Friday, April 13, 2007

Hermenegild, martyr

Who in the world is Hermenegild? I had no idea this was his day. Today, April 13, is the anniversary of his martyrdom (in the year 585) at the hands of his own father. Read more here. Who knew? Thanks to the LutherPunk for enlightening me.

For even more detail, here’s what Butler’s Lives of the Saints says. (Via EWTN, yes, you can tell your friends I quoted EWTN. Mirabile dictu.)

The ever-reliable Encyclopedia Britannica has a little article too.

Happy feast, blessed Hermenegild. Will you come back and teach us to pronounce your name?

Illustration: "Triunfo de San Hermenegildo," by Francisco de Herrera the Younger (1654).

2 comments:

Ken said...

Ermenigildi Zegna is the designer of extremely chi-chi and expensive men's fashions, sort of a Ralph Lauren with an even more Uptown attitude. Bad news for the saint that he shares his day's name with some guy who designs neckties that make Hermes look like schmutz.

Jane R said...

Yup, I know that designer's name. Eh, we all share some name with someone unpleasant. At least his parents (or he if he is one of those people who renamed himself) had imagination. Poor kid may have become a designer just to get over the long name, though ;-).