"Saint's Lives" are some of the most important primary sources

November 1, 2001 12:54 PM

"Saint's Lives" are some of the most important primary sources from the late ancient, Byzantine, and medieval periods. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook links to hundreds of these texts, translated for your benefit, as well as thousands of other documents. Celebrate All Saint's Day by reading about your favorite saint in a text written while your saint was still alive.
posted by ewagoner (12 comments total)

I guess I'll make the one response. This crowd is so secularized they wouldn't know what to do with a saint if they saw one. Pity. He who does not believe in God willwind up believing in anything.
posted by Iberaband at 10:19 PM on November 1, 2001

No need to be a Christian to appreciate the link though...
Thanks for the hook-up ewagoner--I love rich historical resources like this!
posted by Tiger_Lily at 11:35 PM on November 1, 2001

Iberband: This crowd is so secularized they wouldn't know what to do with a saint if they saw one.

Ok, I'll bite: What do you do with a saint if you see one?
posted by signal at 12:31 AM on November 2, 2001

If you can catch one while he's alive, kill him. And do it publicly and painfully. They love that.
posted by pracowity at 2:32 AM on November 2, 2001

What do you do with a saint if you see one?

Saute in butter and shallots until golden brown, then finish it off in the oven for about 20 minutes, until an internal thermometer reads about 165. Remove from oven, and let sit for about 15 minutes, then carve and serve.
posted by crunchland at 5:23 AM on November 2, 2001

These last two remarks prove me point. The idea of people living their lives for anything beyond themselves or their pet ideologies is beyond you. Your nihilism is pathetic, the stuff of spoiled children.
posted by Iberaband at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2001

Iberaband, the sanctimonious and ludicrous (when was the last time you met a saint? what *did* you do with him?) tone of your post invited irreverant responses--but unlike you, no one resorted to personal attacks.

Great link. I happen to be one of those dreaded secular people who happens to be interested in hagiography (when I'm not too busy developing my pet ideologies--so time consuming). [If anyone else is interested in secular studies of the lives of saints, I recommend Caroline Walker Bynum's "Holy Feast, Holy Fast," which discusses the role of food in the lives of medieval female ascetics and saints.]
posted by cowboy_sally at 2:19 PM on November 2, 2001

Let he who is not sanctimonious cast the first stone. :-)
posted by Iberaband at 5:48 PM on November 2, 2001

Let he who is not sanctimonious cast the first stone...
posted by Iberaband at 6:13 PM on November 2, 2001

And the second one?
posted by walrus at 6:26 PM on November 2, 2001

(when was the last time you met a saint? what *did* you do with him?)

don't you have to have been dead for 70 years or something before the Roman Catholic Church will officially make you a saint?

So I suppose that if I saw a saint, I'd get a bit worried about what I'd been drinking.
posted by eoz at 10:27 PM on November 2, 2001

> The idea of people living their lives for anything beyond
> themselves or their pet ideologies is beyond you.

You sound like a guy caught in at least one pet ideology, a primary tenet of which is that you are a special guy who does not have pet ideologies.

[And we prefer to call them companion animal ideologies around here.]
posted by pracowity at 3:37 AM on November 4, 2001