medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
LOVED both of today's posts. It's a real treat to read them. But one
serious question: Groanworthy pun aside, is Aspren really invoked against
migraines?
All best,
Erica
http://www.ericaobey.com
Coming in October, The Lazarus Vector
-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dillon
Sent: Wednesday, August 3, 2016 1:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] FEAST - A Saint for the Day (August 3): St. Aspren
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Aspren (also Asprenas; d. earlier 2d cent.?) was by all accounts Naples'
first bishop. Apart from that, we really don't know anything about him.
Aspren's feast on 3. August is first recorded in the earlier ninth-century
Marble Calendar of Naples. His earliest circumstantial mention, in the also
ninth-century initial portion of the _Chronicon episcoporum sanctae
neapolitanae ecclesiae_, puts him at the head of the list and tells us that
he loved the poor, that he willingly received people of all stations, and
that he daily led the people to the way of salvation. Who could wish to
hear anything more specific or revealing?
The Neapolitans, apparently. Their ninth-century _Vita sancti Athanasii
episcopi_ (BHL 735) is the first witness to an enduring local legend whereby
St. Peter himself consecrated Aspren as Naples' first bishop. The also
ninth-century _Vita sancti Aspren_ (BHL 724; a sermon read on Aspren's
yearly feast) tells us that Peter, passing through Naples on his way from
Antioch to Rome, cured Aspren of an illness, taught him the faith, and
baptized him. During Peter's short stay the city was rapidly converted to
Christianity; before he left, the apostle consecrated Aspren as bishop at
the request of all the people. Thus far the Vita.
In the eleventh century this Vita was polished up stylistically by the
rhetorician Alberic of Montecassino (BHL 725). The _Cronaca di Santa Maria
del Principio_, an ecclesiastical chronicle from the early fourteenth
century, adds further details (BHL 726). In the fourteenth-century civic
_Cronaca di Partenope_, whose initial chapters deal with various legendary
founders of the city, Aspren gets good coverage.
The lower level of Naples' otherwise late medieval and early modern chiesa
di Sant'Aspreno al Porto utilizes part of a Roman-period baths; from the
stylistic evidence of its altar and surviving bits of mural painting its use
as a church is thought to go back at least as far as the eighth century.
Aspren was one of the early bishops whose remains were brought from the
city's catacombs to the Stefania, a predecessor of today's cathedral, by the
sainted bishop John IV (lo Scriba; 842-49). His chapel (now known as the
cappella Tocco) in the cathedral has remains of frescoes thought to have
been executed by Pietro Cavallini in 1308. For much of Naples' history
Aspren has been a major patron, second only to Januarius himself. Among
those named after him were the nineteenth-century medievalists Gennaro
Aspreno Galante (a local archeologist of note) and Gennaro Aspreno Rocco (a
literary scholar and Latin poet).
Aspren has long been invoked for assistance against migraines ("Take two
Aspren and call me in the morning"?). Today (3. August) is his feast day in
the archdiocese of Naples and his day of commemoration in the Roman
Martyrology.
A view of the lower level of Naples' chiesa di Sant'Aspreno al Porto:
http://tinyurl.com/jvxa8ey
Two views of the cappella Tocco in Naples' cattedrale di Santa Maria
Assunta:
http://tinyurl.com/2mwnj4
http://tinyurl.com/2pdvgf
Aspren (at left; at center, St. Peter; at right, St. Candida of Naples) as
depicted in a late fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century fresco (ca.
1476-1500 or ca. 1515-1516) in Naples' chiesa di San Pietro ad Aram:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/87272253@N08/11494823385
Best,
John Dillon
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