Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 13 - Hermes

Hermes was said to have been martyred in 120 at the order of a judge named Aurelian, and may have been a wealthy freeman. That is pretty much everything that is known about Hermes, who was made a saint on the strength of his reported acts in various sources. Wasn't enough to keep him from getting dropped of the calendar, though he's still a saint. Whoever he was.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 12 - Pudentiana

Nepotism isn't just for government jobs. Pudentiana is one of the daughters of St. Pudens, though there's no mention of her (or her sister, Praxedes) in what documentary evidence there is of his life. She's said to have helped build a baptistry in her father's church, and assisted in baptizing pagans. She died at 16 and was said to be martyred, which when combined with being the daughter of a saint appears to have paved the way to her own sainthood.

At least until it appears that your very existence was based on an improper translation of a church named for your dad. Still, Pudentiana did get named the patron saint of the Phillipines in the 16th century, and does have a titular bishopric named after her. And like Boniface of Tarsus, she's still venerated in Orthodox Christianity.

(Full diclosure: I originally chose Pudentiana in the hopes that her name was somehow derived from "pudenda." In some ways I am still a 12 year old boy.)

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 11 - Boniface of Tarsus

Not related to any of the popes by that name, Boniface was said to be a slave in Rome who may have been his female owner's lover. They discovered Christianity at the same time, and Boniface was sent to Tarsus by his owner to find relics to bring back to her. Once in Tarsus, seeing the persecution of Christians, he publicly proclaimed his faith and was martyred. His body was returned home, making his remains the relics he was sent to Tarsus to get, kind of a homicidal Gift of the Magi.

It's quite the story, and as is the case for so many early saints it appears to be just that. Without any supporting evidence of Boniface's martyrdom he was removed from the calendar, and from the Roman Martyrology. He is still venerated in Orthodox Christianity, so he's got that going for him.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 10 - Gorgonius

The Gorgonius in question here is Gorgonius of Rome, of whom we only know his name and the date of his death (which makes references of him as a martyr a bit questionable). He's not to be confused with Gorgonius of Nicomedia, who was martyred as a member of Diocletian's household. He's also not to be confused with any of the other four venerated Gorgonii.

Still not sure how you get to be a saint when so little is known of you, but I suppose with all the people having the same name you don't want to uncanonize the wrong one.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 9 - Thomas of Villanova

A Spanish Augustinian monk, Thomas was renowned for his preaching and for his care for the poor. He was made a counselor and court preacher by Charles V, while moving up in the hierarchy of his order. He was offered the position of archbishop of Granada, which he refused, and then of Valencia, which also refused... until his superior ordered him to take the post.

While archbishop Thomas used the office to help the people of Valencia while making up for a period where pastoral governance was almost non-existent. His used the money given to him to redecorate his apartments to help repair a hospital. Thomas also set up social welfare institutions while continuing to look for the underlying causes of recurring problems.

I mention Thomas today due to the NCAA men's division I basketball tournament, where Villanova University was a one seed. Hopefully their namesake saint can work a small miracle or two for them.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 8 - Edward the Confessor

I was surprised to see Edward on the list of saints who were demoted, as there's plenty of historical background for him, and there seems to have been a cult of Edward worship dating to just after his death. But the more you read about him and his canonization, the more it seems like his demotion was a long time coming.

It seems that Edward's saintly reputation was an embellishment of monks at Westminster Abbey, who saw an opportunity to make bank if Edward was canonized. This push wasn't fully supported by English royalty, and the pope at the time was happy to slow play it, as he was at odds with the English king at any rate.

But then politics intervened. The English backed Alexander III during a disputed conclave, and when a new push was made to make Edward a saint, it had the full backing of the monarchy and a quid pro quo ready to be completed. It's here that he picked up the "confessor" nickname, it referring to his living a holy life while not actually being martyred.

Really, the demotion was in the cards once St. George became the national saint and the chapel at Windsor Castle with Edward's name was renamed for George, it was just a matter of time. Being the Catholic church, though, that time was itself a long time in coming,.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 7 - Four Crowned Martyrs

The first sign that there may be issues with your group of saints: your name says there are four, but there are actually nine. Four of them were clerks in the Roman army who refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, and were beaten to death for their trouble. The other five were all sculptors who refused to make a statue of a different pagan god, who were then executed by being sealed alive in lead coffins and then thrown into the sea. All of this happened under the reign of Diocletian, who clearly wasn't brooking any monotheism.

It looks like the similarities in the two groups' stories - refusal to pay homage to a pagan god, followed by brutal killings - is what caused them to get lumped together under one name. But there also seems to be plenty of confusion of who these guys are, as there are claims that the names from both groups were co-opted from other religious works (though the names of the clerks are also said to have been learned through revelation). Put on top of that later research suggests that the only group that actually existed is the five stonemasons, and you begin to understand why maybe these folks don't need top billing.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 6 - Pope Mark

Mark is another of those early popes about whom we know almost nothing other than the dates of his pontificate. It's also not clear how he managed to earn sainthood. His run as pope was relatively quiet, some schmimatics were still causing problems, and Mark is thought to have built a couple of basilicas. Overall, it's not clear how he wound up a saint in the first place. So his demotion to local calendars only doesn't seem like a problem, though I do have an objection of a personal nature.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 5- Pope Urban I

Not much is known of Urban's third century papacy, other than it's the first papacy whose dates can be determined through primary sources. Not much was thought to have happened during his tenure, other than some agitating from schismatics. The Romans were laying off the Christians at the time, so the lack of persecution didn't hurt.

There are various acts ascribed to Urban, most notably that he baptized St. Cecilia and that he had several sets of silver liturgical vessels made for local churches, but the sources were written well after his death. It also looks like that there was another bishop named Urban in the area at the time, and that things he did were incorrectly ascribed to the pope. So Urban I may have gotten his sainthood primarily for being pope during a decidedly chill time (relatively) to be a Christian. There are apparently no shortage of saints with this sort of story.

Book Log 2018 #6: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters

A minstrel performing at a wedding is accused of murder and robbery against the groom's father, and takes flight. With the mob of wedding guests at his heels, the minstrel enters the abbey church and claims sanctuary. The sheriff claims that the boy can be granted sanctuary, but only for a period of time where the crime can be investigated. So enters Brother Cadfael, whose belief in the boy's innocence drives him to find the true criminal. While, of course, steering the course of true love between the boy and a maid in the household where the wedding was held.

Nothing surprising here, a very standard Cadfael story with the trappings you'd expect at this point in the series.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 4 - Raymond Nonnantus

Nonnantus was a 13th century Spanish monk whose order specialized in ransoming Christians being held by Moors in North Africa and southern Spain. This worked pretty well until he ran out of funds and, as directed by the rules of his order, he traded himself for the people he was trying to ransom.

While in captivity Nonnantus continued to preach, and his Moorish captors, sick of hearing him, used a hot poker to create holes in his lips so they could padlock his mouth shut. It was in this state that his order ransomed him back. Today, at sites where Nonnantus is venerated, people leave locks as an offering or a symbol of some vocal transgression (lying, etc.). As with yesterday's saint, Nonnantus was removed from the General Roman Calendar for not being universally important.

Although that might change based on Nonnantus being the namsake of the religious house that's at the center of the TV show Call the Midwife. Nonnantus is actually a nickname rather than a last name that references his Cesarean section birth (it's from the Latin for "not born") and death of his mother in childbirth. For this he's the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, and pregnant women. This made it an excellent alias for the actual house that Jenny Lee and friends worked out of while delivering babies in Poplar.

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 3 - Saint Canute

Also known as Canute IV, he was king of Denmark towards the end of the 11th century. A devout Catholic, he aimed to strengthen the church in Denmark and to strengthen Denmark by taking over England, which he believed was rightly his (he was the great-nephew of Canute the Great, who ruled England earlier in the century). He attempted to do so with a peasant army, which he managed to annoy by delaying an invasion long enough to play havoc with the harvesting of crops. Canute eventually disbanded the army, but before he could recall it the following year the peasants revolted, and eventually killed Canute and several of his followers while they took refuge in a church.

Canute was canonized in 1101, the first Danish saint. He's still the patron saint of Denmark. All of which would make you think he'd not get dropped from the general calendar, but he did as he's not "truly of universal importance." Several of the saints dropped from the main calendar were demoted for that reason, which just seems sad. Sorry, you're not cool enough to hang with the really popular saints!

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Day 2 - St. Christopher

It's a little odd to refer to St. Christopher as a second string saint, given that he's still really popular, but as it's likely that he never existed I'll get used to it.

The general story is that Christopher lived in the second century, and while working to guide people across a river he was given a child to carry across. As they went the water rose, and the child grew incredibly heavy. Barely making the other side, Christopher learned that the child was actually Christ, and that the weight represented the weight of the world.

After this, Christopher wound up in Asia Minor trying to convert the locals, and while there refused to make a pagan sacrifice. Women were sent to Christopher to tempt him, but he wound up converting them. The local king, enraged, ordered Christopher's execution, which took several attempts.

Now for the confusing part. There are no contemporary references to Christopher, so it's possible that he's based on the Egyptian St. Menas, who is also associated with a story where he carried a Christ child across a river. There's also a gap of several centuries between when Christopher was said to have lived and when his veneration became common.

Even with all the mystery about who Christopher actually was (or even if he was), he's still a saint, so feel free to wear you St. Christopher medal the next time you go on a trip.

In what I imagine was a blow to the holiday, Valentine's Day got to share today with Ash Wednesday. Which got me thinking: why is the holiday no longer St. Valentine's Day? It looks like it may have something to do with the 1969 reformation of the General Roman Calendar, which is where the church sets feast days and other celebrations. It took a number of saints off the main calendar, but they can still appear on national or local calendars. So it's kind of a demotion, but not the revocation of sainthood that some people assume.

All of which is the long way around to not having to troll social media this year for...

Lentorama 2018: Second String Saints

Yup, 40 days of saints who have been put on the back burner. And as you might have expected, we'll start with the obvious choice for today.

Day 1: St. Valentine

Very little is known about Valentine, to the point where he may actually be two people whose acts were commingled over time. The legends about Valentine have him as a third century Italian bishop who restored the sight of a judge's daughter, to whom he left a note signed "Your Valentine." He may have done this while in prison for performing banned marriages, either for Christian couples or for soldiers so they would not have to go to war.

In either case, the stories tend to agree that he was martyred on the Via Flamina in Rome (they agree less on the year, with about a half-dozen to choose from), most likely on February 14. The adoption of that day as a romantic holiday is not clear, apparently it may have something to do with the date when birds choose a mate? I've also seen something saying his feast day was promoted in a move to replace the Roman holiday of Lupercalia. That seems more likely.

Regardless of how many Valentines there may have been, what he may have done while alive, and when he may have been killed, he's still a saint. So feel free to call today St. Valentine's Day, I suppose it's retro if nothing else.

Book Log 2018 #5: Testimony by Scott Turow

Set slightly outside of Kindle County, this book follows a former prosecutor who is hired by the International Criminal Court to investigate a claim that a Roma refugee camp was intentionally buried under an avalanche during the Bosnian war, killing hundreds. With one living witness and a cast of supporting characters - none of whom seem to have a fully objective interest in learning the truth - the prosecutor sets out to see who he can trust and what, if anything, he can learn about the final disposition of the camp.

I did like this book, just maybe not as much as the books that cleanly fit in the legal genre mode. Not sure if that's more to do with the author or with me.