#feast-day — Public Fediverse posts

Saint Patrick is honored as the patron saint of Ireland 🙏

Captured as a young man and taken into slavery, he found strength in prayer. After escaping, he later returned to Ireland as a missionary, preaching, baptizing, and building churches across the land.

His life shows courage, forgiveness, and trust in God’s plan. On March 17, we remember his faith and his mission to share the Good News ✝️

https://young-catholics.com/750/st-patrick/

#SaintPatrick #CatholicSaints #FeastDay #FaithAndMission

📍
"Today, January 18th, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of Saint Athanasius the Great."🙏
#SaintAthanasiusTheGreat
#Orthodox #FeastDay #Faith #JohnRoss7 #Mastodon

Saint Anthony the Great is the patron of Animals, farmers, butchers, the poor, basket makers, brushmakers, gravediggers, and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome. 10 facts for his feast day.

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2026/01/17-january-st-anthony-great.html

#Saints #Religion #AnthonyTheGreat #FeastDay

Celebrating Hild

Today is the Feast Day of Hild of Whitby,1 patron saint of learning and culture (including poetry), who died on this day in 680, having spent 66 years kicking ass and not bothering to take names. We believe she was originally buried at her main foundation of Streoneshalh, now known as Whitby, but sometime after Whitby was destroyed by Viking raids, her remains were, apparently, translated to…well, somewhere else. No one knows. Various religious foundations have claimed her—not unlike Arthur; saintly relics were (and still are) big business—but no one knows for sure.

There are several grave markers from Whitby though I have images of none of them (and none are for Hild). However, there are also several from Hereteu, or Hartlepool (where Hild was abbess for a while before founding and moving to Whitby). One intriguing stone, dated ‘mid-seventh to mid-eighth century,’ was found under the head of some skeletal remains. The runes spell out hildi þryþ, that is, the feminine personal name Hildithryth:

As we don’t know Hild’s full name, it might be tempting to assume this is our Hild’s stone.2 But I doubt it. For one thing it was part of a group of similar burials, and as abbess, saint, and royal advisor I doubt she would have been buried among others. Plus, of course, she was more than likely buried at Whitby. And as Hartlepool was also most likely destroyed by Vikings (as with mos records of this time and place, much was lost in the Viking raids from the late eighth through ninth centuries—all we know is that, after Hild, Hartlepool essentially vanishes from history) no one in their right mind would have transferred her there.

So here’s how I imagine her pillow stone3:

You’ll see I’ve made her cross round-ended and equal-armed, more like the kind of cross I think she would have worn, rather than the more traditional long upright and shorter crosspiece of the Hartlepool marker.

Enough about her death. Back to her life: Why is Hild patron saint of learning and culture/poetry? Learning, because she trained five bishops who became renowned for their own erudition—one of whom, John of Beverley, was the one who ordained and mentored the Venerable Bede—the only British person ever to have been learned enough to be honoured as a Doctor of the Church. Poetry, because she pretty much midwived Engish literature: the earliest surviving piece of Old English is Cædmon’s Hymn, composed at Hild’s behest at Whitby.

I’m not religious but I mark the day because Hild—and Whitby, its abbey, and ammonites—marked my life, in particular my writing life, indelibly.

My first novel was Ammonite, which was published when I was 32. The author photo I used for that book was taken at Whitby Abbey when I was 30. You can tell from the look on my face how much the place affects me. (And in fact I like this photo so much it forms the basis for the cover of my upcoming book, She Is Here.)

In my third novel, The Blue Place, Aud talks longingly of Whitby—now mostly known for the abbey founded by Hild in 657. In Whitby you can commonly find three species of fossil ammonites, or snakestones—the beach is littered with them. A whole genus of ammonites, Hildoceras, is named for Hild. This is Hildoceras bifrons. It’s what I think of when I think of ammonites.

Ammonites fascinate me. Their shell growth—developing into that lovely spiral—is guided by phi. And phi (Φ = 1.618033988749895… ), the basis of the Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion, has all sorts of interesting mathematical properties. The proportions generated by phi lie at the heart of myriad things: the proportions of graceful buildings4, the orderly whorl of a sunflower, ammonites, Fibonacci numbers, population growth, and more. (If you’re interested, a good place to start is Wikipedia.) Phi is what creates the underlying pattern in much of nature. I think phi is responsible for what Hild may think of as God.

There is a legend that ammonites result from Hild getting pissed off one day and turning all the local snakes to stone. The legend was so well-established after her death, that, in the later middle ages and even up until Victorian times, enterprising locals carved heads on the stones and sold them as the snakes she petrified.5

Here’s what H. bifrons looks like as a snakestone:

And here’s a much more finely carved specimen:

When I was working on my black and white zoomorphic series, I tried to draw a snakestone. It turned out to be remarkably difficult to get the proportions mathematically pleasing. I started with a different genus, a ceratite, with a kind of wavy division to each of its segments, because they seemed to grow in more mathematically predictable ways. They’re just not what I think of as a classic ammonite; they seemed a bit, well, boring. I tried jazzing them up a bit—make them look as though they’re dancing to form a kindof ammonite triskele inside a Lindisfarne Gospels style interlace wreath. Better—but not great.

So then I tried yet another genus, a…well, actually I forget what it’s called, maybe a baculite? Anyway:

You won’t find these in Britain, but I like the crinkly look. It had possibilities. So I copied that, and then turned it into a snakestone. Much better!

Earlier this year we were at Worldcon, where we bumped into a friend, Wendy, aka MaudPunk, and got talking about all things metal work—Wendy loves to forge Early Medieval replicas from bronze, silver, copper, etc. (She’s made me several things, including this brooch.) She was wearing a great pendant she’d made, based on the Fairford Duck. Kelley really wanted one. No, she wanted two—one silver, one copper.

I like the duck well enough, but that’s not what fired up my neurones. Ever since Tor commissioned a lovely enamel brooch/pin for Spear, I’ve enjoyed wearing it on my jacket lapel. I get many compliments (“Is that Tiffany?”). The Spear pin is boldly coloured, which I love, but it does occasionally limit my sartorial choices. So I’ve been subconsciously looking for something more neutral. And I thought: A snakestone! In silver! And wouldn’t you know, Wendy had already designed a snakestone pendant; it did not take much persuasion to commission one as a pin.

And, lo, just in time for our birthdays, we got a package with what we’d asked for:

And here’s the pin in all its glory—straight out of its lovely linen pouch:

It’s hand-carved in wax then cast in the metal of your choice, then ground and polished by hand. Here it is on my jacket lapel, where it will stay for at least a couple of weeks, after which I’ll probably alternate with the enamel pin:

So Hild and her ammonite are still bringing me enormous pleasure, and still—as is only fitting for the patron saint of culture and education—helping me learn new things.

Tonight I will raise a glass to Hild, to ammonites, to Whitby, and to all things beautifully made and perfectly proportioned. wes þu hal! Or maybe wæs hæil! I dunno, Old English is not exactly my forte—but drinking and merrymaking is :)

1. At least it’s her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church. The Anglican Communion celebrates on the 18th. I’m not a practising Christian but was raised Catholic, so tend to follow their dates. No one knows when Hild was born, but long ago I decided it was some time in the last half of October. At some point I’ll pick a day, and then I’ll have two dates to celebrate! ↩︎
2. Hild means ‘battle’, and thryth translates to something like ‘strength’ or ‘power’, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility. There again, I’ve always preferred the idea of Hild being Hildeburg, that is Battle Fortress: obdurate, adamant, immovable. ↩︎
3. Yep, it would have made more sense for it to be square, or more landscape than portrait format, but, well, I didn’t think of that until just now… ↩︎
4. Ever wondered why Georgian mansions feel so gracious and pleasing? Their formal rooms follow the Golden Ratio. ↩︎
5. The legend is so well established that it forms part of Whitby’s coat of arms. ↩︎

#ammonite #brooch #CædmonSHymn #feastDay #hild #jewellery #MaudPunk #menewood #oldEnglish #phi #pin #snakestone #theBluePlace #whitby

October 18 is the #EpiscopalChurch celebrates the #FeastDay of #StLuke the Evangelist, companion of St. Paul, & a physician of the Church. Today’s #Gospel reading is Luke 4:14-21

Having completed a #SoulShop workshop yesterday about #SuicidePrevention for church leaders, the verses that stand out to me today are 18-19 about bringing good news to the poor, freeing captives, freeing the oppressed, helping the blind to see, & proclaiming the year of God’s favor (these verses also apply to the #NoKings events today). What #Jesus is saying, & doing, in these verses is giving people #Hope That is a very important thing. Hope keeps us alive. Hope keeps us going, working towards & praying for a tomorrow when God’s promises for our lives & the world are manifest on earth as in heaven. We, as members of the #JesusMovement are called to have Hope & to share it with all others, freely, without judgement or expectation, as our Redeemer did & does.

How will you share Hope with someone else today?

St. Rose of Lima

She was born Isabel Flores de Oliva (April 20, 1586-August 24, 1617). She was a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic in Lima, Peru, Spanish Empire. She was known for her life of severe penance & her care of the poor of the city through her own private efforts.

Rose of Lima was born to a noble family & is the patroness saint of embroidery, gardening, cultivation of blooming flowers, florists, embroiderers, sewing lace, gardeners, people ridiculed or misunderstood for their piety, the resolution of family quarrels, against vanity, & the indigenous peoples of the Americas. She was the 1st person born in the Americas to be canonized as a saint.

As a saint, Rose of Lima has been designated as a co-patroness of the Philippines, along with Pudentiana. Both saints were moved to Second-class patronage in September 1942 by Pope Pius XII. But Rose remains the main patroness of Peru & the local people of Latin America. Her image was formerly featured on the highest denomination banknote of Peru.

Her nickname “Rose” comes from a story in her infancy: a servant claimed to have seen her face change into a rose. In 1597, Isabel was confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, Toribio de Mogrovejo, who was also declared a saint. She then formally changed her name to Rose (Rosa in Spanish) at that time.

When she was a young girl, she copied Catherine of Siena. She started praying 3x a week & performed severe penances in secret. She was admired for her beauty. She cut off her hair & rubbed peppers on her face, to distract from her beauty. She was upset that men were starting to notice her, & not for her spirituality. She turned away all of her suitors. Her family wasn’t having any of that.

Much to her parents’ chigrin, Rose spent a LOT of time thinking about the Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily. This is rare, & odd, for the time. She wanted to take a vow of virginity. But her parents didn’t want that! Out of frustration, her dad gave her a room to herself at the family home.

In addition to fasting, she permanently abstained from eating meat. She helped the sick & hungry around her community. She would bring them to the room, her dad built, to take care of the sick. To help her family financially, Rose would sell fine needlework she made. She would also take flowers to the market to sell as well.

To help the poor, she would make & sell lace & embroidery. This was in addition to all the prayer & she did penance in a small grotto she’d built. She was otherwise a recluse. She only left her room to go to church.

She attracted the attention of the friars of the Dominican Order. She wanted to become a nun. But her dad wasn’t hearing any of that noise. So instead, she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic, while she was living in her parents’ home.

When she was 20, she started wearing the habit of a tertiary & took a vow of perpetual virginity. A tertiary is a lay member of a religious order’s Third Order, who lives in the secular (worldly) world while they strive for Christian perfection by following the spiritual way of life associated with that particular order. The First Order is the clergy, the Second Order is the religious women in the community (official nuns).

She allowed herself only 2 hours a night of sleep, at most, so she could have more time to devote to prayer. She also wore a heavy metal crown made of silver, that had small spikes on the inside. This was to imitate the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus.

For 11 years, she lived like this. Throughout this time, there would be periods of ecstasy. She passed away on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31. She had been battling a long illness. It’s said that she prophesied her death date.

Her funeral was held in the cathedral. It was attended by all the public authorities of Lima. August 23 is her feast day. It’s August 30th in the Traditional calendar.

Rose was beatified by Pope Clement IX on May 10, 1667. She was canonized on April 12, 1671 by Pope Clement I. She was the first Catholic in the Americas to be officially declared a saint.

Her shine is inside of the convent of St. Dominic in Lima. The Catholic Church says that many miracles happened after her death: she cured a leper; & at the time of her death, the city of Lima smelled like roses; roses started falling from the sky.

Rose’s skull, surmounted with a crown of roses, is on public display at the Basilica in Lima, Peru.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate monthly

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate yearly

Rate this:

#10May1667 #12April1671 #1597 #20April1586 #24August1617 #Americas #ArchbishopOfLima #August23 #August30 #Basilica #Beatified #BlessedSacrament #Canonized #Cathedral #CatherineOfSiena #Convent #CrownOfThorns #CultivationOfBloomingFlowers #DominicanOrder #Embroidery #Embroilerers #fasting #FeastDay #FineNeedlework #Florists #Gardeners #Gardening #IndigenousPeoples #IsabelFloresDeOliva #Lace #LatinAmerica #Leper #Lima #Miracles #Nun #PerpetualVirginity #Peru #Philippines #Piety #PopeClementIX #PopeClementX #PopePiusXII #Pudentiana #Recluse #ReligiousEcstasy #Rosa #Roses #Saint #September1942 #SewingLace #Shrine #Skull #Spanish #SpanishEmpire #StDominic #StRoseOfLima #Tertiary #ThirdOrderOfStDominic #ToribioDeMogrovejo #TraditionalCalender #Vanity #VowOfVirginity

On 29 September we celebrate the feast of St. Michael and All Angels according to the RCL. That means a new set of devotionals (the liturgical color for a #FeastDay is #White ) in A Disciple’s Prayer Book. Today’s lessons/readings (including the #Gospel John 1:47-51) & collect are also specific to the day. I’m feeling this feast day a bit more than usual because I’ve lost so many friends & family this year, so the angels have been busy.

I really like the idea of angels being spirit-messengers, which is how the #FirstNations #NewTestament refers to them. The image of #SpiritMessengers climbing up & down a ladder to heaven & circling the heavenly seat of the Creator & Redeemer resonates strongly with me today. Intercessory prayer is not something I think much about although it feels like today’s message is that I should pay more attention to it. I don’t know much about angels, either. Here is my opportunity to learn more about both. #DPB

Do you believe in angels?

B.B. Warfield was a professor of #reformed theology, says the divine example is a life of self-sacrificing unselfishness. This is the most beautiful life that can be led.

I’ve seen many object to this idea, saying that to call Christ an Example must necessarily preclude Him from being a Savior.

How can you imitate our Master and Example?
#christian #giver #feastday #havefaith #godseesyou

@minouette Here’s a link to the CD, River of Red, my choir made. Our first director, the late Margriet Tindemans, arranged the music, our soloists, Molly Siebert, Ann Glusker, Linda Strandberg, Deirdre Forman, Kathy Hanson. Cover art (acrylic on paper), O Rubor Sanguinis, is mine, to be on view as part of an informal event in November to benefit the choir. The works refer to the Rhine massacre of St. Ursula and 10,000 women.
#HildegardvonBingen #feastday
https://www.discogs.com/release/34147075-Hildegard-Of-Bingen-Medieval-Womens-Choir-Margriet-Tindemans-River-Of-Red-O-Rubor-Sanguinis

Hundreds gather for 100th Italian Bazaar in Portland, celebrating with food, games, more

PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — Several hundred Mainers jammed their kids, parents, and grandparents into Federal …
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Italianmeals #cannolis #community #feastday #games: #Italia #Italian #italianbazaar #italianmeals #italiano #italy #Portland #StPeter’sParish
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2229165/hundreds-gather-for-100th-italian-bazaar-in-portland-celebrating-with-food-games-more-3/

Hundreds gather for 100th Italian Bazaar in Portland, celebrating with food, games, more https://www.diningandcooking.com/2229165/hundreds-gather-for-100th-italian-bazaar-in-portland-celebrating-with-food-games-more-3/ #cannolis #community #FeastDay #food #games: #Italia #Italian #ItalianBazaar #ItalianMeals #italiano #italy #Portland #StPeter’sParish

Hundreds gather for 100th Italian Bazaar in Portland, celebrating with food, games, more

PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — Several hundred Mainers jammed their kids, parents, and grandparents into Federal Stre…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Italianfood #cannolis #community #feastday #games: #Italia #Italian #italianbazaar #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #Portland #StPeter’sParish
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2225749/hundreds-gather-for-100th-italian-bazaar-in-portland-celebrating-with-food-games-more/

Hundreds gather for 100th Italian Bazaar in Portland, celebrating with food, games, more https://www.diningandcooking.com/2225749/hundreds-gather-for-100th-italian-bazaar-in-portland-celebrating-with-food-games-more/ #cannolis #community #FeastDay #food #games: #Italia #Italian #ItalianBazaar #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #Portland #StPeter’sParish

July 11 is the Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia. In chaotic times, he found peace through prayer and silence, becoming a hermit and esteemed teacher. His Rule of Life balanced prayer, work, and rest, influencing Christian communities for centuries. His legacy urges us to live simply, pray often, and care for others, reminding us that peace and purpose are attainable, even in uncertain times. #SaintBenedict #CatholicSaints #Benedictine #FeastDay https://young-catholics.com/7822/st-benedict/

Richard Sibbes, Puritan, says that God made the rich to relieve the poor, and the poor to pray for the rich (based on 2 Cor 1:11, James 2:5, and a sermon by Augustine).

How many griping about foreign aid would sit still for this teaching? Do we ask the poor to pray for the rich?

How can you pray for those with greater wealth than yourself? How can you view the poor as appropriate stewards of your wealth?

#christian #giver #feastday #havefaith #godseesyou

So, what is this saint famous for? Basically, for spending 36 years living on a small platform on top of a pillar in Syria.

10 facts about St Simon Stylites.

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2025/01/5-january-saint-simon-stylites.html

#Saints #FeastDay

Paul Simon has suggested that the Simon and Garfunkel hit Cecilia is about St Cecelia, and the song might therefore be about the frustration of fleeting inspiration in songwriting and the vagaries of musical fame.

10 facts about the patron saint of music.

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2024/11/22-november-saint-cecilia-of-rome.html

#music #saints #SaintCecilia #FeastDay

Matthew Henry, nonconformist minister, writes on Mammon. Charity is required. But if you’ve only got two mites, three are not expected. He also says that if one’s income approaches a poverty level, you may cause fellow Christians to demonstrate to the world the noble generosity of the Christian principle.

How can you offer generosity to the moderately poor?

#christian #learngodsways #newlifeinchrist #feastday #humanrights