St. Anysius and geese

No major saint today, the sixth day of Christmas, but a minor one who is also significant for Church-state relations, as well as Early Christian World Pilgrimage lore: St. Anysius was bishop of Thessalonica in 390 when Emperor Theodosius massacred 7,000 men, women and children in retaliation for a relatively minor disturbance in which a governor was killed. Theodosius was also the emperor who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. (Contrary to popular belief it wasn't Constantine, who merely recognized its legitimacy, and was baptized only at the end of his life.) Theodosius must have thought he was de facto head of the Church (anticipating Henry VIII by 1,200 years!), but Ambrose of Milan forced him to do penance. Ambrose was the first bishop who actually succeeded in exercising control over a Roman emperor. Compared with the fascinating history of our Catholic heritage, who cares about a gaggle of geese? (Although their eggs might be tasty with bacon. I've never eaten one. Has any reader of this ever had a goose egg?)

I couldn't find much on St. Anysius on the web, so I'm sharing a photo I took of the entry in the new edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints. Interesting little tangent for ECW Pilgrims and others interested.

As I commented on Facebook: Theodosius wasn't a madman, in fact he justly has the title of "Great." What he did was not all that unusual even for the best of rulers (of all ages including today). What was unusual was that, in the battle of wills over his repentance, Ambrose won. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_I. It's a sign of greatness you can admit your wrongdoing, and a sign of small-mindedness when you have to twist reality to justify it.