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Valentine, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Valentine, Saint, d. c.270, Roman martyr priest. The customs connected with him in English-speaking countries are probably a survival from a period when a pagan festival associated with love occurred ...

Owl and the Nightingale, The

(Encyclopedia)Owl and the Nightingale, The, Middle English poem written probably by Nicholas de Guildford of Dorsetshire about the beginning of the 13th cent. Written in 2,000 lines of octosyllabic couplets, it des...

Lucy, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Lucy, Saint, d. 304?, Sicilian virgin martyr. According to legend, at an early age she vowed herself to God. She rejected a pagan suitor, who then denounced her during the persecutions under Diocletia...

Alban, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Alban, Saint ôlˈbən [key], 3d or 4th cent., traditionally the first British martyr. He lived and died at Verulamium, now St. Albans. In 793 an abbey was founded there in his honor. Feast: Roman Cat...

Agnes, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Agnes, Saint, 4th cent., virgin martyr. A noble Roman girl martyred at the age of 13 after rejecting a well-born suitor. She was included in the Depositio Martyrum of 354. On her feast day lambs are b...

Barbara, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barbara, Saint, fl. 3d or 4th cent., virgin martyr, whose life is shrouded in contradictory legends. Her father is said to have shut her up in a tower and then to have killed her for being a Christian...

Cletus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Cletus or Anacletus, Saint klēˈtəs, ănəklēˈtəs [key], d. a.d. 88?, pope (a.d. 76?–a.d. 88?), martyr, a Roman; successor of St. Linus and predecessor of St. Clement I. Feast: Apr. 26. ...

Matthew, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Matthew, Saint, in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles. Also called Levi, he was a publican (tax collector) from Capernaum. Since the 2d cent. the first Gospel (see Matthew, Gospel according...

Sebastian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Sebastian, Saint, fl. 3d cent.?, Roman martyr. Little is known of his life. According to tradition he was an officer of the Praetorian guards much favored by Emperor Diocletian, who did not know that ...

Cecilia, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Cecilia, Saint səsĭlˈyə, –sēl– [key], 2d or 3d cent., Roman virgin martyr. An ancient and famous account of her life is factually valueless. As patron of music, she is represented at the orga...