanesque" look: >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3bq33g >>> >>>> http://tinyurl.com/3czkkl >>> >>>> Italian-language accounts of the church are here: >>> >>>> http://www.frattamaggiore.org/sansossio.htm >>> >>>> http://www.tuttofrattamaggiore.it/chiese/chiesa_sansosio.htm >>> >>>> http://www.trionfo.altervista.org/Monumenti/frattasossio.htm >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Also in Campania, S. is reported to be among >>>>the saints depicted in a twelfth- >>> >>>> century Januarian portrait cycle at the >>>>church of St. Agnellus (S. Aniello) at >>> >>>> Quindici (AV). See the Italian-language discussion here: >>> >>>> http://www.agendaonline.it/avellino/articoli/chiesaquindici.htm >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Here he is as depicted in the >>>>fifteenth-century Polyptych of Saints >>>>Severinus and >>> >>>> Sossius (whose central figure is Severinus) >>>>now in Naples' Museo Nazionale di >>> >>>> Capodimonte: >>> >>>> http://www.prolocofratta.it/sansossio/images/sossio.jpg >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> 4) Constantius of Ancona (d. 6th cent.). >>>>We know about C. (in Italian, Costanzo) >>> >>>> from pope St. Gregory the Great, >>>>_Dialogues_, 1. 5, where we are told that he >>> >>>> lived for many years in monastic garb at >>>>Ancona, that he was mansionary there of >>> >>>> the church of St. Stephen, that he was short >>>>of stature and unprepossessing to >>> >>>> look at, and that he had a great reputation >>>>as a holy person, and that his holiness >>> >>>> was attested by a miracle in which lamps >>>>that he had filled with water blazed >>> >>>> just as though they contained oil. Gregory >>>>then recounts an exemplary tale in >>> >>>> which the humble and charitable C. embraces >>>>a rustic who had come to Ancona >>> >>>> to see the great man of whom he has heard >>>>much but who on having C. pointed >>> >>>> out to him refuses, thanks to C.'s >>>>appearance and the rustic's prejudices, to >>>>credit >>> >>>> the identification. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> The fourteenth-century hagiographers Pietro >>>>Calò and Petrus de Natalibus report >>> >>>> that at some unspecified time C.'s relics >>>>were translated from Ancona to Venice >>> >>>> and placed there on a 12. July in the church >>>>of St. Basil. They also give today as >>> >>>> C.'s _dies natalis_. When Venice's parish >>>>of San Basilio vescovo was merged in >>> >>>> 1808/09 into that of Santi Gervaio e >>>>Protasio its putative relics of C. as they >>>>were >>> >>>> then -- a fragment of bone had been given to >>>>the diocese of Ancona in 1760 -- >>> >>>> were transferred to the latter's church >>>>(a.k.a. San Trovaso). They are said to >>> >>>> remain there today. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Best, >>> >>>> John Dillon >>> >>>> (Soss[i]us lightly revised from last year's post) >>> >>>> >>> >>>> ********************************************************************** >>> >>>> 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 >>> >>>********************************************************************** >>>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 >> >> >>********************************************************************** >>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 >> >> >>Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:tizbicki 23.vcf (TEXT/ttxt) (005DB55C) > > >-- >George Hardin Brown, Professor of English Emeritus >Department of English, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2087 >Home: 451 Adobe Place, Palo Alto, CA 94306-4501 >Phones: Mobile: 650-269-9898; Fax: 650-725-0755; Home: 650-852-1231 > >********************************************************************** >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 -- George Hardin Brown, Professor of English Emeritus Department of English, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2087 Home: 451 Adobe Place, Palo Alto, CA 94306-4501 Phones: Mobile: 650-269-9898; Fax: 650-725-0755; Home: 650-852-1231 ********************************************************************** 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