How Aelred Made it to the American Book of Common Prayer
by Louie Crew, founder of Integrity, [email: lcrew@ANDROMEDA.RUTGERS.EDU]

Aelred was not in ECUSA's calendar until a Roman Catholic head of history at Yale, John Boswell, wrote about him powerfully in his book Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality Boswell dwelt at length with the lesbigay positive evidence. That spurred Integrity member, the late Howard Galley, one of the major architects of the 1976 Prayer Book, to initiate the actions which finally led to Aelred's inclusion: using Aelred's own texts, Galley shaped the readings which appear in THE LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS, including this collect:

Pour into our hearts, O God, the Holy Spirit's gift of love, that we, clasping each the other's hand, may share the joy of friendship, human and divine, and with your servant Aelred, draw many to your community of love; through Jesus Christ the Righteous, who livers and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Aelred (available online)

Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, trans. Mary Eugenia Laker, (Kalamazoo MI: Cistercian Publications 1977), see esp. p. 21 on Aelred's homosexual attractions.

Boswell, John, CSTH, 221-20

McGuire, Brian P, "Monastic Friendship and Toleration ", in Monks, Hermits and the Ascetic Traditions, Studies in Church History 22, ed. W.J. Shiels, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985) pp. 147-160

McGuire, Brian P, "Looking Back on Friendship: Medieval Experience and Modern Context", Cistercian Studies 21:2 (1986), pp. 123-142

McGuire, Brian P., Brother and Lover: Aelred of Rievaulx, (New York: Crossroad, 1994)
In his earlier articles, McGuire, the foremost expert on early Cistercian bonding, professed to find explanations of Aelred as homosexual as "one-dimensional", but in this book he more forthrightly identifies Aelred as homosexual.

McGuire, Brian Patrick, "Sexual Awareness and Identity in Aelred of Rievulx (1110-67)", American Benedictine Review 45(1994): 184-226
This probably the best work of its kind out on Aelred. It is the most comprehensive, and actually covers more ground than Brother & Lover.

Russell, Kenneth C., "Aelred, the Gay Abbot of Rievaulx", Studia Mystica 5:4 (Winter 1982), 51-64

January 20

NRC/ORC

St. Sebastian, martyr

d. 288

The martyrdom of St. Sebastian, about whom little is known, has been a subject for countless artists to portray the male body. St. Sebastian was killed by multiple arrow shots, an image of suffering and redemption which provided the basis for his cult. Georges Eekhoud seems to have been the first to make the connection between the art of St. Sebastian and homoeroticism.

Office of Readings:

He suffered martyrdom in Rome at the beginning of the persecution of Diocletian. His tomb in the place named Ad Catacumbas on the Via Appia has been venerated by the faithful from the earliest times.

See the website on St. Sebastian in art, with many examples.

Select bibliography

Eekhoud, Georges, "Saint Sebastien dans la peinture", Akdemos 1 (Feb 15 1909), 171-75

Jarman, Derek, director, Sebastiane, Film, UK, 1977

Le Targat, Francois, Saint-Sebastién dans l'histoire de l'art depuis le XVe siécle, (Paris: Paul Vermont, 1977)

Le Targat, Francois, Saint-Sebastién: Adonis et martyr, (Paris: Editions Persona, 1983)

Saslow, James M, "The Tenderest Lover: Saint Sebastian in Renaissance Painting: A proposed Iconology for North Italian Art, 1450-1550", Gai Saber 1:1 (Spring 1977), 58-66, and response by Wayne Dynes, Gai Saber 1:2 (Summer 1977), 150-51

March 7

ALL

*SS. Perpetua and *Felicity, martyrs

d. 203

Office of Readings:

Died in the persecution of Septimus Severus in the year 203 at Carthage. There is an impressive narrative of their martyrdom in existence, partly written by the saints themselves and partly by a contemporary writer.

CSTH:

The popularity of the story of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas...was largely dues to the appeal of love between two women. Five Christians were martyred together at Carthage on March 7, 203, suffering death at the hands of wild animals and the sword, but only Perpetua and Felicitas captured the fancy of the Christian community, apparently because of the tale of the two women comforting each other in jail, suffering martyrdom together as friends, and bestowing upon each other the kiss of peace as they met their end, charmed the tastes of the age.

Select bibliography

Internet Medieval Sourcebook: The Passion of Perpetua (full text available online)

Boswell, John, CSTH, 135

Boswell, John , SSU 139-141

Castelli, Elizabeth, "`I Will Make Mary Male': Pieties of the Body and Gender: Transformation of Christian Women in Late Antiquity", in Julia Epstein and Kristina Straub, eds. , Body Guards: The Cultural politics of Gender Ambiguity, (New York: Routledge, 1991), 29-39

Dronke, Peter, Women Writers of the Middle Ages: A Critical Study of Texts from Perpetua to Marguerite Porete, (New York: Cambridge UP, 1985)

Lefkowitz, Mary R. "Motivations for St Perpetua's martyrdom", Journal of the American Academy of Religion 44 (1976) ,417-421

Miles, Margaret, Carnal Knowing: Female Nakedness and Religious Meaning in the Christian West, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1989; pb New York: Vintage, 1991), 53-77

Pettersen, Alvyn L., "Perpetua - prisoner of conscience", Vigilae Christianae 41:2 (1987), 139-53

Rossi, Mary Ann, "The passion of Perpetua, everywoman of late antiquity", in R. Smith and J. Lounibos, eds., Pagan and Christian anxiety, (1984), 53-86

Scholer, David M., "'And I was a man': the power and problem of Perpetua", Daughters of Sarah 15 (September-October 1989), 10-14

March 15

ORC

St. Longinus the Centurion (Oct 16 ORTH)

A number of unnamed figures in the New Testament have been given names - for instance the women who wiped the face of Christ as he went to be crucified is known as "Veronica". The centurion of Matthew 27, who utter the words "truly this is the son of God", has long been celebrated as the martyr Longinus in both Orthodox and Roman churches. For this entry I am conflating him with the Roman soldier of Matthew 8:5-13/Luke 7:1-10 who approaches Jesus so that this "servant" might be cured. I think that this was done in the past, but am still searching for more information.

As Fr. Johh O'Neill has pointed out recently, there are several aspects to this story which might lend it to a gay reading. In the first place it seems somewhat odd that a centurion would be so caring about a slave, caring enough to risk ridicule by approaching a Jewish miracle worker for help. The underlying Greek text intensifies this suspicion of a possible homosexual relationship. Tom Horner, author of David Loved Jonathan: Homosexuality in Biblical Times, points out that in Matthew, the earlier account and directed to a Greek-speaking Jewish audience, the word for servant is "pais" - which means "boy", but can also mean "servant", and, given the rather greater than average concern for a servant demonstrated by the centurion, can also mean "lover". The word "pederasty" for instance derives from "pais". Luke, who was writing in a much more Greek milieu changes the word "pais" to the much more neutral "doulos" ("servant" or "slave"), presumably aware of its homosexual implications to any reader with a Greek cultural background. Jesus, clearly, does not condemn the centurion in this story of faith.

One interesting point here is that at every Catholic mass the communicants say the words of this centurion immediately before communion - the modern English slightly distorts the Latin - " Lord I am not worthy to receive you under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be cleansed".

Matthew

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Mat 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 8:13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Luke

Luke 7:1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. Luke 7:2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. Luke 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. Luke 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: Luke 7:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Luke 7:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: Luke 7:7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. Luke 7:8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. Luke 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Luke 7:10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

Select Bibliography

Horner, Tom, Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times, (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), 122

McNeill, John, Freedom Glorious Freedom, (Boston: Beacon, 1995), 132-136

April 21

All West

St. Anselm of Canterbury, bishop & doctor

1033?-1109

from Compton's Online Encyclopedia, (AOL, Downloaded 7/22/94)

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY (1033?-1109). In the late Middle Ages the attempt to use philosophy to explain Christian faith was called scholasticism. The founder of scholasticism was St. Anselm, a man who combined the careers of philosopher, theologian, monk, and archbishop. Anselm was born at Aosta, Italy, in about 1033. In his youth he resisted family pressure to enter politics and obtained a classical education instead. In 1057 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Bec, in northwestern France. In 1078 he became the abbot there. As Anselm's abilities and great learning became known, Bec became one of the leading schools of philosophy and theology. While on inspection tours of monasteries in England, Anselm had been befriended by King William I. In 1093 William I's son and successor, William II Rufus, appointed Anselm archbishop of Canterbury. His term of office was an unhappy one, for he immediately became involved in one of the major conflicts of the time--the investiture controversy. At issue was whether a king had the right to invest a bishop with the symbols of his office. On this issue Anselm resisted both William II and his successor, Henry I. The matter was finally resolved in Anselm's favor by the Westminster Agreement of 1107. He lived only two more years, dying on April 21, 1109.

Anselm is remembered principally as one of the great theologians in the history of the Roman Catholic church. His main works--the 'Monologium' (Monologue), the 'Proslogium' (Addition), and the 'Cur Deus Homo?' (Why Did God Become Man?)--were outstanding attempts to use reason to explain belief. He was canonized a saint in 1163 and declared a doctor of the church in 1720.

OE:
He was canonized by Pope Alexander VI in 1492 and proclaimed a doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720.

Anselm as a Gay Saint?
Paul Halsall

I make no claims about Anselm's sexual practices, but I am sure he was what we would now call gay.

I. Anselm had emotional relationships with Lanfranc and then a succession of his own pupils. He would address his letters to his "beloved lover" [dilecto dilitori]. Here is a sample:

"Wherever you go my love follows you, and wherever I remain my desire embraces you...How then could I forget you? He who is imprisoned on my heart like a seal on wax- how could he be removed from my memory? Without saying a word I know that you love [amor] me, and without my saying a word, you know that I love you." [Epistle 1.4; PL 158:1068-69]

Or again:

"Brother Anselm to Dom Gilbert, brother, friend, beloved lover... Sweet to me, sweetest friend, are the gifts of your sweetness, but they cannot begin to console my desolate heart for its want of your Love." [Ep. 1.75, PL 158:1144-45].

refs. from John Boswell's CSTH.

It is worth mentioning also, that St. Anselm was one of the first saints to address Jesus as mother, a practice and spirituality later taken up by Julian of Norwich.

There have been long running arguments among academics about Anslem's sexuality. On one side, John Boswell was quite explicit in arguing for this; on the other Sir. Richard Southern and Glenn Olsen reject such an interpretation. Brian McGuire is probably the most important scholar working on Anselm these days. For many years, well aware of the possible anachronism of calling any pre-modern individual "gay" or "homosexual", McGuire was not pinned down on the issue. Recently, however, he has argued that it is appropriate to see Anselm as "homosexual", if we are to use such terms.

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Anslem (available online)

Boswell, John, CSTH, 218-20

Bynum, Caroline Walker, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, (Berkeley: 1982)

McGuire, Brian P., "Love, Friendship and Sex in the 11th Century: The Experience of Anselm", Studia Theologia 28 (1974), pp. 111-155

McGuire, Brian P., "Monastic Friendship and Toleration in Twelfth Century Cistercian Life", in W. J. Shiels., ed., Monks, Hermits and the Ascetic Tradition, Studies in Church History 22, (London: 1985)

Olsen, Glenn, "St. Anselm and Homosexuality", Anselm Studies (1988) [Article by a conservative Roman Catholic scholar who denies Anselm can be considered as homosexual.]

April 23

All

St. George

St. George is, along with St. Nicholas, without any question among the most popular of all saints in history. The odd thing is that nothing whatsoever can be established about him as a historical figure. Indeed the among earliest references to this cult in the West involve papal condemnations of the myths surrounding him.

So how can George be included in a list of "queer" saints. For two reasons - iconographic and textual.

Textual

No one reading early texts about George can fail to be impressed by the explicit homoeroticism in them. George at one stage is about to marry, but is prevented by Christ. As the text said "[George] did not know that Christ was keeping him as a pure virginal bridegroom for himself". (Budge, 282) Later on after mind-boggling escapades [George is killed and resurrected a number or times in his myths], Christ welcomes George into Heaven with bridal imagery: - "And the Lord said to the blessed George, Hail, My George! Hail beloved of myself and of My Angels…I swear by My right hand, Oh my beloved one that I will establish a covenant with thee that when thou shalt bow thyself upon thy spiritual face in heaven and shall come with all they congregation to worship the holy Trinity, all the saints know thee by reason of the honour which I will show thee, O My beloved… " (Budge 320-21).

In these texts, here from Coptic versions, George is presented as the bridegroom of Christ. Bridal imagery is quite common in discourse about Christ, but usually male saints are made into "brides of Christ" [see Carolyn Walker Bynum's work on this], but with George a same sex marital imagery is used.

Iconographic:

George is among the most common subjects of religious art. His iconographic type is fixed - he is a young beardless warrior. It is worth noting that some commentators have seen appeal of this figure as androgynous. Here are the comments of Christopher Walter, a recent commentator on the cult of George:-

'There can be not doubt that [George] had an exceptional affective appeal, difficult perhaps for us to grasp, since the Byzantines have not bequeathed us many empirical descriptions of their feelings. Some reconstruction can be tentatively undertaken….Thomas Matthews has studied the affective attitude of the Byzantines towards their icons and the saints represented on the icons. `One was supposed to fall in love with these saints.' Or elsewhere: 'The involvement of the Orthodox beholder with his painted images was complete…The believer entered a world of images in a war the modern view of paintings cannot accomplish". However, empathy as a characteristic of human psychology, must keep pace with development and changes in artistic media. It may not be amiss therefore to quote James Baldwin's description of a budding actor in a film. It seems to me to give some insight into the way that a Byzantine saw an icon of St. George:`…The face of a man, of a tormented man. Yet, in precisely the way that great music depends, ultimately, on a great silence, this masculinity was defined and made powerful by something which was not masculine. It was not feminine either and something….resisted the word androgynous. It was a quality to which numbers of persons would respond without knowing what it was that they were responding. There was a great force in face and a great gentleness…It was a face which suggested, resonantly in the depths the truth about our natures'" (Walter, 320)

In addition to all the above, George is patron saint of scouting, chosen as such by Baden Powell. There is a webpage for George, Patron of Scouts!

Select bibliography

Budge, Earnest Wallis, The Martyrdom and Miracles of St. George of Cappodocia: The Coptic Texts, (London: D. Nutt, 1888)

Bynum, Caroline Walker, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, (Berkeley: 1982)

Walter, Christopher, "The Origins of the Cult of St. George", Revue des études byzantines 53 (1995), 295-326

May 8

COE/ECUSA

*Julian of Norwich, mystic

1342- c. 1417

Mother Julian qualifies as transgendered for her name, if nothing else. But that is not her main interest for lesbian and gay people. Mother Julian was one of the foremost English mystics of the middle ages. As a young women she had series of intense visions, or "showings" as she said, of Jesus. She then lived as an anchoress, a sort of local hermit, for the rest of her life meditating and writing down he meditations on these visions. There is a pretty poor modern English version put out by Penguin, but the edition in the Classics of Western Spirituality Series is well worth the extra cost. Julian, although no feminist, experienced God directly as "our mother", and experienced God as pure love. She also saw Jesus as a loving mother, full of warm and care for her children. Julian's immensely attractive spirituality emphasize that God love's human beings, and that in the end "all will be well, and all shall be well, and all will be well". In her awareness of the motherhood of God, in her emphasis on God's love and manifest intention that "every kind of thing will be well", Julian's spirituality has the called many who have encountered it back to a joyful Faith. And a Faith that is not joyful hardly seems worth the effort.

Chapter 60 (from Long Text of "Showings")

"The Mother can lay her child tenderly to her breast, but our tender Mother Jesus can lead us easily into his blessed breast through his sweet open side, and show us there a part of the godhead and of the joys of heaven with inner certainty of endless bliss. And that he revealed in the 10th revelation, giving us the same under standing in these sweet words which he says: See how I love you, looking into his blessed side, rejoicing"

Chapter 31 (from Long Text of "Showings"), a passage Julian referred back to repeatedly,

"And so our good Lord answered to all questions and doubts which I could raise, saying most comfortably: I may make all things well, and I can make all things well, and I shall make all things well, and I will make all things well, and you will see yourself that every kind of thing will be well"

Chapter 11 (from Short text of "Showings")

"Thus I chose Jesus for my heaven, whom I saw only in pain at that time. No other heaven was pleasing to me than Jesus, who will be my bliss when I am there; and this has always been a comfort to me, that I chose Jesus as my heaven in all times of suffering and of sorrow."

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Juliana of Norwich (available online)

See the Julian of Norwich homepage, which includes a link to an icon of Mother Julian, as well as much written material.

Julian of Norwich's Revelations, an online article by by Gretchen Denlinger.

Julian of Norwich, Showings, trans. Edmund Colledge and James Walsh, (New York: Paulist Press, 1978)

May 20

ECUSA

Alcuin of Tours

c. 735- 804

An Image of Alcuin is available.

Alcuin was a leading figure in the Carolingian renaissance of the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The poet, who was a teacher also, knew his students by pet names such as "Cuckoo". It is sometimes asserted that Alcuin's writings reflect classical models, and were exercises rather than representations of his own thought. What must be noted is that there were many possible classical models to imitate - it is why a writer chooses some and not others that is interesting.

CSTH:

A distinctly erotic element...is notable in the circle of friends presided over by Alcuin at the court of Charlemagne. This group included some of the most brilliant scholars of the day (Theodule of Orleans, Anglibert, Einhard, et al,), but the erotic element subsisted principally between Alcuin and his pupils. Intimates of this circle of masculine friendship were known to each other by pet names, most of them derived from classical allusions, many from Vergil's Eclogues... A particularly famous poem is addressed to a pupil whom Alcuin calls "Daphnis" and laments the departure of another young student, "Dodo", who is referred to in the poem as their "cuckoo"....The prominence of love in Alcuin's writings, all of which are addressed to other males, is striking... One expects hyperbole in poetry, but even in Alcuin's prose correspondence there is an element which can scarcely be called anything but passionate. He wrote to a friend (a bishop...):-

"I think of your love and friendship with such sweet memories, reverend bishop, that I long for that lovely time when I may be able to clutch the neck of your sweetness with the fingers of my desires. Alas, if only it were granted to me, as it was to Habakkuk [Dan. 14:32-38], to be transported to you, how I would sink into your embraces,...how much would I cover, with tightly pressed lips, not only your eyes, ears and mouth, but also your every finger and toe, not once but many a time."

And here is a poem by Alcuin

"Lament for a Cuckoo"

O cuckoo that sang to us and art fled,
Where'er thou wanderest, on whatever shore
Thou lingerest now, all men bewail thee dead,
They say our cuckoo will return no more.
Ah, let him come again, he must not die,
Let him return with the returning spring,
And waken all the songs he used to sing.
but will he come again? I know not, I.

I fear the dark see breaks above his head,
Caught in the whirlpool, dead beneath the waves,
Sorrow for me, if that ill god of wine
Hath drowned him deep where young things find their graves.
But if he lives yet, surely he will come,
Back to the kindly nest, from fierce crows.
Cuckoo, what took you from the nesting place?
But will he come again? That no man knows.

If you love sings, cuckoo, then come again,
Come again, come again, quick, pray you come.
Cuckoo, delay not, hasten thee home again,
Daphnis who loveth thee longs for his own.
Now spring is here again, wake from thy sleeping.
Alcuin the old man thinks long for thee.
Through the green meadows go the oxen grazing;
Only the cuckoo is not. Where is her?

Wail for the cuckoo, every where bewail him,
Joyous he left us: shall he grieving come?
let him come grieving, if he will but come again,
Yea, we shall weep with him, moan for his moan.
Unless a rock begat thee, thou wilt weep with us.
How canst thou not, thyself remembering?
Shall not the father weep the son he lost him,
Brother for brother still be sorrowing?

Once were we three, with but one heart among us.
Scare are we two, now that the third is fled.
Fled is he, fled is he, but the grief remaineth;
Bitter the weeping, for so dear a head.
Send a song after him, send a song of sorrow,
Songs bring the cuckoo home, or so they tell
Yet be thou happy, wheresoe'er thou wanderest
Sometimes remember us, Love, fare you well.

[trans. Helen Waddell, in Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse]

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Alcuin (available online)

Coote, Stephen, ed., The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse, (Harmondsworth: Allen Lane, Penguin, 1983), 112-114

Boswell, John, CSTH, 188-191

May 30

ORC

*St. Joan of Arc

c.1412-1431

and *La Rousse
and *Catharine de La Rochelle

An Image of Joan of Arc is available online. See also another image.

Joan, who was executed at the age of 19, lived, as Marina Warner notes, one of the most classically heroic lives of any woman in history. She is the national heroine of France. She also refused to wear women's clothes and had her hair cut in the typical male "basin" style of the day. Even during her trial she insisted on male attire, an insistence which angered her prosecutors.

from Compton's Online Encyclopedia, (AOL, Downloaded 7/22/94)

JOAN OF ARC (1412?-31). One of the most romantic figures in European war history was Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who saved the kingdom of France from English domination. She has also been called the Maid of Orleans and the Maid of France. When she was only 17 years old, Joan inspired a French army to break the English siege of the French city of Orleans and to win other important victories. Joan of Arc (in French Jeanne d'Arc) was born in the village of Domremy, in the Meuse River valley, probably in 1412. She was the daughter of a wealthy tenant farmer. From her mother she learned how to spin, sew, and cook, and also to love and serve God. She spent much of her time praying in church. For almost 100 years France and much of Europe had been fighting in what became known as the Hundred Years' War. The English occupied much of northern France and the Duke of Burgundy was their ally. Because the impoverished French king, Charles VII, had not yet been crowned, he was still called the Dauphin (See Charles, Kings of France). Reims, where the coronation ceremonies for French kings had been held for 1,000 years, was in enemy hands (See Reims). The valley where Joan lived was constantly overrun by armies and guerrilla bands.

Joan was only about 13 when she first saw a heavenly vision. She later claimed that St. Michael had told her to be a good girl, to obey her mother, and to go to church often. For some time, however, she told no one of the visions. When St. Catherine and St. Margaret commanded her to journey to the Dauphin in order to inspire his armies to clear the way to Reims for the coronation, she told her parents and others. Her father refused to let her go. Joan's visions continued to command her. Her friends, who believed that she was truly inspired, secured boy's clothing and a horse for her. Several rode with her on the long trip to the Dauphin's court at Chinon. Perhaps as a test, the Dauphin made one of his courtiers pretend to be the king. Joan, however, went directly to the true king and greeted him. The Dauphin and his councilors were not entirely convinced of her mission, however. Months of doubt and indecision followed while she was questioned. Slowly an army was gathered. The Dauphin equipped Joan with armor, attendants, and horses. A special banner was made for Joan to carry into battle. On one side were the words "Jesus Maria" and a figure of God, seated on clouds and holding a glove. The other side had a figure of the Virgin and a shield, with two angels supporting the arms of France. When the army at last moved toward Orleans, Joan was not its commander, but her presence inspired the soldiers with confidence. At Orleans, after Joan disapproved of the plans made for entering the besieged city, her own plan was adopted. From the city she led a series of sallies that so harassed and discouraged the English that they withdrew. In one of the skirmishes Joan was wounded. On May 8, 1429, the victory was celebrated by the first festival of Orleans. The army entered Reims on July 16. The next day the Dauphin was crowned king as Joan stood by with her banner. A decision was made to attack Paris, but the new monarch's hesitation and indecision prevented Joan's soldiers from concerted attack. Nevertheless, Compiegne and other nearby towns were taken. A French attack on a Paris salient was driven back and Joan was again wounded. Charles VII disbanded his army for the winter and retired southward. Through the cold months Joan chafed at royal delay. In the spring she returned to Compiegne, now besieged by forces of the Duke of Burgundy. On May 23, 1430, Joan, on a sortie into the Burgundian lines, was separated from her soldiers and captured.

Trial and Execution

As a prisoner at Beaurevoir, she attempted to escape, but was injured in the leap from the donjon tower. Later she was sold to the English, who vowed that she would be executed. They removed her to Rouen, where she was held in chains. Although the English wanted Joan's death, they desired her to be sentenced by an ecclesiastical court. The Burgundian- controlled University of Paris provided the charges of heresy and witchcraft. It also provided some of the members of the court. Other members came from areas under English occupation. Chief of the court was the bishop of Beauvais. Joan was handed over to this bishop on Jan. 3, 1431. The sittings began on February 21 and continued intermittently for months. Joan's appeal to be sent before the pope for judgment was denied. On May 23 she was condemned to be burned unless she recanted. She had been held for many months in chains, threatened with torture, and harassed by thousands of questions. In spite of all this, she had maintained her shy innocence, often confounding her oppressors with simple, unaffected answers to tricky questions. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, she said, still counseled her.

Faced with death in the flames, she recanted, but many historians think she did not understand what was meant in the statement of recantation. As a result of her submission, her punishment was commuted from death to life imprisonment. This leniency enraged the English, however, and it was not long before she was accused of relapsing from her submission. On May 30, 1431, when she was only 19 years old, Joan was turned over to civil authority and burned to death at the stake.

Charles VII had made no effort to save Joan. Some 25 years later he did aid her family to appeal the case to the pope, and in 1456 a papal court annulled the judgment of 1431. On May 16, 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic church.

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Joan of Arc (available online)

There is an interesting web site devoted to original texts and later discussions about Joab of Arc.

Marina Warner, St. Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism, (London: 1981, pb. Penguin, 1985), esp. 149-59

Charles T. Wood, Joan of Arc and Richard II: Sex , Saints and Government in the Middle Ages, (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988)

June 22

NRC/ORC

St. Paulinus of Nola, bishop

353-431

and Ausonius

Paulinus of Nola was an important figure in the Christian Roman Empire. Although he was married, he was also passionately in love with his fellow Christian and teacher, the writer Ausonius. There is an element of copying classical homosexual poetry in these verses, but they clearly indicate a relationship distinct and more erotic than "friendship". Later in life Paulinus distanced himself from Ausonius, a victim perhaps of a narrowing view of sexual ethics. The poem that follows is one of the most beautiful love poems ever written, by a man, to a man

"To Ausonius"

I, through all chances that are given to mortals,
And through all fates that be,
So long as this close prison shall contain me,
Yea, though a world shall sunder me and thee,

Thee shall I hold, in every fibre woven,
Not with dumb lips, nor with averted face
Shall I behold thee, in my mind embrace thee,
Instant and present, thou, in every place.

Yea, when the prison of this flesh is broken,
And from the earth I shall have gone my way,
Wheresoe'er in the wide universe I stay me,
There shall I bear thee, as I do today.

Think not the end, that from my body frees me,
Breaks and unshackles from my love to thee;
Triumphs the soul above its house in ruin,
Deathless, begot of immortality.

Still must she keep her senses and affections,
Hold them as dear as life itself to be,
Could she choose death, then might she choose forgetting:
Living, remembering, to eternity.

[trans. Helen Waddell, in Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse]

An Epigram by Ausonius [c. 310-390]

Epigram No 62

Glad youth had come they sixteenth year to crown,
To soft encircle they dear cheeks with down
And part the mingled beauties of thy face,
When death too quickly comes to snatch your grace.
But thou'll not herd with ghostly common fools,
Nor piteous, waft the Stygian pools;
Rather with blithe Adonis shalt thou rove
And play Ganymede to highest Jove.

[in Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse]

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Paulinus of Nola (available online)

Coote, Stephen, ed., The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse, (Harmondsworth: Allen Lane, Penguin, 1983), 110-112

Boswell, John, CSTH, 133-134

Waddell, Helen, Medieval Latin Lyrics, (New York: 1948), 289-94

June 29

NRC

St. Paul the Apostle (June 30 ORC)

d.67

At first glance, the argument that St. Paul was homosexual seems absurd, as it may be. After all was not he the one who condemned gay people in Romans, and elsewhere? There is considerable debate over those anti-gay "proof -texts", but whatever the conclusions, there is much, as Anglican Bishop of Newark John Spong has pointed out, which leads one to suspect Paul might have been "queer" in some way. The fact he was never married, unusual for a Jew of his time, his companionship with a series of younger men, especially St. Timothy, his mention of an unnamed "thorn in the flesh". and, possibly, his disdain for some types of exploitative homosexual relationship in his period, all raise questions, questions which cannot be answered it must be admitted, about his sexuality. It should also be added that despite Paul's modern reputation for placing women lower than men, he also penned revolutionary words about the absolute equality of all believers in Christ, a complete destruction of prevailing social codes and norms that has only intermittently played out in full in Church history.

2 Cor 12:7-11

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

Gal 3:26-28

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Select bibliography

Spong, John S., Rescuing the Bible for Fundamentalists, (San Francisco: HarperSanFranciso, 1991)

Tarachow, Sidney, "St. Paul and early Christianity: A Psychoanalytic and Historical Study", in W. Muensterberge, ed., Psychoanalysis and the Social Sciences, (New York: International Universities Press, 1955), vol 4: 223-81

July 21

ORC

Daniel the Prophet [0T] (Dec 17/18 ORTH)

c.650BCE

[eunuch]

The prophet Daniel was understood by Byzantine commentators, including St. John Chrysostom, to have been taken to serve as a eunuch, the major defined sexual minority of the ancient world, at the King of Babylon's court. Note the emphasis on the physical beauty of the four young men. He is, nevertheless, along with David one of the heroes of the Jewish Scriptures. Kathryn Ringrose has written recently on this matter, and Fr. Helminiak reports suggestions that "eunuch" was just a general way of referring to "homosexuals" in the period, although remains merely a suggestion. More interesting has been discussion of the "favor and tender love" Daniel enjoyed with the chief eunuch. Nothing definite can be asserted, but Daniel is one of the most interesting biblical figures for gay people.

Dan 1:1-20

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on The Book of Daniel (available online)

Helminiak, Daniel, What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality, (San Francisco: Alamo Square Press, 1994)

Ringrose, Kathryn, "Living in the Shadows: Eunuchs and Gender in Byzantium", in Gilbert Herdt, ed., Third Sex, Third Gender, (New York: Zone, 1994), 85-110

July 21

ORTH

SS. Symeon of Emesa and John

Symeon the the "Holy Fool" of Emesa supposedly lived in the sixth century. His Life was written in the seventh century by Leontios of Neapolis. This Life is interesting for this Calendar on any reading!

The story itself is about a same-sex relationship. Symeon, with his mother, and John, with his new wife, meet on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They become friends and "would no longer part from each other". In fact they abandon their families and go together to dedicate their lives to God. I the monastery they first join, they are tonsured by the abbot who blesses them together (Krueger 139-141, 142). This seems to refer to some early monastic version of the adelphopoiia ceremony. As with St. George both Symeon and John are referred to as the "pure bridegrooms (nymphoi) of Christ" (Krueger 141). Both men express concern that older ties of family may hold their "brother" back (Krueger 144).

The two men then leave the monastery and live together as hermit for twenty-nine years. There is no suggestion that they had a sexual relationship, but that they were very much a same sex couple. After all those years the Life moves to the next part of the story - Symeon's activities in Emesa as a "Fool for Christ". The extent of the relationship is revealed at this point. John is not keen for Symeon to leave. He says to Symeon "..Please, for the Lord's sake, do not leave wretched me….Rather for the sake of Him who joined us, do not wish to be parted from your brother. You know that, after God, I have no one except you, my brother, but I renounced all and was bound to you, and now you wish to leave me in the desert, as in an open sea. Remember that day when we drew lost and went down to the Lord Nikon, that we agreed not to be separated from one another. Remember that fearful day when we were clothed in the holy habit, and we two were as one soul, so that all were astonished at our love. Don't forget the words of the great monk…Please don't lest I die and God demands an account of my soul from You." (Krueger 148)

These words fail to move Symeon, who insists on going. He urges John to pray with him. After which this scene occurs:- "After they had prayed for many hours and had kissed each other on the breast and drenched them with their tears, John let go of Symeon and traveled together with him a long distance, for his soul would not let him be separated from him. But whenever Symeon said to him 'Turn Back, Brother', he heard the word as if a knife separated him from his body, and again he asked if he could accompany him a little further. Therefore, when Symeon forced him, he turned back to his cell drenching the earth with tears." (Krueger 149-50)

[From this point on the Life concerns Symeon's activities in Emesa].

There is no question, I think, that what we have here is a description on an intense and emotional same-sex relationship which cannot be reduced to "friendship". The story is awash with marital and sexual imagery and references. So how did these saints maintain a place [a small place it must be admitted - there was no extensive cult] in calendars of saints?

There are a number of considerations. First, the relationship although "erotic" [based on "desire"] is not presented as "sexual". Second, although later Roman Catholic authorities in the Tridentine Church did recognize the issues involved with "particular friendships", it is open to question whether late antique and Byzantine writers could have done as much. For Greek's what we call "homosexuality" was subsumed under the rubric of "pederasty" - an unequal and often temporary relationship between an older and a younger man. Relationships based on spiritual equality and lifelong commitment did not fit the model. Indeed, I would argue that this is why Byzantium could support both "adelphopoiia" ceremonies [see Boswell, SSU], which, although more work is being done, do seem to have been common and do seem to have created real social bonds seen as familial, and at the same time law codes which unequivocally condemned "sodomy". For us both "sodomy" between men and "same-sex" committed relationships would seem to fall under the rubric of "homosexuality. This does not seem to have been the case for Byzantine commentators. This does not mean that it is illegitimate for modern gay people to see such relationships as relevant to modern understandings of sexual identity.

Select bibliography

Krueger, Derek, Symeon the holy fool: Leontius's Life and the late antique city, series: Transformations of the Classical Heritage, XXV, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996)

A review by me of Krueger's book is available online at BMCR.

August 11

dia natalis

Cardinal John Henry Newman

1801-90

[Cause in process in Rome]

John Henry Newman, the most prominent 19th century-convert to Roman Catholicism, is best known for his writings, especially his superb spiritual biography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua. It is certain that Newman was sexually abstinent throughout his life, nevertheless he spent most of his life with his closest friend, Fr. Ambrose St. John. Some reports [see Hillard ref. below for rebuttal] state that he lay all night on Ambrose St. John's bed after Ambrose's death, and, certainly, stipulated in his will that he wished to be buried in the same grave as Fr. St. John at Rednal in the English midlands [where I fact he is buried today.]

from Compton's Online Encyclopedia, (AOL, Downloaded 7/22/94)

NEWMAN, John Henry (1801-90). One of England's 19th-century religious leaders, John Henry Newman attempted to reform the Church of England in the direction of early Catholicism the church as it had existed in its first five centuries. Failing in this, he eventually joined the Roman Catholic church and rose in its ranks to become a cardinal. Newman was also an educator, a poet, and a master of English prose. His "Idea of a University" and "Apologia pro Vita Sua" (a defense of his life) are clear-cut, powerful essays on education and religion. Newman, the eldest of six children, was born on Feb. 21, 1801, in London, England. His father was a banker. At Ealing Academy Newman mastered his lessons easily and spent much of his time editing the school paper. He was 16 when he entered Trinity College, Oxford. Newman won a fellowship to Oriel College, Oxford, in 1822. In 1824 he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. Newman served as curate of an Oxford parish while a fellow of Oriel College. He became a leader of the Oxford Movement, which sought to bring about a renewal of catholic thought and practice within the Anglican Communion. His zeal for a church with the power and grandeur of medieval times led him to join the Roman Catholic church in 1845. He was convinced that the Protestant element in the Church of England would never accept his traditionalist views. In 1847 Newman became a Roman Catholic priest in Rome. He joined the Oratorian order and founded congregations near Birmingham and London. Although at times his life was difficult, as he continued to write and preach, his views gradually won acceptance. He was made a cardinal in 1879. Cardinal Newman died near Birmingham on Aug. 11, 1890.

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Newman, John Henry (available online)

Chadwick, Owen. Newman. Past Masters. (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1983)

Faber, Geoffrey, The Oxford Apostles, (London: 1933)
The first book to take seriously the homoeroticism of the Catholic movement in the 19th century - pp. 32-35 presents Newman as a sublimated homosexual.

Hillard, David, "UnEnglish and Unmanly: Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality", Victorian Studies 25 (Winter 1982), esp. 183-186

Woodward, Kenneth, Making Saints, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990; pb. Touchstone, 1990), 355-73

August 28

All West

St. Augustine of Hippo, bishop & doctor

354-430

Augustine has often been held responsible for the aggressive anti-sex stance of much of western Christian history, chiefly because of his linking the transmission of original sin with sexual activity. In fact, compared to some of the anti-sex zealots of his time, he was rather moderate in seeing at least some good in sex within marriage. At times he spoke violently against "sodomy", but as the extracts from his Confessions show, he was for a time completely in love with another man, whose death threw him into turmoil. Odd it is to note that the most famous conversion in Christian history, after that of St. Paul, originated in one man's love for another.

[In the passage below note that Orestes and Pylades were famous homosexual lovers.]

from Compton's Online Encyclopedia, (AOL, Downloaded 7/22/94)

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-430). The bishop of Hippo in Roman Africa for 35 years, St. Augustine lived during the decline of Roman civilization on that continent. Considered the greatest of the Fathers of the Church in the West, he helped form Christian theology (See Fathers of the Church). Augustine was born Aurelius Augustinus on Nov. 13, 354, at Tagaste in the Roman province of Numidia (now Souk-Ahras in Algeria). Although his mother, St. Monica, was a devout Christian, he was not baptized in infancy. His father, Patricius, a wealthy landowner, was a pagan. In his 'Confessions' Augustine wrote seven chapters about an incident in his early life--stealing pears from a neighbor's tree. This sin troubled him for the rest of his life. He also confessed to immoral behavior at the University of Carthage, where he was sent at the age of 16. Augustine remained in Carthage, teaching rhetoric, until he was 29. Then he went to Rome, taking with him his mistress and his son, Adeodatus. His religion at this time was Manichaeism, which combined Christianity with Zoroastrian elements. By 386 Augustine was teaching in Milan, where his mother joined him. He came under the influence of the city's great bishop, St. Ambrose, who baptized Augustine and Adeodatus on the following Easter. From this time Augustine lived as an ascetic. He returned to Africa and spent three years with friends on his family's estate. He was ordained a priest and five years later, in 396, was consecrated a bishop. He spent the remainder of his life in Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) with his clergy, encouraging the formation of religious communities. Augustine, who was ill when the Vandals besieged Hippo, died on Aug. 28, 430, before the town was taken. Augustine's most widely read book is Confessions, a vivid account of his early life and religious development. The City of God was written after 410, when Rome fell to the barbarians. The aim of this book was to restore confidence in the Christian church, which Augustine said would take the place of the earthly city of Rome. During the Middle Ages the book gave strong support to the theory that the church was above the state. Augustine's writings on communal life form the 'Rule of St. Augustine', the basis of many religious orders.

From Augustine, Confessions
[from electronic text archives at CCAT.SAS.UPENN.EDU]

Here describing his relationship with a man

Book 3: 1:

For this cause my soul was sickly and full of sores, it miserably cast itself forth, desiring to be scraped by the touch of objects of sense. Yet if these had not a soul, they would not be objects of love. To love then, and to be beloved, was sweet to me; but more, when I obtained to enjoy the person I loved, I defiled, therefore, the spring of friendship with the filth of concupiscence, and I beclouded its brightness with the hell of lustfulness; and thus foul and unseemly, I would fain, through exceeding vanity, be fine and courtly. I fell headlong then into the love wherein I longed to be ensnared. My God, my Mercy, with how much gall didst Thou out of Thy great goodness besprinkle for me that sweetness? For I was both beloved, and secretly arrived at the bond of enjoying; and was with joy fettered with sorrow-bringing bonds, that I might be scourged with the iron burning rods of jealousy, and suspicions, and fears, and angers, and quarrels.

Book 4: 6-8

In those years when I first began to teach rhetoric in my native town, I had made one my friend, but too dear to me, from a community of pursuits, of mine own age, and, as myself, in the first opening flower of youth. He had grown up as a child with me, and we had been both school-fellows and play-fellows. But he was not yet my friend as afterwards, nor even then, as true friendship is; for true it cannot be, unless in such as Thou cementest together, cleaving unto Thee, by that love which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Yet was it but too sweet, ripened by the warmth of kindred studies: for, from the true faith (which he as a youth had not soundly and thoroughly imbibed), I had warped him also to those superstitious and pernicious fables, for which my mother bewailed me. With me he now erred in mind, nor could my soul be without him. But behold Thou wert close on the steps of Thy fugitives, at once God of vengeance, and Fountain of mercies, turning us to Thyself by wonderful means; Thou tookest that man out of this life, when he had scarce filled up one whole year of my friendship, sweet to me above all sweetness of that my life.

Who can recount all Thy praises, which he hath felt in his one self? What diddest Thou then, my God, and how unsearchable is the abyss of Thy judgments? For long, sore sick of a fever, he lay senseless in a death-sweat; and his recovery being despaired of, he was baptized, unknowing; myself meanwhile little regarding, and presuming that his soul would retain rather what it had received of me, not what was wrought on his unconscious body. But it proved far otherwise: for he was refreshed, and restored. Forthwith, as soon as I could speak with him (and I could, so soon as he was able, for I never left him, and we hung but too much upon each other), I essayed to jest with him, as though he would jest with me at that baptism which he had received, when utterly absent in mind and feeling, but had now understood that he had received. But he so shrunk from me, as from an enemy; and with a wonderful and sudden freedom bade me, as I would continue his friend, forbear such language to him. I, all astonished and amazed, suppressed all my emotions till he should grow well, and his health were strong enough for me to deal with him as I would. But he was taken away from my frenzy, that with Thee he might be preserved for my comfort; a few days after in my absence, he was attacked again by the fever, and so departed.

At this grief my heart was utterly darkened; and whatever I beheld was death. My native country was a torment to me, and my father's house a strange unhappiness; and whatever I had shared with him, wanting him, became a distracting torture. Mine eyes sought him every where, but he was not granted them; and I hated all places, for that they had not him; nor could they now tell me, "he is coming," as when he was alive and absent. I became a great riddle to myself, and I asked my soul, why she was so sad, and why she disquieted me sorely: but she knew not what to answer me. And if I said, Trust in God, she very rightly obeyed me not; because that most dear friend, whom she had lost, was, being man, both truer and better than that phantasm she was bid to trust in. Only tears were sweet to me, for they succeeded my friend, in the dearest of my affections.

Book 4: 10

...Wretched I was; and wretched is every soul bound by the friendship of perishable things; he is torn asunder when he loses them, and then he feels the wretchedness which he had ere yet he lost them. So was it then with me; I wept most bitterly, and found my repose in bitterness. Thus was I wretched, and that wretched life I held dearer than my friend. For though I would willingly have changed it, yet was I more unwilling to part with it than with him; yea, I know not whether I would have parted with it even for him, as is related (if not feigned) of Pylades and Orestes, that they would gladly have died for each other or together, not to live together being to them worse than death. But in me there had arisen some unexplained feeling, too contrary to this, for at once I loathed exceedingly to live and feared to die. I suppose, the more I loved him, the more did I hate, and fear (as a most cruel enemy) death, which had bereaved me of him: and I imagined it would speedily make an end of all men, since it had power over him. Thus was it with me, I remember. Behold my heart, O my God, behold and see into me; for well I remember it, O my Hope, who cleansest me from the impurity of such affections, directing mine eyes towards Thee, and plucking my feet out of the snare. For I wondered that others, subject to death, did live, since he whom I loved, as if he should never die, was dead; and I wondered yet more that myself, who was to him a second self, could live, he being dead. Well said one of his friend, "Thou half of my soul"; for I felt that my soul and his soul were "one soul in two bodies": and therefore was my life a horror to me, because I would not live halved. And therefore perchance I feared to die, lest he whom I had much loved should die wholly.

Select bibliography

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Augustine - Life (available online)

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Augustine - Works (available online)

Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Augustine - Teaching (available online)

Schlabach, Gerald W., Friendship as adultery: Augustine and original sin an online article discussing the interrelationship of friendship and eroticism in Augustine.

Boswell, John, CSTH, 135

Brown, Peter R. L., Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, (London: Faber; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967)

September 21

England

St. Edward II, King of England

1284-1327