The Chapel of Saints Serge and Bacchus: Who do you think you are?

SS. Serge & Bacchus

Saints Sergius and Bacchus were two Roman soldiers and lovers. As John Boswell has shown recently they were invoked repeatedly in the middle ages in the blessing of ceremonies of union for couples of the same sex. They were arrested and humiliated for being Christians. Bacchus was killed first, and then a few days later, Sergius. Their joint "passion" calls them "erastoi" - that is "erotic lovers", and after he died, Bacchus offers himself to Sergius as the prize for Sergius' martyrdom. The female clothes they were forced to wear may have been an early example of gay baiting. (One thing that cannot be found among the saints is a male saint who voluntarily adopted women's clothes). Their cult was one of the most intense in the eastern Mediterranean, with a huge pilgrimage site at Sergiopolis (Rusapha). The passage following, translated from the earliest passion by John Boswell, recounts Sergius' laments after Bacchus' death, and Bacchus appearance to him, promising himself as the prize of martyrdom.

http://www.otkenyer.hu/halsall/lgbh-gaysts.html#sergius

Ss. Perpetua and Felicitas

Died in the persecution of Septimus Severus in the year 203 at Carthage. 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."

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/perpetua.html

Friday, February 26, 2016

Who do you think you are? - Bentinho Massaro

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Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus Congregation

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Friday, February 26, 2016

Who do you think you are? - Bentinho Massaro

Saints Serge & Baccus

Popular Posts

Translate

Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus Congregation

The Chapel of Saints Serge and Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

SS. Serge & Bacchus

Ss. Perpetua and Felicitas

Ss. Perpetua and Felicitas

Saints Serge and Bacchus

Search This Blog

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