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] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%